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”
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.
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.
The program title for the 73rd meeting of the Board of Governors of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was “Genesis: Origins of the Universe and Humankind”. The meeting involved professors from various disciplines within the university, including the following offerings from biblical scholarship:
Sunday June 6, 2010
Prof. Yair Zakovitch – From Creation to History (1:19:55)
Prof. Rachel Elior – Mystical Perspectives on Creation (1:50:20)
Tuesday June 8, 2010
Prof. Nili Wazana – Forever Outsiders: The Origins of Israel According to the Bible (1:08:05)
Prof. Richard J. Clifford presents a lecture entitled, “Genesis 1-11: What Do Adam and Eve Teach Us Today?” The lecture was delivered at Boston College on March 14, 2013.
To many people today, the opening chapters of Genesis—the seven-day creation account and the stories about Adam and Eve and the flood—are merely entertaining. To ancient readers, however, the stories answered serious questions about human life. Can these stories instruct us today?
Peter Machinist, Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages, Harvard University, delivers a lecture on “The Problem of Myth in the Hebrew Bible“, March 14, 2012, at Boston College.
The word “myth” has been used in many different ways, sometimes positively, but more often, and especially recently, negatively. Many would argue that it has no relevance for the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament; indeed would be expressly rejected by the biblical writers. But is this correct? The answer, this lecture argues, is no – that, in fact, myth is a word and a set of concepts which can lead to a deep and varied understanding of the Hebrew Bible, set against the broader ancient Near Eastern world from which it comes.
Videos are available on YouTube from the three-part BBC production The Bible’s Buried Secrets (2011), hosted by Francesca Stavrakopoulou of the University of Exeter. Stavrakopoulou discusses the existence of David, the development of Jewish monotheism, and the historical background giving rise to the Garden of Eden myth.
Episode 1: Did King David’s Empire Exist?
A national hero and icon for the Jewish people, and a divine king for Christians, David is best known as the boy-warrior who defeated the Philistine giant Goliath. As king, he united the tribes of Israel. But did he really rule over a vast Israelite kingdom? Did he even exist?
– BBC
Episode 2: Did God Have a Wife?
When submitted to rigorous analysis, the biblical texts actually reveal quite another story. I think that the evidence now shows that the people of the Bible believed in many gods. And the scribes who composed the Bible did their best to conceal this – but not altogether successfully.
– Francesca Stavrakopoulou
Episode 3: The Real Garden of Eden
If humankind didn’t fall away from God in the first place, we wouldn’t need a redeemer.
– A priest, Episode 3
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