What was the primary argument of your doctoral thesis?
I argued that the book of Ezekiel uses the story/image of the Eden Garden to articulate a shift in Zion theology. The book of Ezekiel mentions the Garden of Eden, or Garden of God, more than any other book of the Old Testament (and since Eden is actually only mentioned a handful of times, it is significant to have three explicit and one implicit reference in Ezekiel). My project looked at what Ezekiel might have been doing with the image. In Ezekiel 28, the Garden of God is in parallel with the Mountain of God, and then the passage goes on to articulate how the character in Ezekiel 28 is cast off the mountain. There is no further mention of the garden, and it seems to me that Ezekiel is capitalizing on the similarities and differences between mountains and gardens in the Ancient Near East to cast a new vision of Zion. Gardens tend to be border areas while mountains are more often the dwelling place of deity. In separating the mountain from the garden, the image of the garden can encapsulate various elements of the former city that are reformed and placed into their proper place relative to YHWH (i.e. city, monarchy, land) without encroaching on the mountain in the future. Ezekiel 40–48 articulates a new theology of city/monarchy/land, but the focus is on the dwelling of YHWH– a very high mountain with limited access to humans and walls around the temple. Ezekiel’s use of the Eden Garden is tied into his separation of Jerusalem, and its institutions, from the mountain of YHWH’s abode.
What led you to study this subject?
I was interested in the Garden of Eden in Genesis and how it is used by the church to support certain theologies. But then I discovered that the book of Ezekiel mentions it more than any other book of the Hebrew Bible and wondered how the story was used much earlier than my context. I found the more I studied Ezekiel the more interesting it became. The prophet, and his book, are misunderstood as angry and detrimental to modern concerns (like gender relationships and ecojustice) by many scholars, and it is rarely used in church because it is so strange. A deeper dive into the book, however, reveals deep grief (and anger) but none of the abuse often read into the text.
How did your thesis contribute to the field?
There was plenty of research on the individual sections of the book of Ezekiel where Eden appears (Ezekiel 28, 31, 36, 47) but nothing looking at the overall ‘why’ question.
If seeking to publish your thesis, what has the process of searching for a publisher looked like?
I’ve only just started this process but am hoping to submit my first proposal in a couple of months. It’s a long process! If you have help from an examiner who knows the field and can guide you towards where to possibly submit, that is ideal. If you are doing it on your own, you have to try and sort out which publishers are publishing work in your area who might be sympathetic to your approach. You also have to decide if you want to go with a publisher who does dissertations, or if you want to turn the work into a monograph (which requires a bit more work). I took two years off from my thesis and that is both good and bad. Good because I’m not as tired of the topic, but bad because you have more holes to fill in and new work to add into your conclusions.
What does your life look like post-graduation? What is your current vocation and how does your doctoral work inform it?
I work in academic administration and adjunct a bit. This was always my goal. I just want to be in higher education and involved in scholarly conversations about the Old Testament. I’m doing some articles and presenting papers and just generally seeing where it all goes.
What does it mean to you to be a scholar in the Wesleyan tradition?
I think as an Old Testament scholar in particular, my faith allows me to hold to a truth in scripture that is missing in much OT work. We spend so much time pulling the text apart into layers and redactions and critical thought, that without a faith it seems to me it would all fall apart. I know a number of OT scholars who had a confessional faith, and then they got pulled into the debates around text formation and felt very let down. Many have abandoned that confessional faith after their study. I find it incredibly arrogant to feel as though I can disprove God through the medium of a study that he called me to step into.
Basically this means that because I feel like God called me to study the text, it allows me to find a balance in how the study impacts my faith. This belief allows me to balance the scholarship that basically sees the text as entirely the work of humans in response to specific circumstances within human history with a belief that the text is divine and shows the intervention of the divine in the human world. How can I only rip it apart if I believe the latter? Why would I think that I have the right to do so? Basically I see faith as helping me hold the scholastic world, with all of its shifting and changing theories of the text, in tension with what the text actually says. I think it forces a level of honest inquiry - an inquiry that when it yields gaps - can still be filled with God himself.
How do you see your scholarly work as part of your ministry?
I see my scholarship as a form of worship and as a long-term service to the church (in the form of contributing to the body of knowledge).
What made NTC and Manchester ideal places to undertake your doctoral studies?
I loved that I could study all day and then go to church with my supervisor on Sunday. Good scholastic work couched in chapel and a reminder that all of the work was for the glory of God.
What are some projects in progress? Where can we find your work these days?
I have a couple of chapters coming out in the next year. One is on the Oracles Against the Nations in Ezekiel and it will appear in a book titled Metaphors in Ezekiel this year. I also have a contribution in a volume titled A Planting of the Lord on cedars in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible.
What advice do you have for recent doctoral graduates who are searching for jobs, whether in academia, the church, or elsewhere?
Let the Holy Spirit guide your work and stay faithful to the interests that God has placed on your heart. You don’t know where you’ll use it, or if you’ll use it the way you might think. The church needs educated people to help navigate the changes and challenges of our modern world, and you never know when you’ll be called on to contribute to these important conversations.