Dr. Mikeal Parsons
The Lee University Department of Theology will host Dr. Mikeal Parsons on Thursday. The lecture will take place at 7 p.m. in Jones Lecture Hall, located in Lee’s School of Religion, Room 113.
Dr. Parsons, professor of New Testament studies and the Macon Chair in Religion at Baylor University, will present “The Ethiopian Eunuch Unhindered: Embodied Rhetoric in Acts 8” as part of Lee University’s Centennial Lecture Series.
The lecture will examine the social location of eunuchs in the ancient world in order to gauge the early church’s level of openness to those on the fringes of Greco-Roman society.
“Mike Parsons is one of the leading Luke-Acts scholars of his generation and a wonderful example to all of what it means to be a devoted churchman in the academy,” said Dr. Mark Proctor, associate professor of New Testament at Lee.
Dr. Parsons currently serves as editor of the academic journal Perspectives in Religious Studies and as co-editor for the series “Paideia: Commentaries on the New Testament.” In addition to his editorial work, Parsons has authored and co-authored numerous works such as “Rethinking the Unity of Luke and Acts,” “Luke: Storyteller, Evangelist, Interpreter,” and “Body and Character in Luke and Acts: The Subversion of Physiognomy in Early Christianity.”
He is a longstanding member of the Society for Biblical Literature and has served as president of the SBL- Southwest Region and president of the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion.
Dr. Parsons is a native of North Carolina and is married to Dr. Heidi J. Hornik, professor of Italian Renaissance art history at Baylor.
The Centennial Lecture Series, sponsored by Lee University Office of Academic Affairs, will take place throughout 2018 as the university celebrates its 100th year.
Thursday’s lecture is free, non-ticketed, and open to the public.
For more information about the event, contact the Department of Theology at 303-5110.