Lifelong Learning: The Bible Meets Art with Dr. Stephen L. Cook

Open to the PUBLIC! Please join me for my Fall Lifelong Learning Course: Visual Interpretation of Scripture. You can participate live and in-person here at Virginia Theological Seminary, or join us via ZOOM. The course meets for six weeks in September and October 2021. Please register on Eventbrite: Click HERE. 

Coming this Spring: The Prophets (Fortress Press)

The cover for our new book on the prophets is designed! It's coming this spring in the Fortress Press series Introducing Israel's Scriptures.

ASOR Call for Papers!

This year I'm Session Chair for ASOR's "Bible and Archaeology" sessions. There will both in-person sessions in Chicago and virtual sessions on-line. I'm excited to put together some great sessions, so please check out the ASOR proposal site and email me with any ideas or questions! 

https://www.asor.org/am/2021/call-for-papers-2021

Session 1, This Soul Cried from the Abyss: Engaging Suicide

Suicidal Crises of Elijah and Jonah: Addressing Spiritual Dysconnection and Pain from Episcopal Diocese of New York on Vimeo.

Session 1 of "This Soul Cried from the Abyss: Biblical, Theological, and Practical Resources for Preventing and Grieving Suicide" (Jan 5,  2021), with Stephen Cook, Jill M. Harkavy-Friedman, and Robert D. Flanagan. This education program is made possible by a grant from the General Convention of the Episcopal Church towards developing resources for clergy and lay leaders to use, pastorally and practically, in addressing suicide.

The Actual Idea of Faith

Join Prof. Cook in this immersion in Genesis 15:6 to discuss the nature of "faith" in Scripture. The video draws on art and animation in a deep probe into the true meaning of faith. Hint: faith has nothing to do with believing things without seeing evidence.

Is the Coronavirus the Apocalypse? An Interview with Dr. Stephen L. Cook

Watch the interview on Digital Hammurabi's YouTube channel: Click HERE!

Raphael's "The Prophets Hosea and Jonah"

Today, the National Gallery opened a Raphael special exhibit commemorating the 500th anniversary of the artist's untimely death. For me this 1510 drawing of "The Prophets Hosea and Jonah" was the highlight. I love how "Mosaic" the seated Hosea looks—very reminiscent of  Michelangelo's Moses. Hosea, after all, was a prophet in Moses' direct line (Deut 18:15). The verbal revelation of God was absolutely key for Mosaic prophets, and Hosea is writing it down. The angel's gesture indicates how the prohet's words bring us right into God's very presence. Jonah, on the other hand, looks away from all the spiritual action. Clearly, the "un-prophet" is unconnected with the divine dynamic that should orient him. Instead he bears an expression of distress and worry. Whatever he is hearing from heaven, it does not sit well with him.