Contact Information

rhsmith@taylor.edu

765-998-5251

Reade Center

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Richard Smith

Associate Professor of Biblical Studies

I Serve in...

Biblical Studies, Christian Ministries, Intercultural Studies & Philosophy Department

Education

PhD, Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge (King’s College)
ThM, Academic Ministries: New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
BSA, Agriculture: Animal Sciences, University of Arkansas

Specialties:

theologizing and philosophizing within the literature of the bible ethics and moral theory in the bible narrative prophetic methodology in biblical criticism wisdom literature of the hebrew bible

Career Accomplishments

I have been teaching in biblical studies at Taylor for 23 years. I teach courses spanning the entire biblical studies curriculum, from OT and NT surveys, to elective courses, to the capstone course for biblical literature majors. Biblical exegesis and theology is my "bread and butter" but my research projects tend towards the interdisciplinary. My publishing record is quite modest. I particularly value the many opportunities I have had to dialogue with students one-on-one and in small groups regarding the things of life and the knowledge of God according to the scriptures. I have also enjoyed many speaking opportunities at Taylor over the years.

Featured Scholarship

“David’s Ethic of Togetherness and Its Victims.” Pages 131–146 in The Cambridge Companion to the Hebrew Bible and Ethics. Edited by C. L. Crouch. Cambridge Companions to Religion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2021.

Eleven introductory essays in the Abide Bible for 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, Amos, Zephaniah, Nahum, Obadiah, Ecclesiastes, Job, and the Song of Songs, edited by Phil Collins (Nashville: Thomas Nelson/HarperCollins, 2020).

“Paradoxical Integrity in Job: The Faithful Imagination in the Hebrew Bible’s Wisdom Literature.” Pages 294–312 in The Faithful Imagination: Papers from the 2018 Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends. Edited by Joe Ricke and Ashley Chu. Hamden, CT: Winged Lion Press, LLC, 2019.

The Fate of Justice and Righteousness During David’s Reign: Narrative Ethics and Rereading the Court History according to 2 Samuel 8:15–20:26 (Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 508; New York & London: T & T Clark, 2009).

About

I am happily married and a father of four. I originally hail from Arkansas. I am a hopeless bookworm and avid outdoorsman. Bowhunting functions more like a spiritual discipline with me.