Courses

PR1510	Telling the Story with Gracia Grindal	Spring 2009
PR2510	Foundations of Biblical Preaching with David Lose	Fall 2009

Speaking & Travel

Speaking Topic List

Bible Basics

Christmas in John's Gospel

How the Bible Came to Be

How to Read the Bible

John's Story of Jesus

Wine, Water Jars, and Witness: The Women of John's Gospel

Getting to Know Paul, the Pastor

Two Encounters: Jesus’ Response to Two Women and What it Means for Us

A Samaritan and a Savior: One Woman's Encounter with Jesus

The Bible as the Word of God

The Book of Revelation

The Death of Jesus: Four Gospel Accounts

Recovering the Wonder of the Bible

The Gospel According to Luke

The Gospel According to Mark

Translating the Bible: What Bible Should I Read?

Why We Don't Read the Bible and Why We Should

Selected Publications

Rereading the "Shepherd Discourse":
Restoring the Integrity of John 9:39-10:21
(Studies in Biblical Literature)

The history of scholarship narrates a complicated past for the interpretation of the "Shepherd Discourse" in the Fourth Gospel. Both the internal and contextual integrity of John 9:39–10:21 have been compromised by a misapplied analogy dividing the passage into a parable and explanation structure, and by reading models that favor historical approaches. As a result, the images and figures encountered in the discourse have not been allowed their full imaginative impact and the tendency is to look outside the Gospel for their referents and explanations. The meaning of the "Shepherd Discourse" lies not in its relation to the rest of the Fourth Gospel, but to that which is imported into the narrative. Moreover, its function as the discourse to chapter 9, and in the whole of the Gospel, is overlooked. Lewis employs the strategy of rereading, borrowed from literary theory, to address the internal integrity of the discourse and the relationship of the discourse to the rest of the narrative. The literary phenomenon of rereading highlights the interconnectedness of the whole of the discourse and allows all of the imagery to be assessed at a figurative level. Rereading also foregrounds the function of John 9:39–10:21 as the discourse to the healing of the blind man in chapter nine, and calls attention to the importance of the "Shepherd Discourse" for the interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, especially the often-ignored image of Jesus as the door. This book suggests that rereading is necessitated by the Gospel itself as a fundamental feature of its unique theological expression.

Essays & Articles

“Living by the Word,” August 17 and 24, 2008, in The Christian Century (August 12, 2008), 18-19.

“The Ethics of Self-Disclosure in Preaching,” for Journal of Lutheran Ethics (August 2008)

“‘Shepherd My Sheep’: Preaching for the Sake of Greater Works than These,” in

Word and World, Vol. 28 (2008), 318-324.

Education/Curriculum Vitae:

Ph.D.	Emory University Atlanta, GA	2006	Biographical Notes Photo
Ordained	ELCA	1999
M.Div.	Luther Seminary St. Paul, MN	1994
B.A.	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	1989

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Last updated: August 26, 2008.