Francesca Stavrakopoulou

Francesca Stavrakopoulou (born Bromley, 1975[1]) is an atheist Bible scholar and senior lecturer in the University of Exeter's department of Theology and Religion.[2] The main focus of her research is Israelite and Judahite history and religion. She is noted for her academic and media roles: presenting a three-part television series on the BBC The Bible's Buried Secrets (2011; not to be confused with the 2008 NOVA program of the same name), and for contributions to Channel 4's series The Bible: A History. She describes herself as 'an atheist with huge respect for religion' and regards her work as 'a branch of history like any other'.[3][4]

Her DPhil from the University of Oxford,[5] which examined the creation of an imagined past within the Hebrew Bible, was subsequently published with the title King Manasseh and Child Sacrifice: Biblical Distortions of Historical Realities.[6][7] Her second book was Land of our Fathers: The Roles of Ancestor Veneration in Biblical Land Claims.[8] She has also co-edited Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah[9] and Ecological Hermeneutics: Biblical, Historical and Theological Perspectives.[10] She was a junior research fellow at Worcester College, Oxford, before moving to Exeter.[5]

Stavrakopoulou is the secretary of the British-based Society for Old Testament Study,[11] and a member of the European Association of Biblical Studies and of the US-based Society of Biblical Literature.[12][5]

References

  1. ^ GRO Register of Births: DEC 1975 11 1761 BROMLEY, mmn = Jones
  2. ^ "Was God's wife edited out of the Bible? Atheist claims the Almighty had partner known as Asherah". Daily Mail (London). 19 March 2011. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1367981/Atheist-Dr-Francesca-Stavrakopoulout-BBC-face-religion.html. 
  3. ^ Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Department of Theology and Religion, University of Exeter. (Accessed March 2011)
  4. ^ Hannah Roberts and Paul Revoir, BBC's face of religion is a self-proclaimed atheist who claims God had a wife and Eve suffered from sexism, Daily Mail, 9 March 2011. (Accessed March 2011)
  5. ^ a b c Singh, Anita (17 March 2011). "Profile of the BBC's new face of religion". Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8366984/Profile-of-the-BBCs-new-face-of-religion.html. Retrieved 17 March 2011. 
  6. ^ Francesca Stavrakopoulou, King Manasseh and Child Sacrifice: Biblical Distortions of Historical Realities. (BZAW 338). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2004. ISBN 3-11-017994-6.
  7. ^ Wyatt, N. (2008) King Manasseh and Child Sacrifice: Biblical Distortions of Historical Realities. By Francesca Stavrakopoulou. J Theol Studies, 59(1): 222-223. doi:10.1093/jts/flm050
  8. ^ Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Land of our Fathers: The Roles of Ancestor Veneration in Biblical Land Claims. New York: T & T Clark International, 2010. ISBN 9780567028815.
  9. ^ Francesca Stavrakopoulou and John Barton, editors, Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah. New York: T & T Clark International, 2010. ISBN 9780567032157.
  10. ^ David G. Horrell, Cherryl Hunt, Christopher Southgate and Francesca Stavrakopoulou, editors, Ecological Hermeneutics: Biblical, Historical and Theological Perspectives. New York: T & T Clark International, 2010. ISBN 9780567033031.
  11. ^ About the Society, Society for Old Testament Study. (Accessed March 2011)
  12. ^ Homepage Society of Biblical Literature. (Accessed March 2011).