September 27, 2018
Biblical Drag: Performing Gender with the Song of Songs.
From He to She, from You to Me: Worship as Drag in the Song of Songs (more…)
September 27, 2018
Readings on Rosh Hashana: Hagar, Abraham, and the Wilderness
This semester I am taking Interpretation as Resistance: Womanist, Feminist, and Queer Approaches to the Bible taught by Professors Alika Galloway and Carolyn Pressler. This week’s reading concerns the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar. Sarah is unable to bear children, which is unfortunate since her husband Abraham is supposed to father “a great nation” (Gen. 12.2). Sarah comes up with a plan to have Abraham use a surrogate: her Egyptian slave Hagar. Abraham agrees, lays with Hagar, and Hagar conceives. The Bible then tells us that Hagar “saw that she had conceived [and] looked with contempt on her mistress”(Gen. 16.4). Sarah responds by being so cruel to Hagar that she runs away to the desert. Upon finding a spring of water, Hagar meets an angel of God who gives her an ambivalent message: go back and submit to a life of cruelty but also your son Ishmael will be the father of nations. A mixed bag, for sure. (more…)
September 27, 2018
Don’t Leave Your Trumpet at the Door: A Guide to Theological Education at United Seminary
Don’t Leave Your Trumpet at the Door: A Guide to Theological Education at United Seminary (more…)
“Driven From Your Sight”: Aw(e)ful Encounters with God
The following post was originally given as a sermon on September 13, 2018. (more…)
Do You Have a Theology, Philosophy or Worldview?
Few people have anything approaching an articulate philosophy—at least as epitomized by the great philosophers. Even fewer, I suspect, have a carefully constructed theology. But everyone has a worldview, whether we are conscious of it or not. It’s what we believe. Not necessarily what we profess. (more…)
August 3, 2018
Pretty Looking Road: Arts Practicum Showcase
Art by Sarah Amalia Holst created during a class meditation let by Amoke Kubat. (more…)
August 3, 2018
United’s Academic Council Releases Statement on President Trump’s Ban on Muslim Immigrants
The Academic Council at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities released this statement about President Trump's recent Executive Order banning immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries: (more…)