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Religion Division

Meet the Faculty

Photo of R. Christopher Heard

R. Christopher Heard
Associate Professor of Religion

Division: Religion Division
Office: Appleby Center (APC) 278
Phone: (310) 506-4299
Fax: (310) 506-6907
E-mail: christopher.heard@pepperdine.edu

  • Ph.D., Religious Studies, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, 2000
  • M.A., Old Testament Studies, Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX, 1993
  • B.A., Human Communication, Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX, 1989
Courses:
  • History and Religion of Israel
  • The Pentateuch
  • Old Testament History
  • The Wisdom Literature
  • Old Testament Theology
  • Elementary Hebrew I-II
  • Intermediate Hebrew I
Key Awards/Affiliations:
  • Faculty Innovation in Technology and Learning Grant (2009-2010)
  • Seaver Research Council Grant (2009-2010)
  • Seaver Research Council Release Time Grant (2009-2010; monetary grant in lieu of release time)
  • Howard A. White Award for Teaching Excellence (2007)
  • Seaver Fellow in Religion, 2005-2006
  • Armstrong Fellow in Religion, 2004-2005
  • Society of Biblical Literature (member)
  • Society of Biblical Literature, Pacific Coast Region (past president, 2010-2011; president, 2009-2010; vice president, 2008-2009; chair, Hebrew Bible section, 2006-present)
  • Catholic Biblical Association (member)
  • National Association of Professors of Hebrew (member)
  • Hebrew Bible Section, Western Commission for the Study of Religion (chair)
Academic Interests:
  • Bible translation
  • Biblical theology
  • Judean culture, history, and literature in the Persian period
  • Literary features of biblical narrative
  • Popular culture in ancient Syria-Palestine
  • Reception history and reception theory
  • The book of Genesis
Selected Works:
  • Introduction to the Pentateuch and Genesis in Restoration Bible Commentary. Ed. Mark W. Hamilton et al. Abilene: Abilene Christian University Press, forthcoming.
  • Animated Films and God, Representations of in Encyclopedia of Religion and Film. Ed. Eric Mazur. Westport: Greenwood, forthcoming.
  • Triangulating Responsibility: How and Why Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael Offer and Refuse the Gift of Death, and to/from Whom. Pp. 151-166 in Derrida's Bible: Reading a Page of Scripture with a Little Help from Derrida. Ed. Yvonne M. Sherwood. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
  • Echoes of Genesis in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10: An Intertextual and Contextual Reading of Jabez's Prayer. Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 4.2 (2002).
  • Dynamics of Diselection: Ambiguity in Genesis 12-36 and Ethnic Boundaries in Post-Exilic Judah. Semeia Studies. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2001.
  • They're Not Just Bad, They're Stupid and Ugly, Too: The Depiction of Baal-Worshipers in Nest Entertainment's Animated Stories from the Bible. Pp. 89-103 in Culture, Entertainment, and the Bible. Edited by George Aichele. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000.
  • Hearing the Children's Cries: Commentary, Deconstruction, Ethics, and the Book of Habakkuk. Semeia 77 (1997) 75-89.
  • Narrative Criticism and the Hebrew Scriptures: A Review and Assessment. Restoration Quarterly 38 (1996) 29-43.
  • The Dao of Qoheleth: An Intertextual Reading of the Book of Ecclesiastes and the Daode Jing. Jian Dao 5 (1996) 65-93.
Selected Links: