Scholar-Activist Encounter: Dr. Angela Parker and Dr. Karri L. Whipple

February 17, 2022

How do activism and scholarship contribute to our understanding of Scripture in the world today?

CLBSJ is honored to welcome Dr. Angela N. Parker and Dr. Karri L. Whipple to discuss Dr. Parker’s recently-published book, If God Still Breathes, Why Can’t I? Black Lives Matter and Biblical Authority. In this book, Dr. Parker uses womanist biblical interpretation to take on the conflation of biblical authority with the doctrines of inerrancy and infallibility. Our discussion will focus on how the Black Lives Matter movement has inspired the ideas in this book, and impacted the realm of Biblical Studies generally.

To register for this session, click here: Register for this event

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Optional Reading: Review of If God Still Breathes by Robert Cornwall

Dr. Angela N. Parker is assistant professor of New Testament and Greek at McAfee. She received her B.A. in religion and philosophy from Shaw University (2008), her M.T.S. from Duke Divinity School (2008-2010) and her Ph.D. in Bible, culture, and hermeneutics (New Testament focus) from Chicago Theological Seminary (2015). Before this position, Dr. Parker was assistant professor of Biblical Studies at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology for four years. While at The Seattle School, Dr. Parker received the Journal for Feminist Studies in Religion’s ESF New Scholar Award (2nd Place) for her article “One Womanist’s View of Racial Reconciliation in Galatians.” She teaches courses in New Testament, Greek Exegesis, the Gospel of Mark, the Corinthians Correspondence, the Gospel of John, and Womanist and Feminist Hermeneutics unto preaching. Read full bio at mercer.edu.

Dr. Karri L. Whipple is the Faculty Fellow of Global Works and Society at New York University. She received her PhD in New Testament with a focus in Women’s and Gender Studies from Drew University. Her research focuses on the intersection of trauma, identity, and biblical interpretation. In particular, Dr. Whipple examines the impacts of biblical texts in perpetuating and addressing racially-, gender- and sexuality-based traumas. Her teaching focuses on topics of queer hermeneutics, domination and resistance in antiquity, inclusive pedogocial practices, trauma and sacred texts, and womanist/feminist hermeneutics. She also works with grassroots organizations and with NGOs at the United Nations to advocate for gender equity, media rights, and intimate justice.

The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice invites you to join us for an interactive dialogue exploring the interfaces between scholarship and activism. How do these ways of being contribute to our understanding of Scripture in the world today? Let’s come together to learn from each other. Most events take place on the third Thursday of the month at 4:30pm Pacific Time / 7:30pm Eastern Time. We do not meet every month, and occasionally meet on a different night.

See the full schedule of the Scholar-Activist Encounter series. For questions, email info@clbsj.org.

This series is co-sponsored by the Community of Living Traditions.