Dr Andrew Davies BD (Hons) (London), MA, PhD (Sheffield)

 

Senior Lecturer in Intercultural Theology and Pentecostal Studies
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Theology and Religion

Department of Theology and Religion

Photograph of Dr Andrew Davies

Contact details

Telephone +44 (0)121 415 8348

Email a.davies.4@bham.ac.uk

ERI Building
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

About

I am a cultural critic and biblical scholar who works on the reception history of the Bible, specifically its handling by Pentecostals and Evangelicals throughout the world today and its interpretation in the arts, particularly music. I joined the University of Birmingham in January 2010, after ten years of working in the theological college sector, the last five of them as Vice Principal, during which time I also taught and supervised students in the USA and Southeast Asia, a region of the world that continues to interest me. I now combine my teaching and administrative responsibilities as Director of Undergraduate Studies in Theology & Religion with research in the Centre for Pentecostal & Charismatic Studies, where I am involved in a number of projects and supervise doctoral researchers.

My PhD, in the field of biblical ethics, gave rise to my interests in literary-critical approaches to the Hebrew Bible (particularly in the use of a resistant reader-response methodology for reading biblical texts), and in the use of the Bible as a moral resource. Both these concerns have encouraged my broader fascination with the role and function of the Bible in today’s world and its relevance for people of all faiths and none, which is expressed particularly in my interest in the use of the Bible by the Pentecostal movement, and in (both high and more popular) cultural expression (especially the reinterpretation of Bible in music and the visual arts) in both sacred and secular contexts.

Qualifications

  • BD(Hons) in Divinity, University of London (1992)
  • MA in Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield (1994)
  • PhD in Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield (1998)

Teaching

In the 2013-14 academic year I will teaching the undergraduate modules:

  • Religion and the Arts
  • Biblical Hebrew Texts
  • Evangelical & Pentecostal Approaches to Music and Worship

and the graduate modules:

  • Evangelical & Pentecostal Approaches to Music and Worship
  • Evangelical & Pentecostal Hermeneutics

Postgraduate supervision

I would be interested in talking to potential research students who would like to work in any of the following fields:

  • The use of the the Bible in the Pentecostal movement
  • Cultural-critical approaches to the Bible, especially the use of the Bible in music
  • Pentecostal music and worship
  • Biblical ethics
  • Hebrew Bible, particularly the prophetic books
  • Contemporary Christianity

PhD opportunities

Research

My research interests include:

  • Contemporary (especially cultural-critical and postmodern literary) approaches to biblical interpretation and hermeneutics
  • Biblical ethics
  • Pentecostal and Evangelical approaches to the Bible
  • Religion and Culture

I am a member of the Centre for Pentecostal & Charismatic Studies at Birmingham, and in terms of learned societies am an active member of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, the European Pentecostal Theological Association, the Society for Old Testament Studies and the Society of Biblical Literature.

Other activities

I am joint Series Editor of Brill’s monograph series, Global Pentecostal & Charismatic Studies with Professor William Kay and Assistant Editor of the Equinox journal PentecoStudies as well as a member of the editorial boards of three peer-reviewed journals: Journal of the European Theological Association, Biblical Reception and Journal of Biblical and Pneumatological Research. I am presently writing a book on the use of the Bible in music for Sheffield Phoenix Press and working on a volume on Pentecostal hermeneutics for Brill.

In November 2011, I recorded an IdeasLab Predictor Podcast on the future of Christianity in the UK. 

Publications

Books

  • Double Standards in Isaiah: Re-evaluating Divine Justice and Prophetic Ethics (Biblical Interpretation Series, 46; Leiden: Brill, 2000)
  • Resoundings: Reading the Musical Afterlives of the Bible (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, forthcoming)
  • The Spirit in Society: Perspectives on Pentecostalism in Honour of William K. Kay (ed. with Robert P. Pope; Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, forthcoming)

Articles and chapters in books

  • '"My God … Why?" Criticising the Actions and Inaction of God in the Psalms' in L. Snow Flesher, C. J. Dempsey & M.J. Boda (eds), Why?... How Long? Studies on Voice(s) of Lamentation Rooted in Biblical Hebrew Poetry (LHBOTS, 552; London: Continuum, 2011).
  • 'The Spirit of Freedom: Pentecostals, the Bible and Social Justice', JEPTA, 31/1 (2011).
  • 'Redemption Tidings on Leadership: Concepts of Ministry and Church Governance in the Early Publications of Assemblies of God in the UK', in A. Davies and R.P. Pope (eds.), The Spirit in Society: Perspectives on Pentecostalism in Honour of William K. Kay (Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2011).
  • 'Reading in the Spirit: Some Brief Observations on Pentecostal Interpretation and the Ethical Difficulties of the Old Testament', Journal of Beliefs and Values 30:3 (2009)
  • ‘The Bible Under the Joshua Tree: Biblical Imagery in the Music of U2', SBL Forum January (2009)
  • 'What Does It Mean to Read the Bible as a Pentecostal?', Journal of Pentecostal Theology 18.2 (2009)
  • 'Oratorio as Exegesis: The Use of the Book of Isaiah in Handel's Messiah', in J. Cheryl Exum (ed.), Retellings: The Bible in Literature, Music, Art and Film (Leiden: Brill, 2007)
  • 'A New Teaching Without Authority: Preaching the Bible in Postmodernity', Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association, 27.2 (2007)
  • 'The Great Divorce', in W.C. Williams (ed.), They Spoke From God: An Integrative Survey of the Old Testament  Springfield, MO: Logion Press, (2003)

Expertise

Contemporary Christian belief and practice; Christianity and contemporary culture; the Bible in the modern world; biblical ethics; Christianity and social engagement

Expertise

Contemporary Christian belief and practice; Christianity and contemporary culture; the Bible in the modern world; biblical ethics; Christianity and social engagement

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