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David M. Carr

Goodreads Author

Born

in Cleveland, Ohio, The United States

Website

http:\\www.davidmcarr.com

Twitter

davidcarrbible

Genre

Religion, Psychology, Nonfiction

Member Since

August 2014

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David M. Carr is Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Over his decades-long academic career, he has become an international authority on the formation of the Bible, ancient scribal culture, and issues of the Bible and sexuality.

Decades into a career as a biblical scholar, he suffered a life-threatening bicycle accident that changed his view of the scriptures he had devoted his life to studying. As he grappled with his own individual trauma and survival of it, he became interested in how the collective trauma of Israel and the early church had shaped the Bible. He saw that these holy texts are defined by survival of communal catastrophe. This is part of what makes them special, what made them la David M. Carr is Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Over his decades-long academic career, he has become an international authority on the formation of the Bible, ancient scribal culture, and issues of the Bible and sexuality.

Decades into a career as a biblical scholar, he suffered a life-threatening bicycle accident that changed his view of the scriptures he had devoted his life to studying. As he grappled with his own individual trauma and survival of it, he became interested in how the collective trauma of Israel and the early church had shaped the Bible. He saw that these holy texts are defined by survival of communal catastrophe. This is part of what makes them special, what made them last. The result of this basic insight is Carr's forthcoming work, Holy Resilience: The Bible's Traumatic Origins (Yale University Press, Fall 2014).

His academic journey to that point started with dropping out of high school at age sixteen to attend college full-time and completing a BA in Philosophy at Carleton College at age eighteen in 1980. Eight years later, in 1988, he finished his Ph.D. with a focus on the Old Testament and Early Judaism at Claremont Graduate University.

Since then he has taught full time for twenty-five years, first at Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio (1988-1999) and the last fifteen years at Union Theological Seminary in New York City (1999-present). Some of his publications have been directed to fellow specialists on the Bible, such as Reading the Fractures of Genesis (Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), Writing on the Tablet of the Heart: Origins of Scripture and Literature (Oxford University Press, 2005) and The Formation of the Hebrew Bible: A New Reconstruction (Oxford University Press, 2011). While other publications have been directed to a broader audience of students and the general public such as Carr's Introduction to the Hebrew Bible: Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts (Wiley Blackwell, 2010) and The Erotic Word: Sexuality, Spirituality and the Bible (Oxford University Press, 2001).

A father/stepfather of four, Carr lives, rides his bicycle and plays funk-blues organ in New York City with his wife and fellow biblical scholar, Colleen Conway. ...more

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Average rating: 3.95 · 280 ratings · 40 reviews · 17 distinct works • Similar authors

	Holy Resilience: The Bible's Traumatic Origins 4.05 avg rating — 95 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	EROTIC WORD:SEXUALITY SPIRITUALITY & THE BIBLE: Sexuality, Spirituality, and the Bible 3.79 avg rating — 53 ratings — published 2002 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Introduction to the Old Testament: Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts of the Hebrew Bible 3.83 avg rating — 41 ratings — published 2010 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Formation of the Hebrew Bible: A New Reconstruction 4.21 avg rating — 24 ratings — published 2011 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Writing on the Tablet of the Heart: Origins of Scripture and Literature 3.73 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 2005 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Hebrew Bible: A Contemporary Introduction to the Christian Old Testament and the Jewish Tanakh 4.33 avg rating — 12 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Reading the Fractures of Genesis: Historical and Literary Approaches liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1996	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	From d to Q: A Study of Early Jewish Interpretations of Solomon's Dream at Gibeon (Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1991 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Gift of God in Due Season: Essays on Scripture and Community in Honor of James A. Sanders (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies, 225) by David M. Carr (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Andrew Mein (Series Editor), Claudia V. Camp (Series Editor) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1996 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Genesis 1-11 (International Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament by David M. Carr (Goodreads Author), Jonathan Miles Robker (Editor) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by David M. Carr (?)

“The cross is no sign of humiliating defeat for Christians. Instead, it is a proud symbol of movement membership. Jesus’ followers did not end up fleeing from the reality of his crucifixion, but “took up the cross” themselves. Such a thing would have been incomprehensible to Romans. It is an excellent example of the adaptability of symbols, especially in cases like imperial domination, where a dominated group confronts symbolic actions imposed on it by its oppressor. 11 The Roman symbol of ultimate defeat became the Christian symbol of ultimate victory.”
― David M. Carr, Holy Resilience: The Bible's Traumatic Origins

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