Fun With Scripture

Douglas Adams has the same name as the very funny guy (now, alas, no longer on this earth) who wrote The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

But though he didn’t write that book and its sequels, this Douglas Adams also is concerned with humor in unlikely places.

And that’s the topic of Moravian Theological Seminary’s annual Weber Lecture, which he will deliver this year on “Bringing to Life the Humor of Jesus’ Parables and Paul’s Letters” on Thursday, March 11, in Prosser Auditorium.

The morning session (9:30-11:30 a.m.) focuses on the gentle but pointed humor of the parables that Jesus used to drive home his messages in the Gospel accounts of his life and teachings.

The afternoon session (1:30-2:30 p.m.) will describe the humor in St. Paul’s epistles, which offer the healing power of stories to bring troubled communities together.

Adams is a professor of arts at the Graduate Theological Union and Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. He has written eight books, including The Prostitute in the Family Tree: Discovering Humor and Irony in the Bible and Eyes to See Wholeness: Visual Arts Informing Biblical and Theological Studies. He is a post-doctoral Smithsonian Fellow and has spoken at many colleges and conferences on art and the Bible.

The Weber Lectures were established at the Seminary in 1950 in memory of Rev. Christian Otto Weber ’18 and his wife, Dorothy Pfohl Weber, by their sons, Herbert ’49, Bruce ’51, and Christian ’52.

There is no fee for the Weber Lecture, but pre-registration through the Seminary office is requested. Ext. 1519.

InCommon would like to thank Jennifer Palmer ’04, intern in the Public Relations Office, for her work on this article.