Mary A. Tolbert

Mary A. Tolbert

Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean; George H. Atkinson Professor of Biblical Studies

Academic Credentials: 
BA, Wake Forest University, 1969; MA, University of Virginia, 1971; MA, University of Chicago, 1974; PhD, University of Chicago, 1977.
Quote: 
“The Bible overflows with stories of faith, love and justice, but that has not prevented it from also being employed to justify exclusion, persecution and suffering. I want future church leaders to learn to love the Bible, understand its history and use it ethically as a blessing on God’s creation.”
Profile: 

Dr. Tolbert’s writings on the Gospel of Mark have established her as a leading voice in the interpretation of the New Testament. Her scholarly teaching and writing focus on feminism, biblical interpretation and social location and, most recently, queer theory and gender construction. She played a pivotal role in the conception and realization of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at PSR and served as its first executive director. Her publications include Sowing the Gospel: Mark’s World in Literary-Historical Perspective (1989) and Teaching the Bible: The Discourses and Politics of Biblical Pedagogy (1998), which she edited with Fernando F. Segovia.

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