The John A. Widtsoe Foundation is deeply committed to elevating dialogue between members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other religious communities. This year's Church-wide study of the Old Testament presents a unique opportunity for members to better understand and learn from our Jewish neighbors, who have engaged with these scriptures for thousands of years. Each month, Widtsoe Foundation Director Dr. Jacob Rennaker will host a live online conversation and Q&A with a leader or scholar from the Jewish community about an upcoming topic from the Church's Come, Follow Me curriculum. . This series will serve to educate Latter-day Saints about the rich history of Jewish scriptural interpretation and application, while at the same time modeling meaningful interfaith conversations and empowering Latter-day Saints to do the same in their own communities. These events will be made available on The Widtsoe Foundation YouTube Channel and podcast soon after the live event.
For this live event, we talked about the book of Job (Job 1-3, 38-40) from a Jewish perspective with Dr. Shon Hopkin, Chair of Religious Studies at BYU, and Dr. Sarah Emanuel, Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University.
Dr. Sarah Emanuel is Assistant Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. Sarah holds a PhD with distinction in biblical studies from Drew University’s Graduate Division of Religion, with foci in New Testament, ancient Jewish-Christian encounters, and contemporary critical theory. In addition to writing a number of peer reviewed articles, book chapters, and public-facing works, she has published two books: Trauma Theory, Trauma Story: A Narration of Biblical Studies and the World of Trauma, with Brill's Research Perspectives in Biblical Interpretation short-monograph series; and Humor, Resistance, and Jewish Cultural Persistence in the Book of Revelation: Roasting Rome, with Cambridge University Press. Her third book, Left Behind: The Apostle Paul on Jews, Gentiles, and Who Gets Saved is under contract with Fortress Press, with an expected publication year of 2024.
Dr. Shon Hopkin is currently the Chair of the Ancient Scripture department at BYU and he has also served as Chair of the Book of Mormon Academy and as Chair of the BYU Religious Outreach Council. He is one of the principal organizers of the ongoing Jewish & Latter-day Saint Academic Interfaith Dialogue project. He has authored, co-authored, and edited numerous books and articles on Isaiah, the Hebrew Bible, Latter-day Saint beliefs, and medieval literature, including Opening Isaiah: A Harmony (with Ann Madsen); Abinadi: He Came Among them in Disguise (edited, Book of Mormon Academy); Mormonism: A Guide for the Perplexed (with Robert Millet, as part of Bloomberg Press’ Guide for the Perplexed series); and the forthcoming Understanding Our Jewish Neighbors (with Rabbi Mark Diamond, as part of The John A. Widtsoe Foundation’s upcoming series). He and his wife have four children and one grandchild.
