The 40th Annual Loy H. Witherspoon Lecture, "Loving Behemoth: Queer Animality, Ecospirituality, and Biblical Interpretat
Category: Event Calendar
Date and Time
- Monday, Feb 24, 2025 6pm - 7:30pm
Location
The Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City, 320 East 9th St.
Details
We are living in a time of ecological crisis, exhibited by rising global temperatures, increasingly destructive fire seasons, and more deadly hurricanes and tornadoes. In addition to science, some look to spirituality, religion, mythology, and literature for guidance and solace. In that vein, the 40th Annual Loy H. Witherspoon Lecturer, Dr. Ken Stone (Chicago Theological Seminary's Distinguished Service Professor and Professor of Bible, Culture, and Hermeneutics) asks what a biblical monster can tell us about the current ecological crisis. To answer this, he provides a close reading of the Hebrew Bible text Job 38-41. In it, while Job and his friends debate theological matters, God makes a speech that encourages fascination and even kinship with the monster Behemoth and other strange and beautiful creatures. How might this example of “biophilia,” meaning a love of living things, provide a model for living in a time of unprecedented environmental change? ┃religiousstudies.charlotte.edu
