The Erdman Center of Continuing Education /
Hispanic Leadership Program
Meet the Authors Book Series

Jacques Berlinerblau

Author of:

Thumpin It! The Use and Abuse of the Bible in Today’s Presidential Politics... 

The Secular Bible:Why Nonbelievers Must Take Religion Seriously

Wednesday May 6, 2009
6:30–8:30 p.m.
Cooper Conference Room 

Jacques Berlinerblau is associate Professor and Director of the Program for Jewish Civilization at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He's also editor of faith2008.org. He received a doctorate in ancient Near Eastern Languages and Literature from New York University. Soon after, for reasons that he himself has never fully understood, he completed another doctorate in theoretical sociology from the New School for Social Research. His areas of interest include the Bible, its composition, its interpretation, and in particular the way that it has been dragooned into modern political discourse.

To this end his new book is called Thumpin' It: The Use and Abuse of the Bible in Today's Presidential Politics (Westminster John Knox), described by First Things as "laugh-out-loud funny as well as astute." He also has published The Secular Bible: Why Nonbelievers Must Take Religion Seriously (Cambridge, 2005). An earlier book, Heresy in the University: The Black Athena Controversy and the Responsibilities of American Intellectuals (Rutgers, 1999) probed the manner in which institutions of higher education handle scholarly dissent. He has written extensively in scholarly journals on the subject of heretics, intellectuals, secularism, and Jewish civilization.

Audience: general public

Books will be available for purchase the day of the event, and a book signing will follow. Space is limited—Please register early to ensure your space. Most Book Series events have closed with a waiting list.

Registration Fee:
This event is free and open to the public.

Register the day of the event by telephone at 609-497-7990.    

   "As a contributor to The Washington Post - Newsweek blog On Faith, I have appreciated Jacques's insights, perspective, and contributions to the dialogue of religion in the public realm."

— Gabriel Salguero
Director, Hispanic Leadership Program, Princeton Theological Seminary

  Jacques Berlinerblau