Welcome to Scholarly Wanderlust

Navigating the Intersections of Faith, Knowledge, and Reason.

Path to the ocean

At the heart of humanity, the sacred lies in wait unveiled through our interpretations of ancient scriptures alongside our pursuits in design, innovation, and creativity. Together, they guide us in reaching for profound truths, revealing the essence of our existence.

- Erica Mongé-Greer, Ph. D.

Study the Bible With Scholarly Insight

Discover Erica’s guided study series, On The Path, complete with video lectures and thoughtful engagement with Scripture’s ancient world. Start your study today—or explore the Leader’s Guide and small group license for churches.

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Recent Blog

Getting Started with Battlestar Galactica

By Erica Mongé-Greer | August 23, 2022 |

Even if you aren’t a huge sci-fi fanatic, you have probably heard of Battlestar Galactica. After all, it is a four-season complete apocalyptic sci-fi series made for the post-9/11 world. The 2004 series, sometimes called “The Reimagined Series, ” is also referred to as BSG-TRS. The series won more than 30 awards, more than 50…

Theological Ethics of the Treatment of Animals

By Erica Mongé-Greer | June 9, 2022 |

How does the Bible encourage us to treat animals ethically?

Purim During a Time of Transition

By Erica Mongé-Greer | April 15, 2022 |

The Jewish holiday Purim bookmarked my year of celebrating major Jewish holidays, and it fell merely days before my family embarked on a significant cross-country move. So naturally, this meant a few last-minute store visits to purchase baking supplies and simplifying the menu to accommodate our temporary dining table surface. Nevertheless, we made more than…

Demanding Justice in Psalm 82

By Erica Mongé-Greer | March 22, 2022 |

This week, I presented a summary of research on Psalm 82 at the Oxford Interfaith Forum Psalms in Interfaith Context Reading Group. We had a lively discussion that ranged from identifying the prophetic voice, the mythological provenance, linguistic and poetic features, and extended theological implications. This presentation opened with a reading of Psalm 82 in…

The Psalter and Abraham’s Prayers

By Erica Mongé-Greer | February 3, 2022 |

This month’s Oxford Interfaith Forum Monthly Interfaith Psalm Reading & Discussion, hosted by the Oxford Interfaith Forum, was led by Ustadha Yomna Helmy, Centre of Islamic Studies, the University of Cambridge on a Comparative Reading of the Hebrew Bible Psalter and Abraham’s Prayers in the Quran. Two Prayer Texts Dr. Helmy brought us along on…

Tu B’Shvt—A Celebration of Trees and Life

By Erica Mongé-Greer | February 1, 2022 |

Tu B’Shvt, January’s Jewish Holiday, called for a celebration of the birth of trees. Another name for the day is Rosh HaShanah La’Llanot, “New Year for Trees.” The holiday recalls the importance of God’s creation and the gift of nature. Trees appear as unique markers in the Torah, so a holiday dedicated to celebrating life…

A Festival of Light

By Erica Mongé-Greer | January 4, 2022 |

The final 2021 meeting of the Oxford Interfaith Forum Discussion Series featured a discussion about The Festival of Light. We opened our program with recognition of Senior Scholar Rvd. Dr. John Goldingay, who, along with his wife, Kathleen Scott Goldingay, suffered a significant loss this year when Kathleen’s daughter died tragically in an automobile crash.…

Hanukkah is not a Type of Christmas

By Erica Mongé-Greer | December 14, 2021 |

The start of Hanukkah coincided this year with the Christian Advent. I love the Advent season. The four weeks leading up to Christmas Day are reflective and a centering time of faith. I found it very enlightening to reflect on the Hanukkah tradition during this time of faithful reflection. We lit the Menorah on Sunday…

Messiah & Messianism

By Erica Mongé-Greer | December 6, 2021 |

The third meeting of the Oxford Interfaith Forum Discussion Series met to share different religious views about the Messiah. Two scholars presented historical and biblical traditions from Jewish and Christian perspectives: Dr. Benjamin Sax, Scholar at the Institue for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies (Baltimore, MD), and Rev. Dr. John Goldingay, David Allan Hubbard Professor…

Klara and The Sun—Emotional Awareness of an AI Companion

By Erica Mongé-Greer | December 5, 2021 |

The novel Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro was only recently published in 2021. The book is very well done and reads easily. The author holds back just enough information to keep the reader hungry for more. This style can feel a little disorienting at first, but curiosity is sparked and I found the…

Behind on Blogs (a preview)

By Erica Mongé-Greer | November 22, 2021 |

This week I am traveling through Texas. On Wednesday, I flew into Austin and visited with family a couple days. Then, on Friday, I arrived in San Antonio for an annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) and the Institute of Biblical Research (IBR). This conference is a great time to connect with…

Podcast: Seeking Understanding of Violence in the Bible

By Erica Mongé-Greer | November 10, 2021 |

Jump directly to Seeking Understanding of Violence in the Bible Dr. Erica Mongé-Greer interviews Rev. Dr. Helen Paynter, Director for the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence Bristol, about her research that seeks an understanding of violence in the Bible. Rev. Dr. Helen Paynter founded the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence…

Podcast: Theological Ethics of Sexbots

By Erica Mongé-Greer | October 26, 2021 |

Jump directly to Theological Ethics of Sexbots Podcast In an age of quick-paced technological developments, it’s no surprise we are seeing tv-series and films address ethical issues surrounding human interaction with robots. Even though Artificial Intelligence (AI) still has a ways to go before a synthetic being may be able to interact fully and free…

The Torah-Person & Trees in Psalm 1

By Erica Mongé-Greer | October 24, 2021 |

Read or Listen Oxford Interfaith Forum launched a Psalms reading group to explore the Psalter from multifaith and multidisciplinary perspectives. Rev. Dr. John Goldingay, David Allen Hubbard Professor Emeritus at Fuller Theological Seminary, opened the inaugural session with a commentary on Psalm 1. Introduction to Psalm 1 Psalm 1 introduces the Psalter with a reminder…

Oxford Interfaith Forum: Interfaith Discussion Series 2021

By Erica Mongé-Greer | October 24, 2021 |

Oxford Interfaith Forum presents a series of discussions on biblical topics from multifaith and multidisciplinary approaches. This series is organized by the Oxford Interfaith Forum, co-hosted by the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies: The Creation Story – 14 September 2021, 7:30pm (BST) Welcome address: Lord Alderdice, Patron of Oxford Interfaith Forum.Chair: Revd Nevsky Everett, Chaplain of Keble College,…

Christianity & Science Fiction: A conference for fans of religion in sci-fi

By Erica Mongé-Greer | October 20, 2021 |

This month, I attended a virtual conference on Christianity & Science Fiction. The conference featured academic presentations on religious connections in science fiction literature. The two-session forum was hosted by the Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies in partnership with the Department of Middle East Studies (University of Michigan). Religion in science fiction is a…

The Historian—Elizabeth Kostova’s Novel of Dracula’s Futures

By Erica Mongé-Greer | October 15, 2021 |

Read or Listen [SPOILERS WARNING: Do I really have to say this? It’s a review! Read ahead at your own risk.] Several years ago I read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova as a commuter novel. Then, this past summer, I picked up a used copy of the same book at a charming bookstore in South…

Interfaith Discussion about Abraham and His Family

By Erica Mongé-Greer | October 13, 2021 |

Read or Listen Introduction to the Seminar Oxford Interfaith Forum presents Interfaith Discussion Series intended to promote interreligious dialogue between scholars of different faiths that draw from similar scripture traditions. This session, entitled “Discussions on Abraham and His Children,” is meant to focus on shared narratives of tradition about the Religious Patriarch Abraham. The session…

Building a Sukkah to Remember God

By Erica Mongé-Greer | October 11, 2021 |

So quickly after Rosh HaShanah, the New Year, and in the midst of starting the school year with all its schedule changes and additional activities, we also came to the threshold of Sukkoth. We built a Sukkah and prepared our feast. We joined one another for dinner out of doors. I must admit that Sukkoth…

L’Shanah Tova—Rosh Hashanah

By Erica Mongé-Greer | September 16, 2021 |

This blog post is a little bit overdue since we celebrated the Hebrew calendar New Year last week. But, it comes instead on the eve of Yom Kippur, which marks a day of fasting to purify oneself for the coming year. One of the most interesting things about this year, Hebrew Year 5782, is a…

Reading the Right Books in Narnia

By Erica Mongé-Greer | September 3, 2021 |

Read or Listen In the third book of the Narnia chronicles, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, we get a new human character, Eustice. And Eustice lacks the creative education to keep up with the wonder of Narnia. His obsession is with science and observation rather than with fantasy. Eustace criticizes Edmond and Lucy for…

ANELC eLecture Series 2021: Aramaic Letters from Bactria

By Erica Mongé-Greer | August 25, 2021 |

 The ANELC 2021 eLecture series concluded today with a presentation by Margaretha Folmer (Leiden University/Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). She offers a look at linguistic markers in Aramaic letters from a non-Semitic region, Bactria, a region that is heavily contested today and the subject of global news—Northern Afghanistan. Folmer wishes her research be received to contribute to…

Religion in Narnia: Tashlan, the God We Create

By Erica Mongé-Greer | August 23, 2021 |

Read or Listen to this blogcast I have just completed my recent reading of The Narnia Chronicles, and it has been quite a long time since I remembered the story C. S. Lewis wrote in The Last Battle. This finalé to the series is a remarkable commentary on modern theology that is simple presented as…

ANELC eLecture Series 2021: Egyptian Influences in Biblical Hebrew

By Erica Mongé-Greer | August 18, 2021 |

Letizia Cerqueglini (Tel Aviv University) presented on the spread of Egyptian language found in ancient Hebrew. Her presentation focused on linguistic and cognitive distinctions in the etymology of Afroasiatic languages. She begins by asking how we can separate Afroasiatic linguistic heritage from direct loanwords in antiquity. Her presentation considers many aspects of the connection between…

A Science Fiction Quest for Faith in Contact

By Erica Mongé-Greer | August 15, 2021 |

Read or Listen to the Blogcast As I have been immersing myself in literary and cinematic representations of the supernatural, I revisited the 1997 film, Contact. Dr. Ellie Arroway, played by Jodie Foster, has searched her entire life for confirmation of life by radio signal. Finally, as an adult, she discovers a signal confirmed from…

ANELC eLecture Series 2021: The Tiberian Tradition Reading of Hebrew Bible

By Erica Mongé-Greer | August 11, 2021 |

ANELC21 featured Geoffrey Khan (University of Cambridge) in the second of four eLectures on connections between ancient Near Eastern languages. Khan spoke about the tradition of Tiberian reading or pronunciation of Hebrew Bible texts. The Tiberian tradition of pronunciation for the reading of Hebrew was passed down by oral tradition and received by the Masoretic…

A Scholar looks at Film and Religion

By Erica Mongé-Greer | August 9, 2021 |

Steve Nolan’s book called Film, Lacan and the Subject of Religion (2009) is a book that looks at the relationship between film and religion. Nolan advocates for engaging with film as it is experienced or consumed as a means of religious interpretation. In this way, films may be interpreted by the visual equivalent of “reader…

Podcast: Anxiety about Reproduction in the Bible and Science Fiction

By Erica Mongé-Greer | August 6, 2021 |

Why is there so much anxiety about reproduction in sci-fi? This question has been posited in several recent discussions. And now that I have asked the question, I keep seeing examples of this concept of concern over the human ability to have children by natural means. This can be seen in sci-fi books, short stories,…

ANELC eLecture Series 2021: The Canaanite Language Melting Pot

By Erica Mongé-Greer | August 4, 2021 |

To begin the 2021 conference on Ancient Near Eastern Languages in Contact, Ohad Cohen (University of Haifa) shared a presentation entitled The Canaanite Melting Pot – the Theoretical Implications of ‘Languages in Contact’ to the Understanding of Late Biblical Hebrew. If you are interested in reading more on Canaanite Language or Late Biblical Hebrew (LBH)…

Twelve Monkeys Quotable Moments

By Erica Mongé-Greer | August 2, 2021 |

About one year ago, I started my blog with a commentary on the Twelve Monkeys series streaming on Hulu. I also posted a short podcast reflecting on religious themes in Twelve Monkeys. I began streaming the series near the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown, an apt time to watch an epic sci-fi story about a…

The Left Hand of Darkness, Right Hand of Light

By Erica Mongé-Greer | July 28, 2021 |

Read or Listen to the Blogcast “Light is the left hand of darknessand darkness the right hand of light.Two are one, life and death, lyingtogether like lovers in kemmer,like hands joined together,like the end and the way.”― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin was an award-winning sci-fi author.…

Podcast: A Prayer for America the Beautiful

By Erica Mongé-Greer | July 22, 2021 |

I was a little surprised when Sunday’s hymn was a well-known patriotic song, America the Beautiful. Singing the hymn in a religious setting had me thinking about the spiritual themes. So, I threw out a nonchalant post on social media to ask if singing this song in a church made it more of a prayer…

A Personal Writing Retreat

By Erica Mongé-Greer | July 21, 2021 |

Working from home definitely has some perks, but it can be stifling to the creative writing process. So, I am extremely fortunate to have been offered a place to stay a few nights to focus on my writing projects. As you know, if you are following my blog, I planned a mini-writing retreat with a…

Liminality in Butler’s Kindred

By Erica Mongé-Greer | July 9, 2021 |

Read or Listen to the Blogcast One of Octavia Butler‘s first novels has been recently made into a graphic novel. Kindred is a twentieth-century novel that explores the intersections of mid-twentieth century life for an African American woman living in Los Angeles with the life of her ancestors in nineteenth-century Maryland. Dana, Caught Between Two…

Evolution, Games, and God

By Erica Mongé-Greer | July 4, 2021 |

I just finished reading Sarah Coakley and Martin A. Nowak on defining a “theology of cooperation,” which is explored as an interdisciplinary project in their book Evolution, Games, and God (2013). Sarah Coakley and Martin A. Nowak argue for the philosophical necessity of incorporating ethics and theology when discussing the implications of evolutionary cooperation. To…

Wandering Through Leviticus Part III

By Erica Mongé-Greer | July 2, 2021 |

A reminder that this reading of Leviticus was part of a Bible study with a small group of friends, all women who needed an outlet during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have five Master’s degrees in topics ranging from Linguistics to Law to Chemistry, two doctorate degrees, and one doctoral candidate. If you missed it, catch…

Apocalypse & Parables by Octavia Butler

By Erica Mongé-Greer | June 28, 2021 |

I have only just discovered the amazing storyteller and author Octavia Butler. I’m writing this blog to ensure that you don’t miss out on the Parable of the Sower and Parable of Talents. The latter won the Nebula Award for Best Novel (1999). Despite the Parable series being published in the 1990s, the books did…

Lady of the Underworld, an Evil Queen in Narnia

By Erica Mongé-Greer | June 17, 2021 |

Read or Listen to this blogcast In C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia‘s The Silver Chair, we meet some new characters, like Puddlegum the Marsh-wiggle and a new human character, Jill Pole. The unlikely pair of a sensible girl and the Narnia-born marsh dweller end up taking part in a rescue expedition, along with…

Planning a Mini-Writing Retreat

By Erica Mongé-Greer | June 15, 2021 |

More than one year has passed since we were all confined to our homes to decrease the rate of infection for the global COVID-19 pandemic. At the beginning of all this, I suspected it would be a writer’s paradise. Sitting in my homemade workspace office, which for me was a personalized cloffice about 2 meters…

The Magician, The Witch, and the Fall of Humankind

By Erica Mongé-Greer | June 9, 2021 |

Read or Listen I have just completed reading, rather re-reading, The Magician’s Nephew, the penultimate book in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series. I have to admit, this is my favorite book. I always look forward to meeting the stubborn Diggory and the ambitious, wise, and cautious Polly. I anticipate the moment that the…

CSBV 2021 Spring Conference: Reflections on Violence in the Bible

By Erica Mongé-Greer | May 30, 2021 |

Over the past couple years, I have interacted with about a dozen papers and presentations on violence in the Bible hosted by the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence (CSBV). The Centre has produced and engaged with an impressive number of scholars, focusing deeply on problematic biblical texts as well as contemporary violence…

Podcast: A Psalter for the Poor in Psalm 82

By Erica Mongé-Greer | May 30, 2021 |

My Ph.D. dissertation was completed in the infamous year of the COVID-19 virus that was 2020. As the world emerges from hibernation, I am also finding opportunities to discuss my research in broader contexts. Therefore, I have recorded this podcast, which summarizes my research on the nature of poverty in the Hebrew Bible Psalter. This…

CSBV 2021 Spring Conference: Biblical Violence in the Prophets

By Erica Mongé-Greer | May 29, 2021 |

Dr. Lissa Wray Beal, Professor of Old Testament, Providence Seminary, opened this final session with her paper on “Servants of Grace and Horror in Jeremiah 25:1-14.” She read the passage in Jeremiah from a perspective of horror as an aspect of biblical violence. The particular focus of the paper was on viewing Nebuchadnezzar as God’s…

CSBV 2021 Spring Conference: Emerging Scholars Student Research Prize

By Erica Mongé-Greer | May 28, 2021 |

Revd delivered the fifth session keynote address. Dr. Helen Paynter, Director: Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence. Her paper entitled, “I Believe in the Afterlife (of the word),” offered a reminder about the need for humility when working academically to translate and interpret passages of scripture. She appeals to emerging scholars, but her…

CSBV 2021 Spring Conference: Violence Against Women in Biblical Narratives

By Erica Mongé-Greer | May 26, 2021 |

This mid-week session of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence. The session comes with a trigger warning about intense and personal content that includes sexual and physical violence against women and dealing with uncomfortable relationship aggression. This session’s Keynote Speaker, Dr. Johanna Stiebert, Professor of Hebrew Bible, University of Leeds, presented “Virginity,…

CSBV 2021 Spring Conference: Biblical Violence in Genesis and Judges

By Erica Mongé-Greer | May 25, 2021 |

Note: CSBV offered a special session specifically to include Majority-World Speakers on the subject of biblical violence. Unfortunately, I was unable to accommodate because I was asleep in my present time zone. Nevertheless, I was disappointed to have missed this session because topics focused on basic human rights and addressing violence-based justice. You can find…

CSBV 2021 Spring Conference: Bible and Christian Violence

By Erica Mongé-Greer | May 25, 2021 |

The Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence (CSBV) celebrates just over two years of activity with a conference called “From the Rising to the Setting Sun: Global Perspectives on the Bible and Violence.” CSBV has been very active, even during the global pandemic lockdown, providing an outlet for academics and encouraging stimulating conversations…

Shavu’ot, Feast of Weeks

By Erica Mongé-Greer | May 19, 2021 |

This week, we celebrated the Shavu’ot. This Jewish holiday comes seven weeks after Passover. It is a celebration of the harvest and centers on remembering when Moses gave the Torah. The holiday is marked by decorating with flowers and feasting on bread and other delicious food. Shavu’ot, or the Festival of Weeks, is a harvest…

Podcast: Religion in 12-Monkeys Series

By Erica Mongé-Greer | May 6, 2021 |

When I first launched this blog, the world was entering lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic. My partner and I sued up Twelve Monkeys, the tv series streaming on Hulu at the time. Viewing sci-fi as a biblical scholar has me thinking about many religious themes like salvation, apocalyptic hope, science, humanism, love, death and rebirth,…

The O’s Have It Part II: God’s Omnipresence in the Bible

By Erica Mongé-Greer | September 2, 2025

Part II — Where Is God? Rethinking Omnipresence Christianity taught me to say, “God is everywhere.” Scripture taught me to ask, “Then why do some places feel empty?” What is omnipresence? Omnipresence is the idea that God is all present everywhere. Like Santa Claus in the song, who “knows when you are sleeping, knows when…

The O’s Have It Part I: God’s Omniscience in the Bible

By Erica Mongé-Greer | August 6, 2025

If God knows everything, why does Genesis show a God who asks questions? One of the first things I learned in Seminary was that the gap between biblical and theological studies grew wider as scholars specialized. Even the vocabulary and basic assumptions about belief, faith, and the nature of God differed between the two camps. I was…

Barbie and the Easy Man

By Erica Mongé-Greer | March 18, 2025

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, conversations about gender, power, and representation take center stage. While history often focuses on real-world trailblazers, fictional storytelling has long been a powerful tool for examining societal norms and challenging assumptions. Two summers ago, one film, Barbie (2023), explored gender norms and societal expectations by portraying an encounter with…

Ethical Reflections from the Book of Ruth

By Erica Mongé-Greer | August 6, 2024

The Book of Ruth, often seen as a simple love story, holds profound insights into immigrant relationships, philanthropy, and social justice within the Hebrew Bible. Through a closer examination, we can uncover the ethical dimensions of the narrative, especially as they pertain to migration and community responsibility. Here are three key takeaways from this exploration:…

Exploring Liberation and Justice in Exodus and the Asaph Psalms

By Erica Mongé-Greer | July 11, 2024

The Book of Exodus and the Asaph Psalms are profound texts that delve into themes of liberation, justice, and divine intervention, offering timeless insights that resonate with faith communities today.

‘Though He Were Dead, Yet Shall He Live’: Permanency and Impermanency of Death in Video Games

By Erica Mongé-Greer | March 20, 2024

Video games have advanced to extreme realism in the past few decades. Forty years ago, players could only place themselves in a video game with great imaginative power. Then, animation improved, so a player manipulated a humanoid in a cartoon, like Mario or Link. The character moved at the command of the player—one button for…

Embracing Lectio Divina: The Art Reading the Divine in Scripture

By Erica Mongé-Greer | March 15, 2024

In exploring the depths of biblical passages, scholars often turn to rigorous analytical methods to unearth the text’s historical, cultural, and theological contexts. Yet, Lectio Divina, or Divine Reading, presents an enriching alternative or complementary practice to traditional scholarly exegesis. This ancient technique invites us into a reflective and meditative engagement with scripture, blending intellectual…

Applying Biblical Passages to Contemporary Contexts: The Final Step in Exegesis

By Erica Mongé-Greer | March 13, 2024

This post is part of a series on illuminating Scripture through personal study that follows biblical exegesis methods. Read the Introduction article: Illuminating the Scriptures: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical Exegesis. Having meticulously navigated through annotating your passage, understanding its historical-cultural backdrop, structuring your analysis, and engaging with past scholarship, we now arrive at the…

Crafting a Structural Outline and Developing a Working Thesis for Your Exegesis Commentary

By Erica Mongé-Greer | March 11, 2024

This post is part of a series on illuminating Scripture through personal study that follows biblical exegesis methods. Read the Introduction article: Illuminating the Scriptures: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical Exegesis. In our journey through biblical exegesis, having explored both the “World in Front of the Text” and the “World Behind the Text,” we now…

Integrating Past Scholarship and Commentary into Your Biblical Exegesis

By Erica Mongé-Greer | March 11, 2024

This post is part of a series on illuminating Scripture through personal study that follows biblical exegesis methods. Read the Introduction article: Illuminating the Scriptures: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical Exegesis. After establishing a solid foundation through a structured outline and a clear working thesis for your exegesis paper, the next critical step is to…