Joel 2:23–32, with Mari Joerstad

The Many Days of the Lord

Lectionary Date: October 23, 2022 [20th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C]

Locusts? Armies? Shame, vindication, and salvation? Peter’s speech at Pentecost? There is a ton going on in this short reading. This week, Rosy and Tim are joined by Dr. Mari Joerstad, Academic Dean and Professor of Hebrew Bible at Vancouver School of Theology. Dr. Joerstad’s work focuses on issues of environment, land, migration, and belonging in the Hebrew Bible. A native of Norway, she did her doctoral work at Duke University in North Carolina, where she studied with one of our favorites, Professor Ellen Davis. Today’s passage from Joel is full of images of the land and ecology, so we’re especially grateful to have Mari’s expertise and insight for this conversation. She is the author of The Hebrew Bible and Environmental Ethics: Humans, Non-Humans, and the Living Landscape, published by Cambridge in 2020. You can also find her published work in a number of academic journals, including The Journal of Biblical Literature, Horizons in Biblical Theology, and The Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture.

Jeremiah 18:1–11, with Steed Davidson

The Slipperiness of Clay

Lectionary Date: September 4, 2022 [13th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C]

This week, Rachel and Tim are joined by Dr. Steed Vernyl Davidson. Dr. Davidson is the Dean of the Faculty, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and a Professor of Hebrew Bible / Old Testament at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL. He is also an ordained elder within the United Methodist Church. A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Davidson he earned his PhD in Hebrew Bible from Union Theological Seminary in New York. He is an expert on postcolonial dynamics in the content and reception of the Hebrew Bible, and has written and edited several volumes on that topic. He is also a frequent contributor to WorkingPreacher.com.