Professional Leaders Conference 2011

September 24-26, 2012

Bishop Lane Retreat Center, Rockford, IL

The NIS Professional Leaders Conference is the key yearly opportunity for leaders to experience collegiality and connect with what is going on in our Synod. All NIS professional leaders (rostered leaders, seminary students, and paid professional congregational leaders) and their spouses are encouraged to come and share in this opportunity.

Bishop Lane Retreat Center, located at 7708 East McGregor Road in Rockford, is hidden away in the midst of 90 beautifully wooded acres and landscaped yard. It’s not unusual to see deer and other wildlife as you enjoy a walk along the lovely pond or through the quiet woods and the outdoor Stations of the Cross. Find out more at http://blrc.dpsrfd.org.

Presenter

Dr. Terrence Fretheim

ELVA B. LOVELL PROFESSOR OF OLD TESTAMENT

Email:
tfrethei@luthersem.edu

Personal Website:
www.luthersem.edu/tfrethei/

"The Bible opens up conversation. There are gaps in its stories, which invite us to use our imagination. We’re invited to unpack its metaphors. Its poetry invites us in.”

Terry Fretheim wants students to share his love for the "Godly Old Testament." He's passionate about "a God who weeps, who gets angry, who rejoices . . . a God who is in genuine interaction with the world."

Fretheim believes that the Old Testament offers tremendous resources for teaching, preaching and counseling. "I see connections between the New Testament story of Jesus and the Old Testament imaging of God," he says. "The Old Testament understanding of God is the key to an understanding of who Jesus Christ is."

Teaching for Fretheim is not simply "academic." His goal is to help students interact with the Old Testament texts in a personal way. "We're not to be passive readers," Fretheim says. "We're called to be creative, imaginative readers. The Bible opens up conversation. There are gaps in its stories, which invite us to use our imagination. We're invited to unpack its metaphors. Its poetry invites us in."

Fretheim notes that Christians have sometimes neglected the Old Testament. In fact, prior to the 1950s, the Old Testament was not often read in Lutheran churches. Martin Luther, however, was an Old Testament scholar. "He probably would have been in the Old Testament department of a modern seminary," Fretheim says.

Fretheim is a graduate of Luther College (Phi Beta Kappa) and Luther Theological Seminary. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton Seminary and has also studied at the Universities of Chicago, Durham, Heidelberg, Cambridge and Oxford.

A prolific writer and scholar, Fretheim particularly likes writing for pastors and laypeople. In the last year, he has added three books to his list of publications: God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation; Abraham: Journeys of Family and Faith; Hope in God in Times of Suffering (with Faith Fretheim). He is also featured in a nine-part video series,Fretheim Explores Genesis, a valuable adult Bible study resource available through Luther Seminary.

Fretheim points out that Christians have common roots with Jews and Muslims through the Old Testament story of Abraham. "We Christians can learn a lot from their struggle to interpret the nature of God and the life of faith," he says.

Terence Fretheim was first connected with the Luther Seminary faculty as a teaching fellow in Greek in 1958-60 while he was still a seminary student. He returned as assistant professor in 1968 and became professor of Old Testament in 1978. He was dean of academic affairs (1978-88) and also served as acting chair of the Old Testament department (1977-78) and chair of the curriculum committee (1976-77).

He was an instructor in Old Testament at Augsburg College and Seminary, Minneapolis, in 1961-63, and assistant professor of religion at Augsburg College in 1967-68. Ordained in 1968, Fretheim was pastor of Dennison (Minn.) Lutheran Church in 1968-71. He has been visiting professor at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, and both visiting professor and lecturer at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Fretheim received the Fulbright Scholarship for study in England, the Lutheran Brotherhood Seminary Graduate Scholarship, the Martin Luther Scholarship, the Fredrik A. Schiotz Fellowship Award, and the ATS Scholarship for Theological Research.

A graduate of Luther College, Decorah, Iowa (B.A., 1956), Fretheim earned the M.Div. degree from Luther Seminary in 1960 and the Th.D. degree from Princeton Seminary in 1967. He has also studied at the University of Durham, England, the University of Minnesota, the University of Heidelberg in Germany, Oxford University in England, and the University of Chicago. As a Luther College alumnus, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1995.

He is a member of the Catholic Biblical Association and the Society of Biblical Literature and is Editor of SBL Old Testament Monographs. He has served on the Buddhist and Muslim Task Forces of the American Lutheran Church, was co-chair of the Theological Consultation for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has been president of the Minnesota Consortium of Theological Schools, and Old Testament Book Editor for the Journal of Biblical Literature.

Fretheim has published numerous books. More recent titles include: The Pentateuch (Abingdon, 1996); Proclamation 6 (Fortress, 1997); The Bible as Word of God in a Postmodern Era (Fortress, 1998; with K. Froehlich); First and Second Kings (Westminister, 1999); About the Bible: Short Answers to Big Questions (Augsburg, 1999); In God's Image: A Study of Genesis(Augsburg, 1999); A Theological Introduction to the Old Testament(Abingdon, 1999), with B. Birch, W. Brueggemann, and D. Petersen; andJeremiah: A Commentary (Smyth & Helwys, 2002). God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation (Abingdon, 2005); Hope in God in Times of Suffering (with Faith Fretheim) (Augsburg/Fortress, 2006);Abraham: Journeys of Family and Faith (University of South Carolina Press, 2007).

In addition to many articles, other published notes include:

"Abraham," in New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (Abingdon, 2007)
entries for: Creation, Angel, Lord of Hosts, God Most High, Jealous, and Heaven (Westminster Theological Wordbook of the Bible, 2003)
the book of Exodus (Dictionary of Old Testament: Pentateuch. 2003)
the Book of Numbers (Oxford Bible Commentary. 2001)
entries for: God, and Book of Jonah (Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. 2000)

Publications:
		*A Theological Introduction to the Old Testament* Authors: Terence E. Fretheim, Bruce C. Birch, David L. Petersen Foreword by Walter Brueggemann ISBN: 0687013488 Publisher: Abingdon Press
		*About the Bible: Short Answers to Big Questions* ISBN: 0806638672 Publisher: Augsburg Fortress
		*Exodus: Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching* Within a framework highlighting the theology of creation, this commentary gives special treatment to the significance of the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, the relationship between law and narrative, and the shaping of literature by liturgy. ISBN: 0804231028 Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
		First and Second Kings(Westminster Bible Companion) Part of the Westminster Bible Companion series, this book explains I & II Kings in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. Ideal for individual or group study. ISBN: 0664255655 Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press Click here for reviews
		*Fretheim Explores Genesis* A nine part adult Bible study series on Genesis with video tape and study guide. Session Summary Click here for more information or to order
		Jeremiah Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary Jeremiah is a commentary on a prophetic book that presents many difficult literary, historical, and theological issues for the reader. The commentary focuses on literary and theological issues with the added intention of providing thoughtful reflections for those who would preach and teach these texts. ISBN: 1573120723 Publisher: Smyth & Hewlys Publishing, Inc.
		*The Bible As Word Of God In a Postmodern Age* In this exchange from the 1995 Hein/Fry Lecture Series, Fretheim and Froelich mount important, though divergent, analyses of the contemporary situation regarding Scripture and suggest varying strategies to meet it. ISBN: 1579108466 Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
		The Pentateuch (Interpreting Biblical Texts Series) Seeking to introduce the Pentateuch to modern readers and stressing its continuing capacity to speak a word of or about God, this volume includes both an orientation to the critical study of the Pentateuch and a focus on the individual books that comprise the Pentateuch. ISBN: 0687008425 Publisher: Abingdon Press
		*The Suffering of God: an Old Testament Perspective* The comprehensive and thought-provoking study focusing on the theme of divine suffering, an aspect of our understanding of God which both the church and scholarship have neglected. The book seeks to broaden our understanding of the God of the Old Testament. ISBN: 0800615387 Publisher: Fortress Press

Education

View a detailed curriculum vitae for Terence E. Fretheim here. This includes education, professional positions, activities, memberships and publications.