Professor Ellen F. Davis has written an autobiographical essay published in a collection of essays by leading biblical teachers and scholars exploring whether serious academic study of the Bible threatens or enhances one’s faith.
The book, I (Still) Believe: Leading Bible Scholars Share Their Stories of Faith and Scholarship, was published by Zondervan and co-edited by John Byron, professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Seminary in Ashland, Ohio, and Joel N. Lohr, dean of religious life and associate professor at University of the Pacific in California.
Davis, the Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School and interim dean for the 2015-16 academic year, reflects on her own experience at the intersection of faith and serious academic study of the Bible in the essay.
The essays in the collection demonstrate that Biblical studies enrich, instead of threaten, a person’s faith by presenting real stories of teachers and scholars, with all their complexities and struggles. The essayists describe their life and faith journeys, and their self-understanding as biblical theologians. They also reflect on how faith has made a difference, how it has changed, and the challenges that remain.
Other essayists in the collection include: Richard Bauckham, Walter Brueggemann, James D. G. Dunn, Gordon Fee, Beverly Roberts Gaventa, John Goldingay, Donald Hagner, M. D. Hooker, Edith Humphrey, Andrew Lincoln, Scot McKnight, J. Ramsey Michaels, Patrick Miller, R.W.L. Moberly, Katharine Sakenfeld, Phyllis Trible, and Bruce Waltke.
Davis, whose research focuses on how biblical interpretation bears on the life of faith communities and their responses to urgent public issues, is the author of numerous books including: Biblical Prophecy: Perspectives for Christian Theology, Discipleship, and Ministry; Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible; Wondrous Depth: Old Testament Preaching; and Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament.