Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite (born 1948) is an author, former president of

Chicago Theological Seminary The Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) is a Christian ecumenical American seminary located in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of several seminaries historically affiliated with the United Church of Christ. It is the oldest institution of higher e ...

, a syndicated columnist, ordained minister, activist, theologian, and translator of the Bible. She is currently an emeritus faculty member at

. She also spent some of her time serving as a trustee for different organizations.

Biography

Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite attended

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

, in

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence, Massachusetts, Florence and ...

, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts. She, then continued her studies 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 ...

, earning a Master of Divinity and graduating Summa cum Laude. She was ordained as a minister in the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

in 1974. She ministered for several years as an associate minister in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, before earning a PhD from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. During her time in North Carolina, she worked with women who had experienced domestic violence. She taught women's studies and theology in various schools from 1975 to 1984. She served on a task force of the

National Council of Churches The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is a left-wing progressive activist group and the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is an ecumenical partners ...

that produced an inclusive language lectionary, while she was teaching theology at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in the early 1980s. In 1984, she joined the faculty at Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS), a seminary affiliated with the

. In 1998, she became the president of the seminary, the first woman to lead the institution since its founding in 1855. She served two five year terms, stepping down from the post in 2008. Alice Hunt succeeded her as president of CTS. Thistlethwaite became a Senior Fellow at the

Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy think tank, research and advocacy organization which presents a Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal viewpoint on Economic policy, economic and social issues. CAP is headquarter ...

in 2008, while also teaching full-time. She continued to be a public theologian, writing and speaking on matters relating to religion and public life. She wrote a column in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' for six years. She's contributed to articles for ''Theology Today'', the ''Journal for Religious Education'', and the ''Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion''.

Works

* Thistlethwaite, Susan B. and Victor Gold, Thomas Hoyt, Jr., Sharon Ringe, Burton Throckmorton, eds. ''The New Testament and Psalms: A New Inclusive Version'' (1995) *Thistlethwaite, Susan B. and Rita Nakashima Brock. ''Casting Stones: Prostitution and Liberation in Asia and the United States'' (1996) *Thistlethwaite, Susan B. and Mary Potter Engel, eds. ''Lift Every Voice: Constructing Christian Theologies from the Underside'' (1998) *Thistlethwaite, Susan B. and Glen Harold Stassen ''Abrahamic alternatives to war Jewish, Christian, and Muslim perspectives on just peacemaking'' (2008) *Thistlethwaite, Susan B. ''Sex, Race and God: Christian Feminism in Black and White'' (reprinted 2009) *Thistlethwaite, Susan B., ed. ''Adam, Eve and the Genome: Theology in Dialogue with the Human Genome Project.'' * Thistlethwaite, Susan B. ''Dreaming of Eden: American Religion and Politics in a Wired World'' (2010) * Thistlethwaite, Susan B. ''#Occupy the Bible: What Jesus Really Said (and Did) about Money and Power (2013)'' *Thistlethwaite, Susan B. ''Women's Bodies as Battlefield: Christian Theology and the Global War on Women'' (2015) *Thistlethwaite, Susan B. ''“Feel Awful? How to identify Trump’s Politics of Abuse and Subvert It” from Taking it to the streets : public theologies of activism and resistance'' (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thistlethwaite, Susan Brooks 1948 births Living people American theologians Place of birth missing (living people) Seminary presidents Duke University alumni United Church of Christ ministers Smith College alumni Bible translators Women biblical scholars