Although use of the Bible to support political positions is often associated with conservative groups, the Bible has also long been a source of political fervor for progressive American voices and has played an instrumental role in advancing important social reform movements. Dr. Claudia Setzer (Manhattan University), held a conversation with Dr. Gary A. Rendsburg (Rutgers University), to explore how abolitionists, women’s rights supporters, contemporary climate activists, and other political progressives interpreted (and interpret) the Bible’s narratives to support their struggles. Setzer’s new book, The Progressives’ Bible: How Scriptural Interpretation Built a More Just America (Fortress Press, 2024), emphasizes the activism of women, especially women of color, like Maria Stewart, Septima Clark, and Fannie Lou Hamer, while also considering contemporary social justice movements that draw strength from a range of biblical and religious traditions.
This dynamic discussion, “The Progressives’ Bible: How Scriptural Interpretation Built a More Just America,” was held Tuesday, April 29, at the Douglass Student Center, 100 George Street, New Brunswick. Free and open to the public, the Toby and Herbert Stolzer Annual Lecture was presented by the Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life at Rutgers University.
Claudia Setzer, professor of religious studies emerita at Manhattan University, is a leading scholar of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Gary A. Rendsburg is Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies and History and the Blanche and Irving Laurie Chair in Jewish History at Rutgers University.
The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life connects Rutgers University with the community through public lectures, symposia, Jewish communal initiatives, cultural events, and teacher training in Holocaust education.
