On October 11, 2001, Elie Wiesel (September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was invited to present a guest lecture in Boston University’s Core Curriculum: The Ancient World (Humanities, Genesis to Plato) course (run by Professor James H. Johnson). Elie Wiesel’s lecture begins (at 14:30) with the stories in Genesis and proceeds to discuss the book of Job (33:10). The video culminates with a Q&A session (44:35).
Note that the sound quality of the video is below par.
On April 18, 2019, Dr Nyasha Junior presented “Black Like Me: Representations of Biblical Hagar” in the University of Iowa’s Spring 2019 Classics Colloquium series.
Her talk begins at 4:25.
In the seven-part #SheToo Podcast Series, Rosie Dawson interviews biblical scholars Dr Helen Paynter, Dr Katie Edwards, Dr Mary Evans, Dr Johanna Stiebert, Dr Meredith Warren, and Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand about some of the biblical texts that portray violence against women.
On April 5, 2018, Professor David M. Carr (Union Theological Seminary) delivered the final lecture in the 2017-18 Killeen Chair of Theology and Philosophy lecture series, at St. Norbert College.
David M. Carr, Ph.D., professor of Old Testament at Union Theological Seminary, invites us to consider the transformative possibilities in the story of God’s creation of male and female humans in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2-3. Carr’s lecture will offer a new reading of Genesis 2-3 as a subtle account of what it means to be a fully adult human, neither all good nor all bad.
The lecture begins at 3:15.
Professor emeritus Thomas L. Thompson (University of Copenhagen) delivered a lecture entitled “Memories of Esaü, Themes of Conflict and Reconciliation” at the École biblique et archéologique française on April 12, 2018.
On April 3, 2017, Professor Dana Nolan Fewell (Drew University) delivered a lecture on the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, and its reception in “Bible-Thumping, Bible-Tweeting Culture”. The lecture was held at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts.
Professor Phyllis Trible delivered the 2014 Kellogg Lectures at Episcopal Divinity School, on May 9, 2014. The two lectures are available in audio format, on SoundCloud:
2. Justice for Foremothers: Hagar and Sarah
Professor Jon D. Levenson (Harvard University) delivered a lecture on “Abraham and the Absoluteness of God” at the University of Chicago on January 21, 2015.
On March 26, 2015, Professor Emerson Powery (Mercy College) delivered the Jane D. Schaberg lecture in Scripture Studies, as a part of the 2015 Cushing Distinguished Lecture series at University of Detroit Mercy. His lecture discusses the origins of whiteness in slave narratives and the interpretation of the “Curse of Ham” narrative.
“The Origins of Whiteness and the Black (Biblical) Imagination: The Bible and the Slave Narrative”
Professor Jon D. Levenson (Harvard Divinity School) delivered three talks on the Akedah, or sacrifice of Isaac, in Genesis 22, as part of the Orange County Community Scholars Program (OCCSP).
The talks are available in m4a audio format:
Midrash: What Bothered the Rabbis In Genesis 22 (July 8, 2008)
The Afterlife of the Story In Judaism (With A Glance At Christianity & Islam, Too) (July 9, 2008)
The Artistry of Genesis 22 (July 11, 2008)
Dr Phyllis Trible delivered a lecture at the Korean Institute of Theology in 2012 entitled “The Dilemma of Dominion”, which addresses Genesis 1, the meaning of “dominion” and ecology.
The lecture is available on YouTube, from 8:00, following introductions in Korean.
The University of Notre Dame is offering a free 8-week course called Jesus in Scripture and Tradition, available from June 1, 2015.
The instructors are Professor Gary Anderson (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament) and John C. Cavadini (Theology). The course can either be taken for free (audited), or at certificate level (at US$50), and in either case you will receive full access to the course materials.
About this course
The Bible says that Jesus was identified as God’s beloved son at his baptism. The same identification was made about Israel in the Old Testament and the disciples of Christ at their baptism. The striking similarity of these titles establishes a tight interrelationship between the people Israel, the person of Jesus Christ, and the church.In this course, we will explore how a close reading of the book of Genesis, the Gospels, and early Christian writers can shed further light on these relationships and, in so doing, deepen our understanding of the figure of Jesus Christ. Unlike many other treatments, this course does not presume that Jesus’ character can be plumbed solely by an examination of the Gospel stories. The witness of the Jewish scriptures and the lives of the saints are also important sources for this task.
The course will be eight weeks in length and organized around three topical questions:
- Who is Israel? (primary source material: the book of Genesis)
- Who is Jesus? (primary source material: the Gospels and the Creeds)
- Who is the Church? (primary source material: a selection of post-Biblical Christian writers)
No matter what your background in the study of theology, this course will provide a fresh approach to the identify of Jesus Christ that will reveal how the church has explored the unmeasurable depths of his person.
What you’ll learn
- Recognize major people, places, and events of the Old and New Testament as related to the narratives of Israel and Jesus
- Reflect on the mysteries of Christ
- Examine the Church’s relationship to Christ
- Explore religious questions through study of themes and selected biblical passages
- Reflect on ways major biblical themes apply to modern life
The Elon University Conference on Jewish-Christian Relations was held at Sunday, November 17, 2013, at Numen Lumen Pavilion, Elon University. The presentations are available on YouTube.
1:00 pm: Welcoming Remarks
President Dr. Leo Lambert (Elon University)
Dr. Geoffrey Claussen (Elon University)
1:05-2:00 pm: Reading Genesis
– Dr. Marc Bregman (UNC-Greensboro) – “Jewish and Christian Perspectives on the Sacrifice of Isaac”
– Dr. Ellen Haskell (UNC-Greensboro) – “Contesting the Kingdom of Heaven: Rachel as Counterpart to Christ in Medieval Jewish Mysticism”
– Dr. Malachi Hacohen (Duke University) – “Jacob and Esau, Isaac and Ishmael: The Future of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations”
Convener: Dr. Geoffrey Claussen (Elon University)
2:15-3:00 pm: Defining Jewish Identity
– Dr. Lynn Huber (Elon University) – “‘Those Who Say That They Are Jews and Are Not’: The Function of Jewish Identity in the Book of Revelation”
– Dr. James Tabor (UNC-Charlotte) – “Who is a Jew?: A Modern Conundrum with Ancient Roots”
Convener: Dr. Michael Pregill (Elon University)
3:15-4:15 pm: Evangelical-Jewish Relations
– Dr. Shalom Goldman (Duke University), “The Use of Hebrew and Yiddish by British and American Christian Missionaries to Jews: 1870-1970”
– Dr. Yaakov Ariel (UNC-Chapel Hill) – “The Rise of Messianic Judaism”
– Dr. Motti Inbari (UNC-Pembroke) – “The Christian Zionist Response to Israeli Land for Peace Solutions”
Convener: Dr. Jason Husser (Elon University)
4:30-5:15 pm: Jewish and Christian Feminist Ritual Innovation
– Dr. Vanessa Ochs (University of Virginia)
– Dr. Diann Neu (Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual)
Convener: Dr. Toddie Peters (Elon University)
5:30-6:30 pm: The Future of Jewish-Christian Dialogue
– Dr. Stanley Hauerwas (Duke University)
– Dr. Peter Ochs (University of Virginia)
Convener: Dr. Jeffrey Pugh (Elon University)
Closing Remarks: Dr. Jeffrey Pugh (Elon University)
Dr. Jon Levenson, the Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard Divinity School, delivered this public lecture at Elon University on March 17, 2015. Levenson spoke about the commonalities and the sharp divisions between traditional Jewish, Christian, and Muslim interpretations of the episode often described as “the binding of Isaac” or “the sacrifice of Isaac.”
Emeritus Professor David J.A. Clines (University of Sheffield) discusses the different ideas about Creation found in the Bible, criticising the tendency to homogenize these differences. He discusses Genesis 1, Job 38-41, Psalm 104, and various New Testament texts.
His talk was delivered at the New Directions in Cosmology Conference, St John’s College, Durham University, January 10-11, 2013, and is available both on Vimeo and as a pdf.
Biblical Studies Online 