Sabbatical Project (2007-2008)
I recently returned from a year-long sabbatical in Nicaragua, where I was doing research on biblical and theological perspectives on economic justice. Eventually, a book (tentatively titled, My Brother's Keeper: The Strange World of Biblical Economic Values) will come out of the sabbatical research and my ongoing teaching at Saint Mary's College. My family and I had a wonderful time living in Estelí, Nicaragua, from mid-August 2007 through July 2008.
Jan Term Travel Course (2008):
In January, I co-taught a Saint Mary's College of California travel course in Nicaragua and El Salvador, with Margaret Dick, Ph.D. The course was entitled "Nicaragua and El Salvador: Religion and Politics in Conflict," and all of us—fifteen students and two professors—had a remarkably powerful experience.
Some Recent Scholarly Work:
Mission and Moral Reflection in Paul
My book on the apostle's understanding of his missional vocation -- and the implications of that understanding for his moral thinking -- was recently published by Peter Lang (2006).
Missional Hermeneutics
I helped organize a special session (sponsored by the Gospel and Our Culture Network) on "Mission and Biblical Interpretation: Toward a Missional Hermeneutic" at the AAR/SBL meetings in Washington, D.C. (Nov. 18, 2006). This is the fifth (consecutive) such gathering on missional hermeneutics. Mike Goheen and I each presented papers at the session to introduce a unique opportunity for attendees to participate in an experiment in missional hermeneutics. The text of my presentation, "'Located' Questions for a Missional Hermeneutic," has been published on the GOCN website. At the upcoming (Nov. 2007) AAR/SBL meetings in San Diego, CA, Darrell Guder and Ross Wagner, from Princeton Theological Seminary, will present a paper on their recent collaborative teaching experiences focused on reading Philippians missionally. (See links to papers delivered at the 2005 meeting on the right hand side of this page.)
I contributed an article on missional hermeneutics ("The Bible, Mission, and Social Location: Toward a Missional Hermeneutic") to the January 2007 issue of Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology.
Biblical Perspectives on Economic
Justice
A short essay on teaching this topic was featured on the SBL Forum (www.sbl-site.org; August 2005)
Teaching the Bible: Practical
Strategies for Classroom
Instruction
I contributed six entries to this recently published volume (Society of Biblical Literature), edited by Patrick Gray and Mark Roncace.
Current Committees :
Justice and Community Minor
Mission Formation Board (Christian Brothers Conference)
Lasallian Social Justice Institute
