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Adult Vacation Bible School

Over several Sundays at 10:30 am, we will read Second Samuel, focusing on key scenes, prose, and poetry that have intrigued artists, writers, musicians, and religious thinkers across the generations. What light can history and archeology shed on what we know about David? Readings from this biblical book are part of our lectionary this summer, and our preachers will be invited to engage these texts during the Sunday sermons.

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June 20, 2021

"The Great Turning-Point: David, Bathsheba, and the Fall of the House of David."

Robert Alter, Professor in the Graduate School and Emeritus Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967.  He is a scholar both of biblical literature and of contemporary fiction. His writing on the art of biblical narrative makes him one of the preeminent scholars of the Bible in our time.


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July 4, 2021

“Her Side of the Story: Michal, daughter of Saul?”

Marti J. Steussy, MacAllister-Petticrew Professor of Biblical Interpretation emerita at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, is an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She was a translator for the Common English Bible. She has written Samuel and His God and David: Biblical Portraits of Power, among her academic books, and is also the author of two science-fiction novels.

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July 11, 2021

"Excavating David?: The United Monarchy and the Archaeology of Israel"

Erin Darby, associate professor of Early Judaism in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Tennessee. She specializes in the history, archaeology, and literature of ancient Israel and Jordan. Her research at the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem and the American Center of Research in Amman, Jordan, has been supported by several competitive grants and fellowships. She is also the co-director of the 'Ayn Gharandal Archaeological Project in southern Jordan.

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July 25, 2021

"King David: An Overview"

Steven L. McKenzie, Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and Spence L. Wilson Senior Research Fellow at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. His research and teaching interests include the history of ancient Israel, the literature of the Hebrew Bible, Hebrew language and grammar, the Dead Sea Scrolls, methods of biblical interpretation, and archaeology. He has appeared on the Discovery and History channels and in radio interviews as a consultant on King David and on reading and interpreting the Bible. He is the author of King David: A Biography, among his many other published works.