Ellen F. Davis (born November 20, 1950) is an American theologian and Old Testament scholar. She is the Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at

Duke Divinity School The Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, is one of ten graduate or professional schools within Duke University. It is also one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church. It has 39 regular ...

Biography

Davis has degrees from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

(A.B., Comparative Literature), the

Church Divinity School of the Pacific Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) is an Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, California. It one of nine seminaries U.S. Episcopal Church and a member of the Graduate Theological Union. The only Episcopal seminary located in the Far West, ...

(M.Div.) and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

(Ph.D., Old Testament). She previously taught at

Union Theological Seminary (New York City) Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (UTS) is a private ecumenical Christian liberal seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with neighboring Columbia University. Since 1928, the seminary has served as Columbia's co ...

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

, and

Virginia Theological Seminary Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, located at 3737 Seminary Road in Alexandria, Virginia is the largest and second oldest accredited Episcopal seminary in the Unit ...

. Davis's work has focused on how biblical interpretation can be used to address urgent contemporary issues in the church and world. She has considered how the Old Testament can be used to address preaching, interfaith dialogue, and the

ecological crisis An ecological or environmental crises occurs when changes to the environment of a species or population destabilizes its continued survival. Some of the important causes include: * Degradation of an abiotic ecological factor (for example, increa ...

. Davis is known in particular for this latter work; she has written a book on the Old Testament view of land and ecology entitled ''Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible.'' She appeared on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's program ''On Being'' with

Wendell Berry Wendell Erdman Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. Closely identified with rural Kentucky, Berry developed many of his agrarian themes in the early essays of ' ...

in 2011 and also spoke with Berry and fellow Duke Divinity School professor Norman Wirzba at a Food and Faith conference in Nashville in 2014. Davis also works with the Great Lakes Initiative, an ecumenical gathering of

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

n leaders in reconciliation ministries, sponsored through Duke Divinity School's Center for Reconciliation. For several years, she has consulted with the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

and

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

on theological education, community health, and

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...

Bibliography

*''Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament'' ( Cowley Publications, 2001) – *''Wondrous Depth: Preaching the Old Testament'' (Wesminster John Knox Press, 2005) - ISBN 9780664228590 *''Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading Of The Bible'' (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 2008) – *''Opening Israel's Scriptures'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2019) –
Opening Israel's Scriptures
'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Ellen F. 1950 births Living people Old Testament scholars American biblical scholars American theologians University of California, Berkeley alumni Graduate Theological Union alumni Yale Divinity School alumni Union Theological Seminary (New York City) faculty Yale Divinity School faculty Duke Divinity School faculty Church Divinity School of the Pacific alumni Female biblical scholars