96:(born 1954) is an American Protestant biblical scholar, theologian, author and ordained minister. She is the first black woman to earn a Ph.D. in Old Testament studies in the United States. She is the Dean of Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. She was influenced by the movement in the last half of the 20th century which argues that context matters and shapes our scholarship and understanding of truth. She is best known for her contribution to womanist theology, feminist studies in religion and black religious thought. She is recognized as one of the first scholars to bring black women's ways of reading and interpreting the Bible into mainstream academic discourse. In 1989 she received a Ph.D. in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible studies from
191:. She was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in Old Testament Studies. Her expectation was that after completing her M.Div. degree she would like the men in her class to be hired in some area of full-time parish ministry But when church doors remained closed to her because she was a woman, she had to come up with a Plan B. Becoming a scholar and professor was not something she had considered, but an Old Testament professor and an influential figure in the
203:, who served as his teaching assistant at the time, convinced her she had a future in Old Testament studies. She decided to pursue a doctorate degree in biblical studies. Weems' doctoral dissertation title was "Sexual Violence as an Image for Divine Retribution in Prophetic Writings". Old Testament professors
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Weems has been deeply impacted by and involved in the black church throughout her life. She considers it her life's mission to find ways to strike a balance between her political views and her spiritual values, her feminist/womanist consciousness with religious faith, her thirst for justice with her
183:. Weems was greatly influenced by this era of black women's literature and was living in New York at a time which she said gave her a front row seat to the lively and generative conversations taking place within feminist literary circles at the time about women's equality and black women's survival.
128:, who enrolled in MBA programs and worked in executive jobs on Wall Street in unprecedented numbers beginning in the 1970s. Upon graduation from Wellesley, Weems worked for a short time for Coopers & Lybrand Public Accounting Firm and later as a broker for Merrill Lynch.
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in
Tennessee, ending her time in 2017. She has taught part time and has served as a senior visiting professor at several divinity schools and seminaries across the country since 2017.
283:(Simon & Schuster), won the Religious Communicators' Council's 1999 Wilbur Award for "excellence in communicating spiritual values to the secular media".
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After a brief stint on Wall Street, Weems sought a career in writing. Her earliest published writings appeared in the late 1970s and early 1980s in
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hunger for spiritual fulfillment. She enrolled in seminary in 1980. She earned her master's degree in 1983 and later her Ph.D. in 1989 from
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257:(2008), a collection of biographies of some of the most notable Black religious leaders over the last 200 years, including such figures as
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Weems was born and raised in
Atlanta, Georgia, and attended public schools there. She earned her undergraduate degree in economics from
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151:. The 1970s was a defining year in black women's literary production from the literary writings of up-and-coming writers like
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womanist biblical studies, black church studies, feminist biblical criticism, prophetic religion, and black
Religious Thought
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Nashville, TN (1987-2003). She served as the 2003-2005 William and Camille Cosby Professor of Humanities at
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Just a sister away : understanding the timeless connection between women of today and women in the Bible
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On a positive note : her joyous faith, her life in music, and her everyday blessings
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making her the first
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What matters most : ten lessons in living passionately from the Song of
Solomon
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to the monthly columns and personal lifestyle writing appearing in magazines like
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Showing Mary : how women can share prayers, wisdom, and the blessings of God
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Weems is the first
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I asked for intimacy : stories of blessings, betrayals, and birthings
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639:"Yale University Divinity School Library: Lyman Beecher Lecture Series"
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Battered love : marriage, sex, and violence in the Hebrew prophets
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The
National Council of Churches, under the presidency of the Rev.
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American biblical scholar, theologian, author and ordained minister
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Listening for God: A Minister's
Journey through Silence and Doubt
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Listening for God: A Minister's Journey Through Silence and Doubt
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Vanderbilt University, Spelman college, American Baptist College
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Biblical scholar, ethicist, professor, author, ordained minister
565:"Dr. Renita J. Weems - SheSource Expert - Women's Media Center"
315:(1st trade ed.). West Bloomfield, Mich.: Walk Worthy Press.
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She was the first African-American woman to deliver the
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Womanism, biblical scholarship, ethics and theology
589:"Dr. Renita Weems to Give 2020 O'Connor Lectures"
537:"Dr. Renita Weems to Give 2020 O'Connor Lectures"
432:The new interpreter's Bible. Old Testament survey
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615:"Wilbur Awards | Religion Communicators Council"
338:(1st Warner Books ed.). New York: Warner Books.
255:Black Stars: African American Religious Leaders
143:magazines, and in black feminist journals like
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483:. West Bloomfield, MI: Walk Worthy Press.
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241:Weems was ordained an elder in the
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211:were her dissertation advisors.
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288:Vashti Murphy McKenzie
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253:Weems is featured in
228:Vanderbilt University
201:Katherine M. O'Connor
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643:www.library.yale.edu
197:Bernhard W. Anderson
429:"Song of Songs" in
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209:Katherine Sakenfeld
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523:References
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301:(2008).
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