Biblical and Theological Studies Department
Education
Ph.D. (New Testament) Emory University, 2009
Th.M., Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 1998
M.Div., Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary 1996
B.A. (Music) University of the South, 1991
About Elizabeth Shively
My experience as a student made me the kind of teacher I am, and determined the subject I teach. I teach because my classroom experience awakened me to new ideas and ways of thinking that not only shaped me as a student, but also as a person. I teach the Bible because its texts are powerful and invite me to be a lifelong learner even as I instruct. I view myself as a perpetual student who leads others to the light that she finds. In particular, I love to teach students how to interpret the New Testament and to convince them that it is a Word to live by today. I aim to persuade them that to use exegetical methods is not to hold the biblical text at arms length, but that it is to approach the text consciously and deliberately and skillfully. It is to learn tools that enable us to interpret the biblical text first-hand before turning to secondary sources, and to evaluate those sources critically. It is also to learn tools that deepen devotional habits. To exegete the Bible is a religious practice that is foundational for all other practices of ministry and habits of life. At Wheaton, I hope to press students towards the Biblical and Theological Studies Department’s goal of assisting them to become, “biblically rooted and theologically formed.”
In addition to teaching, I enjoy singing when I get the chance (college music major turned theology student), cooking, running, and playing tennis with my husband and two boys, Evan and Jack.
Courses Taught
New Testament Literature and Interpretation, BiTh 213
Biblical Interpretation and Hermeneutics, BiTh 325
Memberships in Professional Societies
Evangelical Theological Society
Society of Biblical Literature
Licensed Minister, CCCC
Research
Research interests include the Synoptic Gospels and Acts; Narrative analysis; Intertextuality; Hermeneutics; Jewish apocalyptic literature; Use of story to shape the moral imagination
Papers Published and/or Presented
Publications
Apocalyptic Imagination in the Gospel of Mark: The Literary and Theological Role of Mark 3:22-30. Beiheifte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, forthcoming (2012).
Review of Michael Tait, Jesus, The Divine Bridegroom, in Mark 2:18-22: Mark’s Christology Upgraded (AnBib 185; Rome: Gregorian and Biblical Press, 2010). Catholic Biblical Quarterly (forthcoming, 2012).
“The Story Matters: Solving the Problem of the Parables in Mark 3:22-30,” Pages 122-44 in Between Author and Audience in Mark: Narration, Characterization, Interpretation (ed. Elizabeth Struthers Malbon; Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009).
“Cultivating Imagination in Biblical Interpretation: A Classroom Exercise,” in Practical Matters: A Transdisciplinary Multimedia Journal of Practical Theology and Religious Practices (http://www.practicalmattersjournal.org/; Issue 1, Spring 2009).
Contributor to Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (ed. William D. Mounce, Smith and Van Pelt; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006).
Contributing Writer for WorkingPreacher.org. Center for Biblical Preaching, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. 2010 – present.
Presentations
“An Old Text and a Contemporary Issue: A Biblical Study in Gender,” Boston Christian Medical and Dental Association Winter Retreat: The Anatomy and Physiology of the Bible: How the Word Becomes Flesh, Rindge, New Hampshire – February 2011.
“A Tale of Two Households: Mark 3:22-30 and 13:32-37,” Society of Biblical Literature, Synoptic Gospels Section, Atlanta – November 2010.
“Can Narrative be Normative? Marking a Way,” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Homiletics and Biblical Studies Section, Atlanta – November 2010.
“Why Does God Allow Violence?: Story as a Resource for Apologetics,” Seminar for the Ockenga Institute Summer Conference: Reasons for Believing, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary – June 2010.
“Using First-Person Narrative to Discover the Role of the Reader,” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Academic Teaching and Biblical Studies Section, Boston – November 2008.
“The Story Matters: Interpreting Mark 3:22-30 as a Markan Discourse,” Southeastern Regional Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta – March 2008.
“Paul’s Use of the Old Testament in Romans 10:6-8,” Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting, Toronto – November 2002.