Education
- Ph.D., Christian Theology (Biblical Studies), McMaster Divinity College, 2019
- M.A., Old Testament & Semitic Languages, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2014
- B.A., Philosophy & Religion (Biblical Studies), Liberty University, 2010
Courses Taught
- Biblical Literature
- Prophetic Books
- Elementary Hebrew
- Biblical Theology
- Psalms and Wisdom Literature
Research Interests
- Old Testament
- Creation/Nature Themes
- Awe and Wonder in Spiritual Formation
- Ecology and Environmental Ethics
- Character/Virtue Ethics
- Psalms, Prophets, and Wisdom Literature
- Emotions in Science and Scripture
- Trauma Theory and Resilience
- Old Testament Used in the New Testament
- Holiness and Atonement Theories
- Spiritual Disciplines (Sabbath)
- Priestly Kingdom Themes
- Theology of Eating and Food!
Biography
Before joining the School of Theology and Vocation in 2023, I served as a history and Bible teacher in North Carolina and as an author studying how natural wonders change us according to science and Scripture. We are truly wired for wonder! I grew up in Florida but have also lived in Virginia, Illinois, and Canada previous to North Carolina and Texas. Ask me about my visits to Mozambique or Israel sometime. Given my passion for the great outdoors, languages, and the Old Testament, you can be sure that most of my classes will include nature themes, puns, and references to food as God's gift to the world! I get excited about the mission of Jesus to restore us and the entire universe to wholeness! As creatures who bear the image of the triune God, we are called to find our identity in trusting him and in giving ourselves to his mission, whether in engineering or ecology, computer science or counseling, business or Bible, aviation or accounting! As of Spring 2024, I am also the university's first Faculty in Residence, so I am available to meet with students for meals, game nights, residence hall events, prayer, and mentoring.
Publications
“It’s a Jungle in Here: Wild Animals, Plants, and Places in the Book of Amos.” In Crossing Borders between the Domestic and the Wild: Space, Fauna, and Flora, edited by Mark J. Boda and Dalit Rom-Shiloni, 9–30. Dictionary of Nature Imagery of the Bible Supplements 1. New York: T. & T. Clark, 2024.
“Priests of Creation, Not Only Ambassadors.” Sapientia: Plundering Eden: A Book Symposium. Henry Center for Theological Understanding, March 26, 2021.
https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/2021/03/priests-of-creation-not-only-ambassadors/.
“Claus Westermann and His Contributions to Biblical Theology and Form Criticism.” In Pillars in the History of Biblical Interpretation, edited by Stanley E. Porter and Zachary K. Dawson. 3:263-84. McMaster Biblical Studies 6. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2021.
“The Ethos of the Cosmos in Amos: Creation Rhetoric and Character Formation in Old Testament Ethics.” PhD diss., McMaster Divinity College, 2019.
“Heaven Has No Sorrow That Earth Cannot Feel: The Ethics of Empathy and Ecological Suffering in the Old Testament.” Canadian Theological Review 4, no. 2 (2015): 19–34.
“Hearing Hallelujahs at the End of the Septuagint Psalter: Translation Techniques and Norms in Old Greek Psalms 145–150.” MA thesis. Deerfield, IL: Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2014. Published by ProQuest.
“The Lord’s Anointed: Covenantal Kingship in Psalm 2 and Acts 4.” Senior honors thesis. Lynchburg, VA: Liberty University, 2010. Published by Digital Commons.
Presentations
“Naturally Awed: The Emotion of Awe in the Sciences and Hebrew Scriptures.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the SBL. Online, 2 December 2020.
“Celebrating Stars and Snow: Psalm 147 as Performative Recovery Strategy for Trauma.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the SBL. San Diego, CA, 23 November 2019.
“Pathos in the Cosmos of Amos: How Creation Rhetoric Shapes the Emotions of Ethical Character in the Old Testament.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the SBL. Denver, CO, 17 November 2018.
“Counting Casualties: Judah’s Population before and after the Neo-Babylonian Empire.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the SBL. Boston, MA, 19 November 2017.
“Becoming Native to These Places: Glimpses of Ecological and Moral Landscapes in Old Testament Ethics (Gen 1; Ps 104; Ps 74; Amos 4).” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian-American Theological Association (formerly CETA) in conjunction with the Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences of Canada. Toronto, ON, 28 May 2017.
“Biodiversity, Sabbath, and Justice in the Bible: A Response to Hilary Marlow’s Paper on ‘The Earth Our Home.’” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the IBR. San Antonio, TX, 18 November 2016.
