Alfred S. Palmer Lecture 2021

Palmer Lecture: Reading While Black

Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Time: 7 p.m. (PST)
Location: Webinar (via Zoom)

Recording of the lecture

Canon Esau McCaulley

The Rev. Canon Esau McCaulley, PhD, is a New Testament scholar and Anglican priest. He completed his doctoral studies at the University of St. Andrews, where he studied under the direction of N.T. Wright. Dr. McCaulley’s research and writing focus on Pauline theology, African American biblical interpretation, and articulating a Christian theology of justice in the public square.

His doctoral dissertation, Sharing in the Son’s Inheritance, was published by T & T Clark in 2019. Sharing in the Son’s Inheritance looks at the role Jewish messianism played in Paul’s argument in Galatians that Jesus has made believers heirs in the Messiah to the Abrahamic promises.

His second book, Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope, was published by IVP Academic in 2020. Reading While Black looks at the tradition of African American biblical interpretation and argues that the Bible rightly understood and read from a decidedly Black perspective can speak a word of hope to African Americans in the United States.

Alongside these more academic works, he writes popular pieces. He is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. He has appeared in outlets such as Christianity Today and The Washington Post. He is also the host of the Disrupters Podcast and functions as a canon theologian for his diocese.

Dr. McCaulley currently serves as assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College. He is married to Mandy, a pediatrician and Navy reservist. Together, they have four children.

Posted: Wednesday, August 21, 2019