Ellen F. Davis (born November 20, 1950) is an American theologian and Old Testament scholar. She is the Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at

Duke Divinity School The Duke Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, is one of ten graduate or professional schools within Duke University. It is also one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church. It has 39 ...

Biography

Davis has degrees from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

(A.B., Comparative Literature), the

Church Divinity School of the Pacific Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) is an Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, California. It is one of the nine seminaries in the Episcopal Church and a member of the Graduate Theological Union. The only Episcopal seminary located in the ...

(M.Div.) and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

(Ph.D., Old Testament). She previously taught at

Union Theological Seminary (New York City) Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (shortened to UTS or Union) is a private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University since 1928. Presently, Columbia Univers ...

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

, and

Virginia Theological Seminary Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), formally the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, is an Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. It is the largest and second-oldest such accredited se ...

. Davis's work has focused on how biblical interpretation can be used to address urgent contemporary issues in the church and world. She has considered how the Old Testament can be used to address preaching, interfaith dialogue, and the

ecological crisis An ecological or environmental crisis occurs when changes to the environment of a species or population destabilizes its continued survival. Some of the important causes include: * Degradation of an abiotic ecological factor (for example, incr ...

. Davis is known in particular for this latter work; she has written a book on the Old Testament view of land and ecology entitled ''Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible.'' She appeared on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's program ''On Being'' with

Wendell Berry Wendell Erdman Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. Closely identified with rural Kentucky, Berry developed many of his agrarian themes in the early essays o ...

in 2011 and also spoke with Berry and fellow Duke Divinity School professor Norman Wirzba at a Food and Faith conference in Nashville in 2014. Davis also works with the Great Lakes Initiative, an ecumenical gathering of

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

n leaders in reconciliation ministries, sponsored through Duke Divinity School's Center for Reconciliation. For several years, she has consulted with the

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

and

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

on theological education, community health, and

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is agriculture, farming in sustainability, sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an ...

Bibliography

*''Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament'' ( Cowley Publications, 2001) – *''Wondrous Depth: Preaching the Old Testament'' (Wesminster John Knox Press, 2005) - ISBN 9780664228590 *''Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading Of The Bible'' (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 2008) – *''Opening Israel's Scriptures'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2019) –
Opening Israel's Scriptures
'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Ellen F. 1950 births Living people Old Testament scholars American biblical scholars American theologians University of California, Berkeley alumni Graduate Theological Union alumni Yale Divinity School alumni Union Theological Seminary faculty Yale Divinity School faculty Duke Divinity School faculty Church Divinity School of the Pacific alumni Women biblical scholars