Dr. Kim Ian Parker

Dr. Kim I. ParkerPosition

Professor

Academics

Ph.D. McMaster University, 1988

Contact

Office: 5005 Arts & Administration
Telephone: (709) 864-8594
Email: kparker@mun.ca
Webpage: www.ucs.mun.ca/~kparker/


Research Interests

Hebrew Bible, Biblical Interpretation, Enlightenment thought, political philosophy.


Current Research

  • A study of the rise of historical-critical interpretation of the Bible in the 17th century
  • Political readings of biblical narratives
  • The theological writings of John Locke


Courses Taught

1000 The Religions of the World (also as research/writing version)
1010 Religion in the Modern World
1020 Christianity in Western Civilization
1050 Introduction to Biblical Hebrew I
1051 Introduction to Biblical Hebrew II
1200 The Bible in Western Religion and Culture (also at the Harlow campus)
2050 The Old Testament (also as research/writing version)
3030 The Torah
3031 The Book of Genesis
3060 The Prophets of Israel
3090 The Writings
3091 The Problem of Justice in the Old Testament
3272 Bible, Culture, and Interpretation
3820 Religion and the Arts (at the Harlow Campus)
4211 Genesis 1-11
4218 Seventeenth-Century Biblical Criticism
4902 Advanced Readings in the Hebrew Bible

6100 Methods and Theories in Religious Studies
6110 Thesis Writing
6120 Studies in Religious Texts

  • Biblical Narratology; Biblical Poetics; Postmodernism and the Bible; Biblical Poetics; Genesis 1-11 (Hebrew); Genesis 1-50

6902 Special Topics in the Hebrew Bible

  • Advanced Biblical Hebrew; Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives; Interpretations of Israelite History; The Book of Genesis; The Book of Job

6908 Special Topics in the History of Western Religious Thought

  • Locke and Religion; Nietzsche and Religion; Theological-Political Issues in 17th Century Europe; Political Readings of Biblical Narratives


Student Supervision

M.A. Theses

Cober, Lucas (in progress). Research topic: ’The Eyes of the Blind shall be Open’: Blindness in the Biblical Tradition.
Mason, Eli (in progress). Research topic: Fearful Symmetry: Narrative Parallelism in Yahweh’s Demons.
Pomeroy, Trevor (2014). ‘As Commander of the Army of the Lord I have Now Come’: Joshua 5:13-6:27 as War Narrative in Context.
Worsley, Emily (2013). ‘Where were you when I laid the Foundations of the Earth’?: Creation as Unfinished in God’s Speech to Job.
Walters, Lisa (2010): Christianity and Conservatism on Parliament Hill.
Aucoin, Lael (2010). Reclaiming Dinah: A Feminist-Literary Analysis of Genesis 34:1-17.
Keating, Raelene (2009). The Tower of Babel: A Literary Examination of Genesis 11:1-9.
Sheedy, Matt (2008). Locke’s Inheritors: The Theological Underpinnings of the Letter Concerning Toleration and its Modern Implications for the Moral Dilemma of Religious Toleration.
Walsh, Catherine (2004). Prophet in a Righteous Land: George W. Bush’s Rhetoric and the Hebrew Bible.
Sherwood, Ian (2004). Job’s ‘Restoration: An Ascetic Misinterpretation of the Epilogue of the Book of Job.
Carter, Ben (2003). Feuerbachian Imagination and the Reversal of Hegelian Ontology in The Essence of Christianity (1841).
Gilroy, Daniel (2002). The Genesis and Ecology Debate.
Meade, Sonya (1997). ‘Bless God and Die’: An Examination of the Role of Job’s Wife in the Masoretic Text of Job.
Bungay, Roy (1996). “Narrative Structure and Character Development in 2 Samuel 11.
Duke, Pat (1995). The Numinous Experience and Self-Understanding in 1QH. (Co-supervised with Dr. David J. Hawkin)
Lambe, Tony (1994): Genesis 38: Literary Design and Context.


Publications

2014

  • An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament (New York: Linus Publications, 2014).
  • “Spinoza, Locke, and Biblical Criticism,” in Conscience and Scripture: Locke and Biblical Hermeneutics, ed. by Luisa Simonutti (New York: Springer Press, 2014), 41 ms pages, in press.
  • “A King Like Other Nations: Political Theory and the Hebrew Republic in the Early Modern Age,” in The Oxford Handbook to the Bible, ed. by Kevin Killeen (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 384-396.

2012

  • “Locke, Religion, Rights, and the Rise of Modernity,” LUMEN XXXI (2012), 115-129.

2009

  • “Newton, Locke, and the Trinity: Sir Isaac’s Comments on Locke’s A Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans,” The Scottish Journal of Theology 62.1 (2009), 40-52.

2008

  • “‘Men Being Partial to Themselves’: Human Selfishness in Locke’s Two Treatises” (co-author with Greg Forster), Politics and Religion, 1.2 (2008), 169-99.

2007

  • “That ‘Dreadful Name, Leviathan’: Biblical Resonances in the Title to Hobbes’s Famous Political Work,” Hebraic Political Studies, 2.4 (2007), 424-447.

2006

  • “Building the Second Temple,” in Biblica: The Bible Atlas, ed. by Barry J. Beitzel (Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 2006), 348-361.

2005

  • “Adam the Postmodern Bourgeois Liberal?,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 29.4 (2005), 439-453.

2004

  • The Biblical Politics of John Locke (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2004).

1999

  • “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Must We Leave Eden Once and for All?: A Lacanian Pleasure Trip through the Garden,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 83 (1999), 19-29.

1997

  • “Solomon the Philosopher King? The Nexus of Law and Wisdom in I Kings 1-11,” reprinted in Sheffield Old Testament Readers Series, J. Cheryl Exum, ed., The Historical Books: A Sheffield Reader (Sheffield: Sheffield, 1997), 233-248.

1996

  • “John Locke and the Enlightenment Metanarrative,” Scottish Journal of Theology 49 (1996), 57-73.
  • “Speech, Writing, and Power: Deconstructing the Biblical Canon,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 69 (1996), 91-103.

1994

  • Wisdom and Law in the Reign of Solomon (Lewiston/Queenston/Lampeter: Mellen Biblical Press, 1994).

1993

  • Liberal Democracy and the Bible, Kim Ian Parker, ed. (Lewiston/Queenston/Lampeter: Mellen, 1993).
  • “Reason, Revelation, and Liberal Democracy,” in Liberal Democracy and the Bible, ed. by Kim Ian Parker (Lewiston/Queenston/Lampeter: Mellen Biblical Press, 1994), 1-18.
  • “Locke’s Theologico-Political Argument,” in Liberal Democracy and the Bible, ed. by Kim Ian Parker, (Lewiston/Queenston/Lampeter: Mellen, 1993), 101-128.

1992

  • “Solomon the Philosopher King? The Nexus of Law and Wisdom in I Kings 1-11,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 53 (1992), 75-91.

1991

  • “The Limits to Solomon’s Reign: A Response to Amos Frisch,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 51 (1991), 15-21.

1990

  • Text and Tradition: A Guide to the Old Testament (Burlington, ON: Trinity Press, 1990).

1988

  • “Repetition as a Structuring Device in I Kings 1-11,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 42 (1988), 19-27.


Presentations

Invited

  • “Montesquieu and Locke and the Idea of Consent,” Discussant for the Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Political Science Association, Boston, MA (November 2012)
  • “The Contribution of the Bible to the Development of Modernity: John Locke and Seventeenth-Century Biblical Exegesis.” Paper for the “Bible in the Seventeenth Century: The Authorised Version Quatercentenary (1611-2011),” York, UK (July, 2011).
  • “‘A King Like Other Nations’: Political Theory and the Hebrew Republic in the Early Modern Age.” Paper for the Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, New Orleans, LA (January, 2011).
  • “Locke, Religion, Rights, and the Rise of Modernity,” Paper presented to Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, St. John's, NL (October, 2010).
  • “Athens or Jerusalem?: Strauss, Spinoza, and Genesis.” Paper for the Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, New Orleans, LA (January, 2008).
  • “No Man Can Serve Two Masters’: Politics and the Bible in Hobbes Leviathan.” Paper for the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, IL (August, 2007).
  • “Men Being Partial to Themselves: Human Selfishness in Locke's Two Treatises” (co-author with Greg Forster). Paper for the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA (August, 2006).
  • “Human Rights, the Creator, and the Genesis of John Locke’s Theory of Property.” Paper for the Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, Atlanta, GA (January, 2006).

Refereed

  • “A Learning Community Across Two Campuses” (with Catherine Innes-Parker). Presented at the Association of Atlantic Universities Teaching Showcase, St. John's, NL (October, 2006).
  • “Sir Isaac Newton: Biblical Scholar.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, London, ON (2005).
  • “The Creator and Inalienable Rights.” Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Jacques Maritain Society, Halifax, NS (2003).
  • “Adam, the Postmodern Bourgeois Liberal.” Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, Edmonton, AB (2000).
  • “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Must We Leave Eden Once and for All?: A Lacanian Pleasure Trip through the Garden.” Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, St. John’s, NL (May, 1997).
  • “Speech, Writing, and Power: The Biblical Canon in a Postmodern Age.” Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, Calgary (May, 1994).
  • “John Locke and Modern Critical Discourse: Showdown in Eden.” Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, Ottawa (May, 1993).
  • “Liberalism and the Bible: John Locke, Robert Filmer, and Genesis.” Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, Kingston, ON (May, 1991).
  • “Solomon the Philosopher King? The Nexus of Law and Wisdom in I Kings 1-11.” Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, Victoria, BC (May, 1990).
  • “Repetition as a Structuring Device in I Kings 1-11.” Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, Hamilton, ON (May, 1987).
  • “The Theologico-Political Teaching of Genesis 1:22.” Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, Halifax, NS (May, 1981).

Other

  • Text and Context Symposium III. Presented Paper, “Locke and Biblical Interpretation: A Study in Method” (April, 2015) (organizer)
  • Text and Context Symposium II. Presented Paper, “John Locke as Biblical Scholar: The Spinoza Connection” (April, 2014) (co-organizer of with Jennifer Selby).
  • Religion: Public or Private? “The Case of the Quebec Charter of Values.” Rocket Bakery, St. John’s, NL. (January, 2014)
  • Religious Studies Speaker Series. Presented Lecture, “The Story of the Fall: Corruption or Confusion? (November, 2013).
  • Text and Context Symposium I. Presented Paper, “Working with Manuscripts: Locke and Newton” (April, 2013) (co-organizer with Jennifer Selby)
  • Religious Studies Colloquium Series. Presented paper, “A King like Other Nations: Political Theory and the Hebrew Republic in the Early Modern Age” (March, 2011).
  • Philosophy Department’s “Jockey Club.” Presented a paper on Leo Strauss’s “Athens and Jerusalem” (February, 2011).
  • M. Phil program MUN: Presented Paper, “The Biblical Theory of Types” (October, 2004).
  • Religious Studies and Philosophy Colloquium. “Widening Access to Sacred and Canonical Texts,” University of Nottingham, England (July, 2003).
  • French Department, MUN: Presented Paper: “What is a Discipline?” (February, 2000).
  • English/Women's Studies Research Seminar, UPEI. Presented Paper: “Eve: Between the Pit and the Pedestal” (March, 1998).
  • Deans and Directors, MUN. Presented Paper: “The Hebrew Bible and its Interpreters” (May, 1994).
  • M. Phil program, MUN. Presented Paper: “Locke's Rationalized Christianity” (June, 1993)
  • M. Phil program, MUN. Presented Paper: “Writing and Speech in the Bible” (May, 1993)
  • Joint Seminar for the Humanities, MUN. Presented Paper: “The Biblical Politics of John Locke” (March, 1990


Funding and Awards

  • SSHRC Standard Research Grant (2009-2012)
  • SSHRC Vice-President's Research Grant (internal) (2007-2008).
  • CFHSS Grant to Wilfrid Laurier University Press (2005-2006)
  • SSHRC Standard Research Grant (2001 to 2004).
  • SSHRC Vice-President’s Research Grant (internal) (2001-2004, declined).
  • SSHRC Vice-President’s Research Grant (internal) (1998-2001).