Th.D.– Harvard University (2019)
M.A. – Luther Seminary (2012)
B.A. – North Central University (2008)
Fulbright Fellow – Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (2013)

The Rev. Dr. Reed Carlson specializes in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Second Temple Jewish literature, and theories and methods in the study of religion. An overarching goal of his research is engaging the fraught hermeneutical issues involved in critically examining ancient and modern accounts of religious experience. Dr. Carlson also maintains active research interests in the reception history of the Hebrew Bible, particularly in religious communities historically marginalized by traditional biblical scholarship. His published work includes studies on spirit possession, apocalyptic expectation, and Jewish-Christian relations.

Dr. Carlson’s first book, Unfamiliar Selves in the Hebrew Bible: Possessionand Other Spirit Phenomena (DeGruyter, 2022) was awarded the2021 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise. You can hear Dr. Carlson discuss his book in an interview on the biblical studies podcast On Script.

An ordained minister in the Episcopal Church with Pentecostal roots, Dr. Carlson is passionate about ecumenism, especially among charismatic and progressive Christians. A former campus minister, Dr. Carlson embodies a pastoral concern for the whole student in his teaching—especially for learners from traditionally underserved communities.

Dr. Carlson is married to the Rev. Britta Meiers Carlson, an ELCA pastor and Ph.D. student in Practical Theology at the Boston University School of Theology. They enjoy exploring the urban and rustic locales of the northeast with their two children.

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SELECT PUBLICATIONS

Books

 Unfamiliar Selves in the Hebrew Bible: Possession and Other Spirit Phenomena (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2022).
DOI: 10.1515/9783110670035

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‍Articles

“Provocateurs, Examiners, and Fools: Divine Opponents to the Aqedah in Early Judaism.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 83.3 (2021): 373-389. DOI: 10.1353/cbq.2021.0080.

“A Structure for the End of the World: 4QFlorilegium and the ‘Latter Days’ in Early Jewish Tradition,” Word and World 40.3 (2020): 246–54.

“Hannah at Pentecost: On Recognizing Spirit Phenomena in Early Jewish Literature.” Journal of Pentecostal Theology,” 27 (2018): 245–58. DOI: 10.1163/17455251-02702005.

“Rescaling the Margin and the Center in Early Judaism: Kratz’s Historical and Biblical Israel.” Die Welt des Orients, 47. 1 (2017): 106–23. DOI: 10.13109/wdor.2017.47.1.106.

“The Boy Who Lived: Transformation of a Theological Motif in Biblical Tradition.” Word and World, 36.3 (2016): 276–84.

“The Open God of the Sodom and Gomorrah Cycle.” Journal of Pentecostal Theology, 21.2(2012): 185-200. DOI: 10.1163/17455251-02102001.

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