Dr. Greg Carey
United Church of Christ
Lancaster Theological Seminary, Lancaster, PA
Greg Carey has taught at Lancaster Seminary since 1999, having previously taught at Rhodes College and Winthrop University. His publications include numerous studies on the book of Revelation and ancient apocalyptic literature, rhetorical analysis of the New Testament, and Sinners: Jesus and His Earliest Followers.
Courses in New Testament aim to prepare students as public interpreters of Scripture. Students engage Scripture not only in its ancient Mediterranean contexts but also as living documents in global conversations.
Greg blogs regularly for the Huffington Post religion section. A contributing editor to the Odyssey Networks' new lectionary resource, ON Scripture, he also serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Bible and Human Transformation and Out In Scripture, an LGBT-friendly lectionary resource. Greg serves as chair of the Rhetoric and the New Testament Section of the Society of Biblical Literature and as co-chair for the Apocalyptic Literature Section of the Society of Biblical Literature International Meeting. He has appeared in documentaries on the BBC, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Channel, and most recently the 2011 BBC One documentary, "The Story of Jesus."
An Alabama native, Greg is a graduate of Rhodes College and Vanderbilt University (PhD, 1996). Greg is an active layperson in the United Church of Christ, who serves as Scholar in Residence at Lancaster'sEvangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity. He lives in Lancaster with his daughters Erin and Emily.
Latest Content by Dr. Greg Carey
Dr. Greg Carey
(
UCC)
The story circulates around seminaries and religion departments. I hope I'm telling it correctly. In Yale's regular seminar for religion faculty and grad students, a highly accomplished biblical scholar set forth his proposal for identifying Paul's opponents in 2 Corinthians. The presentation involved multiple levels of detail and argument. Like most scholarly proposals, its conclusions were far from obvious. During the time for questions, a theologian spoke up: "My mother reads 2 Corinthians as if Paul were writing to her. What's wrong with that?"
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Other Recent Content by Dr. Greg Carey
April 11, 2013
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
Candida Moss says Christians need to get over their martyr complex. Her new book, "The Myth of Martyrdom," identifies two significant problems with how we imagine Christian martyrs.
April 10, 2013
ON Scripture
Interpreters have probably made too much of the nuances of Greek vocabulary in this passage, but we can readily see why Peter is grieved. The last time he stood by a charcoal fire, he failed miserably three times. Now Jesus brings Peter back to the scene and puts him through another three-fold interrogation.
April 03, 2013
ON Scripture
The resurrection story implies that bodies matter. Jesus’ resurrection is not merely a spiritual thing – the apparition of his ghost, or his ongoing spiritual influence. The Gospels all insist that the resurrection includes Jesus’ body.
March 11, 2013
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
I like Rob Bell though I have never met him. I admire him. I hope his book will succeed, and I can easily imagine myself giving his book to someone I love and teaching on it in a church I serve. God bless him. I also have a question -- and I'm eager for to see how this book addresses it.
February 02, 2013
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
An important new book by Robert M. Royalty Jr. points out that Christian heresy did not emerge when some misguided Christians deviated from a "pure" and "original" orthodoxy. "Orthodoxy" did not precede "heresy." Instead, diversity marks Christianity as far back as we can see.
January 20, 2013
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
Just this month a task force representing a significant group of Protestant churches published a document, "Scripture and Moral Discernment." For the first time, an ecumenical team working on behalf of several denominations has provided genuine guidance concerning the Bible's role in shaping our ethical lives.
November 11, 2012
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
When we Christians are tempted to lob Bible verses at one another like hand grenades, we might do well to consider Jesus' example.
November 07, 2012
ON Scripture
Is poverty what it used to be? Or has poverty grown so shameful that we dare not speak its name? So determined are we keep poverty out of view, we erase the presence of the poor from Jesus’ teachings. The widow we encounter in Mark 12:38-44 provides a case study in poverty and oppression. Unable to confront poverty, we have turned her into something safer – an example of generosity.
October 01, 2012
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
It's common to hear Christians saying things like "We're all sinners who need God's grace," and "Whoever is without sin, let them cast the first stone." Cliché-ish though they may be, they carry a great deal of truth.
August 27, 2012
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
It's common to see people deriding "liberal" biblical scholars, as if the world is just full of people whose dearest wish is to undermine the Bible and turn Jesus into nothing but a symbol for a bizarre mushroom cult.
August 18, 2012
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
Hiding behind the Bible doesn't exempt us from responsibility for our beliefs and behaviors. The Bible is a complicated book. Using the Bible to condemn sexual minorities requires that people make a series of choices and assumptions. Let's examine those choices and assumptions.
June 27, 2012
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
In this special Bible study from Odyssey Networks on Mark 5:1-20, Greg Carey explores how Jesus handled the healing of a demoniac, and what it tells us about community and mental health.
June 22, 2012
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
In Mark 3:20-35, Jesus' opponents attribute his ability to cast out demons as the work of Beelzebul. In other words, they take the work of salvation and liberation and call it demonic. What brings life to some people, others call sin. This is sounding way too familiar.
June 20, 2012
ON Scripture
Modern readers struggle with miracle stories like this. ... We’re prepared for Jesus’ healing miracles because they directly benefit desperate people. But “nature miracles” like stilling the storm challenge the boundaries of our imaginations.
May 07, 2012
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
What about healing on the Sabbath--didn't Jesus transgress the Law then? Didn't Jesus touch lepers and bleeding women? What about eating with unwashed hands? Do not all these examples show that Jesus occasionally but intentionally violated the Torah? In a word, no.
April 20, 2012
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
John Dominic Crossan's new book, "The Power of Parable: How Fiction by Jesus Became Fiction about Jesus," may spark controversy among some churchgoing readers. However, for readers who aspire to take the Gospels seriously, Crossan has some important things to say.
March 17, 2012
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
There's a problem with penal substitution. Biblical sacrifices do not represent human attempts to purchase forgiveness; instead, they offer a ritual means of acknowledging the costliness of sin and alienation from God. Through sacrifice, God reaches out to mortals and invites their response.
March 03, 2012
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
I teach at a theological seminary, where we prepare religious leaders for service in the church and the world. Often I'll ask students, "What is your gospel?" That is, what is the core message that directs your ministry? That may sound like an innocent question, yet most seminarians find it intimidating. How does one boil down one's faith to a straightforward proclamation?
February 18, 2012
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
In the third part of his series on the book of Revelation, Dr. Greg Carey asks, If Revelation brings good news for the oppressed, what's not to like? Typically Revelation has faced four major sets of objections.
February 04, 2012
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
Part 2 of 3 on the Book of Revelation: This might come as a surprise to many, but Revelation's interpreters have arrived at a general consensus regarding why John wrote the Apocalypse, particularly the circumstances surrounding Revelation's composition.
January 18, 2012
ON Scripture
Readers almost always gravitate to the same question. Why do Simon and Andrew, then James and John after them, abandon everything to follow Jesus? Mark leaves no doubt as to the immediacy of their response.
January 05, 2012
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
The truth is, no academic interpreter of Revelation understands the book as a roadmap for the future, much less as telling contemporary Christians that these are the last days.
December 16, 2011
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
In their forthcoming book "Hijacked: Responding to the Partisan Church Divide," Mike Slaughter and Charles E. Gutenson (with help from Robert P. Jones) call Christians, especially evangelicals like themselves, to passionate and charitable engagement with the public sphere.
December 06, 2011
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
The theological question many ask is "Why did Jesus die?" I am asking a different question: How did Jesus get himself killed? This question has theological implications, but it is not simply theological. This is a literary and historical question concerning how human actions led to Jesus' death.
November 03, 2011
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
It's not rare to encounter people who claim that Paul "invented" Christianity. The basic idea is that Jesus taught a pure and ethical form of Judaism that focused on God and gracious living, while Paul developed a religion that worshiped Jesus rather than God.
October 16, 2011
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
In previous posts I reflected on early Christians' passion to keep in touch with one another and on the diversity of early Christian communities. In this final entry I shall reflect on women's contributions to the movement.
September 21, 2011
ON Scripture
In this week's ON Scripture lectionary resource, Dr. Greg Carey writes, "Ezekiel speaks compellingly to the current situation in the United States. But is the prophet’s message true?"
September 19, 2011
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
In an earlier post I reflected on how the earliest groups of Christians built community and stayed in touch with one another despite the challenges of communication in the ancient world. In this post I will address the diversity we encounter in those earliest churches.
August 24, 2011
ON Scripture
In this week's ON Scripture column, Dr. Greg Carey writes, "Few Christians abandon everything for the gospel’s sake. Most of us simply fit our Christianity into the open spots on our calendars. But in this passage Jesus links the life of discipleship with his own path."
August 23, 2011
Dr. Greg Carey
(UCC)
The earliest churches displayed one particularly remarkable trait: a passion to keep in touch with one another.
