Embodied Holiness

Ep. 104 When the Old Testament Feels... Complicated with Dr. Sandra Richter

Rev. Susan Eaton Season 8 Episode 104

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 1:21:58

Send us Fan Mail

What on earth are we to do with the troubling passages we come across in scripture? The Old Testament is especially rife with narratives and sentences that can make God sound cruel and unloving at times. I asked Dr. Sandra Richter, the Robert H. Gundry Chair of Biblical Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA to discuss how sincere biblical readers can approach difficult passages with openness, curiosity, and faithfulness. 

DR. SANDRA RICHTER is the Robert H. Gundry Chair of Biblical Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. She holds a Master's Degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and her PhD in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University’s Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department. She has taught at Asbury Theological Seminary, Wesley Biblical Seminary, and Wheaton College, and is a veteran of many years of leading student groups in field archaeology and historical geography in Israel.

Her ambition? To make the real people and places of the Old Testament come alive for her students. She is recognized in the Church for her book, The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament (IVP Academic), and the Epic of Eden adult Bible Study series that has grown from that project. In the academy, she is known for her work in Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic History and the role of Mt. Ebal in the history of Israelite religion. She is also deeply invested in environmental theology (see Stewards of Eden), often addressing both lay and academic audiences on the topic. Her current research involves a forthcoming commentary on Deuteronomy with Eerdmans, a textbook for the introduction of the Old Testament with Zondervan, and a children’s book on environmental theology. She is married to Steven Tsoukalas and has two (perfect) college-aged daughters.


Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website