Pamela Eisenbaum
Has the Holy One Been Lost in Transmission?

He ate and drank the precious words,
His spirit grew robust;
He knew no more that he was poor,
Nor that his frame was dust.
He danced along the dingy days,
And this bequest of wings
Was but a book. What liberty
A loosened spirit brings! – Emily Dickinson

This poem by Emily Dickinson may seem an odd way to introduce Pamela Eisenbaum’s session, but I chose it because it highlights the centrality of “precious words” in the growth of a robust spiritual life. Well understood, the Holy Word should nurture us, loosen our spirit, and urge us to dance. Unfortunately, the Holy Word can be twisted and bent by ignorance and sometimes knowing manipulation. In the process, the Holy One becomes lost in transmission.

During this week, Pamela Eisenbaum will help us reconnect with the “book” so essential to our beliefs and remind us of ways in which to fully “eat and drink the precious words.” – Carl Koch

From the Iliff School of Theology website:
Pamela Eisenbaum began teaching at Iliff in January 1995. One of four Jewish New Testament scholars teaching in Christian theological schools, she is the author of The Jewish Heroes of Christian History: Hebrews 11 in Literary Context, and Invitation to Romans. She is a contributor to the Women’s Bible Commentary and the Oxford Access Bible, and has published many essays on the Bible, ancient Judaism and the origins of Christianity.

She is an active member of the Society of Biblical Literature, as well as the Auburn Media Speaker’s Bureau. In addition to her appointment at Iliff, she is an affiliate faculty member of the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Denver.

A passion for working with ancient manuscripts has increasingly informed her research. Prof. Eisenbaum has experience working with the Dead Sea Scrolls and recently spent time at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin studying the oldest surviving manuscript of Paul’s Letters (dated c. 200 C.E.). She appeared in the recent ABC documentary, “Jesus and Paul: The Word and the Witness,” and is currently writing a book on Paul.

Pamela is married to Mark George, a Hebrew Bible scholar who also teaches at Iliff. She has two wonderful stepsons, Ryan and Quinn, ages 14 and 12. She says, “My favorites hobbies are skiing, gardening and cooking. I’m also a little bit of a gadget junkie.” Pam was raised in Orthodox and Conservative synagogues, but now belongs to a Reconstructionist synagogue called B’nai Havurah.

Pam Eisenbaum’s most recent book:
Invitation to Romans

Description: Invitation to Romans by Pamela Eisenbaum, associate professor of Biblical studies and Christian origins, offers a nine week, in-depth, high commitment Bible study on the Book of Romans. The fourth in the series, it follows surveys of the New and Old Testaments and a study of the book of Genesis.

The challenge of reading Romans, then, is to learn to have our own interpretive conversation with the text itself, in spite of centuries of commentary on the text. One of the aims of this study is to invite us into conversation around several key themes: (1) Paul’s emphasis on communal salvation; (2) the centrality of God’s righteousness; and (3) the relationship between Jews and Gentiles and the relationship of both to God.

This talk - turned into an article in Cross Currents - offers some insight into Pamela’s interest in Paul; excerpt on right:

IS PAUL THE FATHER OF MISOGYNY AND ANTISEMITISM?
by Pamela Eisenbaum

What was Paul talking about, anyway? Not what you might think.

This article is a revised form of a paper delivered in November 1999 at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, under the auspices of the Women's Interfaith Planning Committee of Auburn Seminary.

I have a passionate interest in the apostle Paul. Many people think this passion is unusual because I am a Jew not a Christian. What's more, I like to think of myself as a feminist. What's a nice Jewish feminist doing studying the apostle Paul? After all, from a Jewish perspective, Paul is a heretic who had a demented view of Judaism. From a feminist perspective, Paul is an ally of Christian conservatives who wish to keep women in a subordinate position to men.

Nevertheless, my interest derives naturally from my professional commitments. I am a Jewish New Testament scholar who teaches in a Christian seminary, and, after some years of studying and teaching Paul, I have come to the conclusion that Paul was a committed, well-intentioned Jew, even if the subsequent uses of his teachings were abominable where Jews and women are concerned.

Moreover, I believe Paul was largely driven by the fact that he was both a Jew and a citizen of the wider Hellenistic world that encompassed the ancient Mediterranean in his day. These two components of his identity caused him to realize that the world is a diverse and complex place. In my view, Paul is one of the first people in the history of Western civilization to deal directly with the problem of multiculturalism.

As a modern American Jew, I do not end up in the same place Paul ends up (with Christ), but I appreciate how he wrestled with life in its multitudinous complexity and how boldly and constructively he faced questions about human diversity. In my view, Paul's theological vision can be summed up by Galatians 3:28: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."

Exploring the essence of this dictum, particularly the implications for gender and intercultural relations, is the driving force behind my passion for Paul. . . .

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