Category Archives: suffering

Conference on “Creation Care and Justice” at Northeastern Seminary (October 18–19, 2024)

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Northeastern Seminary (in conjunction with the Canadian-American Theological Association, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, the Canadian Scientific & Christian Affiliation, and the American Scientific Affiliation) will sponsor an interdisciplinary conference on “Creation Care and Justice,” on Friday evening through Saturday, October 18–19, 2024.

Keynote Speaker, Sylvia Keesmaat

Our keynote speaker will be New Testament scholar, farmer, and activist, Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat.

Sylvia Keesmaat

Sylvia teaches online at Bible Remixed (www.bibleremixed) and is the author (with Brian Walsh) of Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice (Brazos Press, 2019) and Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire (IVP, 2004). She also authored Paul and His Story: (Re)Interpreting the Exodus Tradition (Sheffield Academic, 1999). Sylvia is currently writing a book on climate grief, tentatively titled, A Fountain of Tears: Ecological Grief in the Biblical Story. She lives on a farm in the Kawartha Lakes with her husband, Brian Walsh, and a fluctuating number of people and animals.

A longer up-to-date biography for Sylvia Keesmaat with more details can be found here.

Dr. Keesmaat will give two lectures in connection with the conference, a public lecture open to all and a keynote lecture for the conference.

Friday Evening Public Lecture

Sylvia’s Friday evening public lecture, October 18, 2024, is titled: “Torn Between Grief and Hope: Biblical Wisdom and the Climate Catastrophe.”

Lecture description: We are often so weighed down with grief over creational destruction that it is difficult to look to the future with hope. This talk will explore not only the ways that this grief is present in the biblical story, but also how a future of possibility and renewal shaped the biblical imagination of those who lived with that grief.

This is a free public lecture open to the entire community. Registration for the Saturday conference is not required to attend. More information about time, location, and directions will be forthcoming.

Saturday Morning Conference Lecture

Sylvia’s Saturday morning lecture for the conference, October 19, 2024, is titled: “The Lament of the Land and the Tears of God.”

Lecture description: The lens of trauma and grief offers a relatively new approach for interpreting biblical texts about creational destruction and land loss. In this talk we will explore a few texts that highlight the grief of both the Creator and creation, alongside an imaginative hope that calls us to be servants of restoration.

This is the keynote lecture for the conference on “Creation Care and Justice”; registration is required. Stay tuned for the registration link on the Northeastern Seminary website.

Registration (through the Seminary) will soon be available (I will post a link when it is).

Call for Papers

In line with the topic of Dr. Keesmaat’s lectures, we invite submission of high quality papers on any topic related to the broad theme of “Creation Care and Justice.”

We welcome papers from the theological or the scientific side (including the social sciences), especially those that explore intersections of a biblical-theological vision with issues of scientific interest.

Papers should be scholarly but not highly specialized presentations of about 25 minutes, aimed at an audience of students, pastors, and faculty from across the spectrum of theological and scientific disciplines.

A PDF of the full Call for Papers (including deadlines) for the October 2024 conference can be accessed here.

Panel Discussion of Abraham’s Silence at the Society of Biblical Literature, November 2022

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My book Abraham’s Silence: The Binding of Isaac, the Suffering of Job, and How to Talk Back to God was published by Baker Academic in November 2021.

There will be a panel discussion on the book at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) in Denver, on November 21, 2022. There will be six reviewers, three Jewish biblical scholars and three Christian biblical scholars.

The panel discussion in Denver is jointly sponsored by two SBL program units: The Theology of the Hebrew Scriptures and The National Association of Professors of Hebrew.

I will give a response to the papers. As part of my response, I am considering sharing a “script” I have written of what Abraham might have said to God in place of the silent obedience recorded in Genesis 22 (we could think of it as the Aqedah in an alternative timeline).

If you will be in Denver, you are cordially invited to attend the session, 4:00–6:30 pm, Monday, November 21, 2022.

I have been pondering the topic of suffering, and appropriate prayer in the face of suffering, for a very long time, primarily through studying various biblical passages that address this issue. My focus has been on the lament psalms, the book of Job, and Abraham’s strange silence in Genesis 22.

I’ve given many talks and papers over the years on lament, Job, and Genesis 22, but I began working on integrating my reflections on these topics during my 2016 sabbatical in Australia. Everything came together in the last couple of years, resulting in the final form of the book.

You can access the Table of Contents and the Introduction of the book here (provided by the publisher).

An Earlier Panel Discussion on the Book

I was also privileged to be a respondent to a (virtual) panel discussion on Abraham’s Silence at the annual meeting of Eastern Great Lakes Biblical Society in March 2022. There were four reviewers.

Reviews of Abraham’s Silence

The book has begun to be reviewed in journals and on the internet. Here is a link to some reviews.

Book Reviews of Abraham’s Silence

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My book Abraham’s Silence: The Binding of Isaac, the Suffering of Job, and How to Talk Back to God (Baker Academic, 2021) has now received a number of reviews in journals, magazines, and blogs.

I’m heartened by the fact that most reviewers have been appreciative about my argument that God desires a vigorous dialogue partner, even if not everyone has been convinced fully by my interpretation of Genesis 22.

Interestingly, so far no-one has disputed my interpretation of Genesis 22 on exegetical grounds (by showing that I misconstrued or missed something in the text). The critiques (both in published reviews and in email responses) that I have received tend to be theological, based on a priori assumptions about what the text means, often derived from reading the New Testament.

I was planning on addressing the New Testament references to Genesis 22 in the book, but there wasn’t space (given the publisher’s guidelines). If there is a second, revised edition, I would try to include a section (perhaps an appendix) on this.

In the meantime, I am working on an article that would address all explicit references and possible allusions to Genesis 22 in the New Testament.

Here is a sampling of the reviews Abraham’s Silence has received.

Glenn Kreider (theologian) in Criswell Theological Review (19.2, 2022).

Carmen Imes (OT scholar) on Goodreads website (July 12, 2021).

David Neville (NT scholar) in St. Mark’s Review (June-July, 2022).

Holly Rossi (freelance writer) in Publisher’s Weekly (Nov 5, 2021).

Brian Walsh (theologian) in Christian Courier (April 27, 2022).

Andrew Arndt (blogger) on Mere Orthodoxy blog (February 2, 2022).

Anthony Philips (OT scholar) in Journal for the Study of the Old Testament (46.5, 2022).

Ben McFarland (professor of chemistry) in Christian Scholar’s Review (August 5, 2022).

David Lyle Taylor (blogger) on Nephy Style blog (November 18, 2021).

Travis Bott (OT scholar) on The Living Church website (April 29, 2022).

Byron Borger (blogger and bookstore owner) on Hearts and Minds website (November 23, 2021).

Randal Rauser (blogger) on The Tentative Apologist blog (May 15, 2022).

Jeremiah Rood (blogger) in Foreword Reviews (November/December 2021).

There will be a panel discussion on the book at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) in Denver, on November 21, 2022. For more information, see this blog post.