Grenville Kent
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Grenville J. R. Kent (born 1965) is an Australian academic, film producer, author, and Christian communicator. He is the producer of ''Big Questions'', a forthcoming documentary series examining faith, and the "10 Questions for God" series of booklets. He has earned a PhD from the
University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
, England, and a D.Min from the
Australian College of Theology The Australian College of Theology (ACT) is an Australian higher education provider based in Sydney, New South Wales. The college delivers awards in ministry and theology and was one of the first Australian non-university providers to offer an a ...
, and taught Cultural Apologetics (Arts/Theology) and
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
at the Wesley Institute (now
Excelsia College Excelsia College, formerly Wesley Institute, is a tertiary education provider in Sydney, Australia, offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in counselling, creative and performing arts, education, social work and business. History The c ...
) in Sydney.


Biography

Grenville Kent is producer of ''Big Questions''. The pilot episode, "Does God Exist? Part 1" examines flight and compares design features of the
albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacifi ...
and the
Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
. It includes interviews with two
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
professors:
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
Peter Atkins Peter William Atkins (born 10 August 1940) is an English chemist and a Fellow of Lincoln College at the University of Oxford. He retired in 2007. He is a prolific writer of popular chemistry textbooks, including ''Physical Chemistry'', ''Ino ...
and
John Lennox John Carson Lennox (born 7 November 1943) is a Northern Irish mathematician, bioethicist and Christian apologist. He has written many books on religion, ethics, the relationship between science and faith (like his books, ''Has Science Buried Go ...
, a Christian. It was shot in New Zealand, Hungary, England, France and Australia. Kent is co-presenter alongside his seven-year-old son Marcus. Future episodes will discuss consciousness, space and the stars, human morality, and whether God genuinely spoke through the Bible. Kent taught Old Testament and Cultural Apologetics (Arts/Theology) at the Wesley Institute from 2003 to 2013. His PhD from the University of Manchester is in Old Testament literature, and examines the
Witch of En-Dor The Witch of Endor ( he, ''baʿălaṯ-ʾōḇ bəʿĒyn Dōr'', "she who owns the ''ʾōḇ'' of Endor") is a woman who, according to the Hebrew Bible, was consulted by Saul to summon the spirit of the prophet Samuel. Saul wished to receive a ...
narrative in using
film theory Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for und ...
. His DMin is in Apologetics (the rational explanation of Christianity) and looks at factors influencing Australians towards and away from belief in God. His MA ( Theol) from
Morling College Morling College is a Baptist college in Macquarie Park, New South Wales. It is affiliated with the Australian Baptist Ministries. It is an approved teaching institution of the Australian College of Theology and a registered teaching institution o ...
studied the Song of Solomon, a piece of
Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
erotica Erotica is literature or art that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use a ...
.Theology Faculty
" section "Rev Dr Grenville Kent", Wesley Institute. Accessed September 2009
His MA (Film) was from the
University of Technology, Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...
.Keynote speakers
, Reel Dialogue conference 2008. Accessed September 2009
He also earned a Grad. Cert. Commerce (Marketing) from the
University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
, a BA (Theol) from Pacific Union College, and a BA (Mass Communication) from the
University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...
. Kent's memberships include the
Society of Biblical Literature The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mis ...
and the
Evangelical Theological Society The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) is a professional society of Biblical scholars, educators, pastors, and students "devoted to the inerrancy and inspiration of the Scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ" and "dedicated to the oral excha ...
in the United States, and the Tyndale Fellowship in the United Kingdom. He has guest-lectured in the Philippines and Trinidad.Theology Faculty
" section "Rev Dr Grenville Kent", Wesley Institute. Accessed September 2009
He has presented papers at the annual Society of Biblical Literature meetings. He has presented on
Christian apologetics Christian apologetics ( grc, ἀπολογία, "verbal defense, speech in defense") is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity. Christian apologetics has taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in ...
for the Cambridge Scholars Network, European Leadership Forum (Hungary) and Campus Life, and travels internationally as a youth outreach speaker across several Christian denominations. He is a frequent presenter on Christian TV programs. Kent started "Church With No Ties" as a youth pastor and university chaplain.Andy Nash, ed. ''Unleash the Dream'', p140? Kent's speaking appointments have included men's conferences, theology congresses camp meetings, and many others.


Publications

Kent has authored dozens of articles, the "10 Questions for God" Bible study series, films, comic books (graphic novels), books, and book chapters.


Books

* ''Say It Again, Sam: A Literary and Filmic Study of Narrative Repetition in 1 Samuel 28''. Pickwick, 2011. About the
witch of Endor The Witch of Endor ( he, ''baʿălaṯ-ʾōḇ bəʿĒyn Dōr'', "she who owns the ''ʾōḇ'' of Endor") is a woman who, according to the Hebrew Bible, was consulted by Saul to summon the spirit of the prophet Samuel. Saul wished to receive ad ...
* Grenville Kent, forthcoming commentary on Song of Songs * Grenville Kent and Philip Rodionoff, ''The Da Vinci Decode'' (Victoria, Australia: Signs, 2006);
book website
a critique of
Dan Brown Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his Thriller (genre), thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), ''The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), ''The Lost Symbol'' (2009), ''In ...
's 2003 novel ''
The Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon: the first was his 2000 novel ''Angels & Demons''. ''The Da Vinci Code'' follows symbologist Robert Langdon ...
''. Also published in
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
and
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...
. * Christina Hawkins, Warwick Bagg, and Grenville Kent; ''Health'' (Berkeley Vale, New South Wales:
Sanitarium Health Food Company The Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company is the Trade name, trading name of two sister food companies (Australian Health and Nutrition Association Ltd and New Zealand Health Association Ltd). Both are wholly owned by the Seventh-day Adventis ...
, 1999) (Kent was one editor for a series of 12 booklets) * Grenville Kent, ''Millennium'' (Sydney: Religious Education Media Australia, 1996); * Grenville Kent, ''The Siege'' (Sydney: self-published, 1994); * Grenville Kent, ''What Future? The Forgotten Dream'' (Sydney: self-published, 1994);


Book chapters and scholarly articles

Scholarly articles: * 'Preaching Old Testament Narratives’, Southeastern Theological Review 2/1 (Summer 2011) 11–24. * ‘Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany and the sinful woman of Luke 7: the same person?’ Journal of the Asia Adventist Seminary 13.1 (2010): 13–28. * Book review of ''Theology and Film: Challenging the Sacred/Secular Divide'' by Christopher Deacy and Gaye Williams Ortiz. ''European Journal of Theology'' 18:1 (2009), p80–81 Book chapters: * ‘The Heavens Are Telling: A Biblically Informed Cosmology’, in Bryan W. Ball (ed), In The Beginning: Science and Scripture Confirm Creation (Boise: Pacific Press, 2012), 171–183. * ‘"His Desire Is For Her": Feminist readings of the Song of Solomon’, in Andrew Sloane (ed.), Tamar’s Tears: Evangelical Engagements with Feminist Old Testament Hermeneutics (Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2011), 217–245. * Grenville J. R. Kent, Paul J. Kissling, and Laurence A. Turner, eds., ''Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching'' (Inter-Varsity Press, 2010)
publisher's page
Kent also wrote the chapter, "Preaching the Song of Songs". The book won the annual ''Preaching Today'' award for the "Enhancing the Preacher's Skill" category. An alternative title is ''He Began with Moses: Preaching the Old Testament today'' (Inter-Varsity Press, 2010)
publisher's page
* 'Did The Medium at En-Dor Really Bring Forth Samuel?', in Gerhard Pfandl (ed.), Interpreting Scripture: Bible Questions and Answers: Biblical Research Institute Studies, vol. 2 (Silver Spring: Biblical Research Institute, 2010), 196–200. * "Pop Culture: My Angel Goes to Movies" in Andy Nash, ed., ''Unleash the Dream: A New Generation Challenges the Church They Love'' (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1999), p52–62
publisher's page
Additionally, Kent has many stories published in the "Australian Stories" series of books, which are published from Sydney by Strand: * ''Australian Stories of Life'' ed. David and Rachel Dixon (2005) chapters "Hardly Davidson", "Bowled Over", and "Oink!" * ''Inspirational Australian Stories'' ed. David and Rachel Dixon (2004) chapters "Common Scents", "Going Off", "The Game They Play in Heaven", and "When Is an Atheist Not an Atheist?" * ''Australian Stories for the Spirit'' (2003), one chapter * ''Australian Stories for the Heart'' (2002) chapters "I'm Rich!", "Hedonists Don't Get No Satisfaction", and "Meeting the Godfather"


Films and documentaries

Kent has produced the following films: * ''Big Questions'' documentary series * ''The Cross'', a 2000
short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
written and directed by KentKeynote speakers
, Reel Dialogue conference 2008. Accessed September 2009
* ''Cushy Job: Rwanda Volunteer'', a 1995 short film written and directed by Kent * ''What Future?'' A 1994 short film co-written and co-directed by Kent * ''Alcheringa'', a 1993 short film written by KentAlcheringa
". Screen Australia website, accessed September 2009


References


External links

*
10 Questions for God
study series, authored by Kent
Grenville Kent
at the
Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Grenville 1965 births Living people Australian religious writers Australian film producers Australian evangelicals Australian Seventh-day Adventists