Faculty Profiles

It only took a few days in her first Biblical Studies class in college to realize that this topic is what she wanted to study for the rest of her life. Amy is incredibly thankful that she can now research and teach God’s Word daily as part of her vocation.

Dr. Peeler’s initial research in the Epistle to the Hebrews prompted her to explore ancient rhetoric, the use of the Old Testament in the New, Israel's sacrificial system, atonement, family and inheritance in the Ancient World. The focus on God as Father in Hebrews led to studies in feminist theology, Mary, mother of God, and theological language.

Hebrews articulates what Amy believes is true of all Scripture: it is living and active and sharp enough to penetrate our hearts, minds, and spirits. If we give it our attention and respect, God will reward that work. Consequently, she always discovers new insights into the character of God as she explores the entire Bible with her classes, colleagues, fellow church members, and family. Her husband Lance, a church organist, and their children, Kate, Maxson, and Kindred serve as her most dear companions on this race of faith (Heb 12:1-2), and she is thankful to count the Wheaton community as her fellow runners as well.

Princeton Theological Seminary
Ph.D., Biblical Studies, 2011

Princeton Theological Seminary
M.Div., 2005

Oklahoma Baptist University
B.A., Biblical Languages, 2002

• Hebrews
• NT Theology of Gender
• Theological Interpretation of Scripture
• Old Testament in the New
• Pastoral Epistles

• Personal Website
• Hebrews Greek Reading Videos with Amy Peeler

Select presentations:

"Born of a Woman: Humanity Honored and God Revealed." Wessner Chair in Biblical Studies Inaugural Lecture. April 23, 2024.

"Christian Ethics on the Battlefield of Gender." The 2024 Rediger Lecture. Taylor University. March 19, 2024.

"Contemplating the Scriptures with Mary." Teleios Conference. Oblate School of Theology. San Antonio, TX. February 23, 2024.

Response to Erin Smith, “Relation as Rationality.” Dabar Conference. Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. May 19, 2022. 

“Hebrews.” Princeton Theological Seminary New Testament Lecture. April 19, 2022.

“An Incarnational Reading of 1 Timothy 2.” Center for Pastoral Theologians. Augustine Fellowship. March 8, 2022.

“The First and Second Adam and Eve: Gender and Representative Humanity.” “What is a Human Being?” Conference. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. February 11, 2022.

“Uniquely Interconnected: The Incarnation, Sex, and Human Uniqueness.” Theological Anthropology Conference. Beeson Divinity School. January 14, 2022.

"An Incarnational Reading of 1 Cor 11." NT PhD Seminar, University of Aberdeen. Dec 1, 2021.                      

Respondent to Tom McCall’s Analytic Christology and the Theological Interpretation of the New Testament. Evangelical Society of Philosophers. November 2021.

Respondent to Katherine Sonderegger, David Moffitt, Bryan Dyer, and Nicole Riebe. Joint meeting Hebrews and Theological Interpretation Sections. Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. November 2021.

"Biblical Interpretation from the Location of Whiteness." Center for Pastor Theologians Annual Conference. October 2021.

"Holiness and the Female Body: Reading Luke’s Presentation Narrative." Chicago Theological Initiative. October 2021.

Review Panelist for Constructing Ethnic Identity in 1 Peter by Janette Ok. Christology Among the Disciplines. October 1, 2021.

Respondent to Matthew Croasmun. Dabar Conference. The Henry Center. Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. June 2021.

"God the Good Father." Center for Pastor Theologians. Augustine Fellowship. March 2021.

• The Epistle to the Hebrews

• Paul and Gender

• Pastoral Epistles

• Hebrews
• Gender in the New Testament
• Mary, the Mother of God
• New Testament Literature and Interpretation
• First Year Seminar: Enduring Questions (What is the Good Life and Who is the God Who Created It?)
• Matthew
• Mark
• Galatians
• James
• Theological Integration: Marriage and Family Therapy

"Son of God." Pages 1005-10 in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters. Edited by Scot McKnight, Lynn H. Cohick, Nijay K. Gupta. Second Edition. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2023.

"The Dividing Wall: Socially Located Exegesis in a Time of Reckoning." Co-authored with Madison Pierce. Pages 30-41 in Confronting Racial Injustice: Theory and Praxis for the Church. The Center for Pastor Theologians Series. Edited by Gerald Hiestand and Joel Lawrence. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2022.

"Psalms of Solomon and Hebrews 12:1-17: The Paternal Discipline of God." Pages 153-60 in Reading Hebrews in Context: The Sermon and Second Temple Judaism. Edited by Ben C. Blackwell, John K. Goodrich, and Jason Matson. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2022.

"Sonship in the Bible." Co-written with Joshua Mauer. Saint Andrews' Encyclopaedia of Theology. https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/SonshipintheBible

“'Leading Many Sons to Glory': Historical Implications of Exclusive Language in the Epistle to the Hebrews.”  Religions 12 (2021):1–13.

“Response to Mother of the Midwest.” Pages 122–26 in The Everlasting People: G. K. Chesterton and the First Nations. Matthew J. Milliner’s Hansen Lectures. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2021.

“Mary as Mediator.” Pages 75–96 in Voices from the Edge: Centering Marginalized Perspectives in Analytic Theology. Edited by Michelle Panchuk and Michael Rea. Oxford Studies in Analytic Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.

“The Son Like No Other: Comparing the Son to the Angelic Sons of God in the Epistle to the Hebrews.” Pages 1–12 in Son, Sacrifice, and Great Shepherd: Studies on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Edited by David M. Moffitt and Eric F. Mason. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 510. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020.

"‘A Fearful Thing to Fall into the Hands of Living God’: A Study of Fear in the Epistle to the Hebrews." Perspectives in Religious Studies, 2018. 

"Eating Like Jesus: 1 Corinthians 11:17–34" in Come Let Us Eat Together. Edited by George Kalantzsis and Marc Cortez. Amy Peeler. 2018.

"Imaging Glory: 1 Corinthians 11, Gender, and Bodies at Worship" in Beauty, Order, and Mystery: The Christian Vision of Sexuality. Edited by Todd Wilson and Gerald Hiestand. 2017.

"Anthropology of Hebrews" in Anthropology and New Testament Theology. Edited by Jason Maston and Benjamin E. Reynolds. Amy Peeler. 2016.

"Leadership in the General Epistles" in A Biblical Analysis of Leadership: Exegesis for the Everyday Leader. Edited by Bejamin K. Forrest. Amy Peeler. 2016.

"Junia" in Vindicating the Vixens: Men and Women Revisiting Gendered Bible Stories. Edited by Sandra Glahn. Amy Peeler. 2016.

Review of Children in Early Christian Narratives by Sharon Betsworth in Journal of Evangelical Theological Society. Amy Peeler. 2016.

"If Son, Then Priest: The Filial Foundation of Ordination in Hebrews and Other New Testament Texts" in Listen, Understand, Obey: A Festschrift For Gareth Cockerill. Edited by Caleb Friedeman. Amy Peeler. 2016.

"Those Other Gospels" in Books and Culture. Amy Peeler. 2015.

Review of The Blessed Virgin Mary (Guides to Theology) by Tim Perry and Daniel Kendall, SJ in Currents in Theology and Mission. Amy Peeler. 2015.

Review of The Power of Children: The Construction of Christian Families in the Greco-Roman World, by Mary Y. MacDonald in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. Amy Peeler. 2015.

Review of Women in Pastoral Office: The Story of S. Prassede, by Mary M. Schaefer in Books and Culture. Amy Peeler. 2015.

Review of Letters to the Church: A Survey of Hebrews and the General Epistles, by Karen Jobes in Wesleyan Theological Journal. Amy Peeler. 2014.

"Reading Biblically" in Reading Theologically: Foundations for Learning. Amy Peeler. 2014.

"ldquo; Peer Relations" in Christianity and Developmental Psychopathology: Foundations and Approaches. Amy Peeler. 2014.

Review of Greening Hebrews?: Ecological Readings in the Letter to the Hebrews, by Jeffrey S. Lamp in Review of Biblical Literature. Amy Peeler. 2014.

Review of Handbook of Women Biblical Interpreters: A Historical and Biographical Guide, ed. Marion Ann Taylor in Southeastern Theological Review. Amy Peeler. 2013.

"The Exegesis of Freshmen: Biblical Studies Research in Introduction to the New Testament" in Currents in Undergraduate Research Quarterly. Amy Peeler. 2013.

"Modern Day Miracles" in Wheaton. Amy Peeler. 2013.

Review of The Later New Testament Writings and Scripture: The Old Testament in Acts, Hebrews, the Catholic Epistles and Revelation, by Steve Moyise in Review of Biblical Literature. Amy Peeler. 2013.

Review of Motherhood and Love: Beyond the Gendered Stereotypes of Theology, by Cristina Grenholm and Gifted to  Lead: The Art of Leading as a Woman in the Church, by Nancy Beach in Wesleyan Theological Journal. Amy Peeler. 2013.

"Desiring God: The Blood of the Covenant in Exodus 24" in Bulletin for Biblical Research. Amy Peeler. 2013.

Review of The Epistle to the Hebrews, by Garreth Cockerill in Wesleyan Theological Journal. Amy Peeler. 2013.

Review of “Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? A Narrative Approach to the Problem of Pauline Christianity,” by J. R. Daniel Kirk in Catholic Biblical Quarterly. Amy Peeler. 2013.

Review of Hebrews, by D. Stephen Long and Atonement and the Logic of the Resurrection, by David M. Moffitt in Books and Culture. Amy Peeler. 2013.

"The Ethos of God in Hebrews" in Perspectives in Religious Studies. Amy Peeler. 2007.

 

• Hebrews: Commentaries for Christian Formation. Eerdmans, 2024.

• Women and the Gender of God. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2022.

• Hebrews: An Introduction and Study Guide. Co-Authored with Patrick Gray. T&T Clark’s Study Guides to the New Testament. T&T Clark, 2020.

• You Are My Son: The Family of God in the Epistle to the Hebrews. LNTS 486. London: T&T Clark, 2014.

   

What Do We Mean When We Call God "Father"?

In this TowerTalk, Rev. Amy Peeler, Ph.D., articulates the benefits of the familial language of the Bible and the Theology of the Family of God. In calling us sons and daughters of God, the New Testament proclaims our amazingly intimate relationship with God with all the rights and responsibilities therein.