I am a PhD student in New Testament and Early Christian Literature at Brite Divinity School. I have earned at B.A. and Th.M. in New Testament Studies. My cheif interests are imperial-critical biblical criticism, philosophical hermeneutics, Second Temple Judaism, Jewish Apocalyptic Literature, and ideological criticisms of various types. In terms of my personal background, I spent half of my lifetime addicted to heroin and other drugs before having my “spiritual awakening.” My own theological journey has been and continues to be winding, and I find myself most comfortable labeling my own theological location at present with the title of Jurgen Moltmann’s biography “A Broad Place.” This path has traversed initial pentecostalism, conservatism, and several other -isms, which I choose now to simply identify now as “follower of Jesus.” Indeed, along the journey I was awakened to nascent Christianities and their socio-religious, imperial context. As a result, my eyes have been opened to my own present context, in empire, in some sense, as the “colonizer.” I choose to resist this, to conscientiously act against participating in the further perpetuation of oppression as best I can. Moreover, I am deeply concerned with the hermeneutics of empire and how the biblical texts are read, especially in the modern imperial West. For that reason I began this blog, to set forth reviews, ideas, thoughts, musings, and the like.
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Rob,
Can you define what “an imperial-critical perspective” is, for the rest of us? Perhaps give a brief synopsis on the basics of such a perspective. Thanks,
JT Caldwell
JT,
Thanks for the challenge. I posted a response. Let me know what you think.
Dear Rob:
I ran across your blog and your story while looking for a specific item on the internet. You have an amazing testimony! I hope to follow the progress of your career. I’m a tenured professor at Perkins School of Theology, and an ordained Disciple of Christ pastor (Brite is, of course, related to my denomination). I wish you all the best, and hope to meet you in the future.
Blessings!
Susanne Johnson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Christian Education
Perkins School of Theology
Southern Methodist University
Hi Rob,
I found you by searching the internet for “the gospel of Luke and empire” as part of a general search for current work on the gospels and empire before completing the final chapter of my PhD thesis on Church, gospel and empire: A theological enquiry into the manner and extent in which empire has impacted ecclesial formation and displaced originary gospel principles in the course of church history. I am a postgrad researcher in the Politics, Philsophy and Religion department in the University of Lancaster here in the UK. Looks like we might have some interests in common. You can check out the bones of my thesis and other stuff on my blog rogerhaydonmitchell.wordpress.com if you are interested. Cheers! Rog