Mobley, Gregory 1957–

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Mobley, Gregory 1957–

PERSONAL: Born 1957. Education: Campbellsville College, B.A.; Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, M.Div.; Harvard University, Th.M., Ph.D.

ADDRESSES: Office—Andover Newton Theological School, 210 Herrick Rd., Newton Centre, MA 02459. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Ordained American Baptist minister. Has taught at Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA, Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY, and at a high school in Jos, Nigeria; Andover Newton Theological School, Newton Centre, MA, associate professor of Old Testament, 1997–.

AWARDS, HONORS: Society of Biblical Literature Regional Scholar award, 2000.

WRITINGS:

(With T.J. Wray) The Birth of Satan: Tracing the Devil's Biblical Roots, Palgrave Macmillan (New York, NY), 2005.

The Empty Men: The Heroic Tradition of Ancient Israel, Doubleday (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to books, including The Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation and Eerdman's Dictionary of the Bible. Contributor to periodicals, including Journal of Biblical Literature and Perspectives in Religious Studies.

SIDELIGHTS: Baptist minister and professor Gregory Mobley collaborated with T.J. Wray to take a critical look at the chief enemy of Christianity in The Birth of Satan: Tracing the Devil's Biblical Roots. The authors scour early Jewish and Christian writings in search of the being that has come to represent ultimate evil in both religious and secular perception. They pinpoint a biblical character that seems a likely progenitor of Satan, and note that the development of the concept of Satan was influenced by writings outside the scriptures. It is also notable that the devil appears only a few times in the Hebrew Bible, but assumes a pivotal role in the New Testament, especially in the Book of Revelations. There, Satan becomes the arch-enemy of God, and their conflict evolves into the ultimate struggle between good and evil. As a creation designed to embody the negative aspects of the one true God of Israel, Satan evolved to become a metaphysical scapegoat that absolves God of any blame for the existence of evil.

Mobley and Wray also look at issues such as historical representations of Satan and how they developed; literary influences on concepts of Satan, including those found in Dante's Divine Comedy; and modern concepts of Satan and evil. "Written at a popular level, this book offers an interesting and challenging alternative to traditional beliefs," commented a Publishers Weekly contributor. Booklist reviewer June Sawyers called the book a "thoughtful, informative examination."

In The Empty Men: The Heroic Tradition of Ancient Israel Mobley seeks to uncover the age-old heroic stories and adventure tales that underlie much of the material in the Bible. His goal is to separate the heroic tales from the "layers of didactic moralizing and political spin likely added by biblical writers capturing centuries-old oral traditions," observed a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Mobley describes "empty men" as portionless younger sons or sons of secondary wives who had no right of inheritance based on birth. With nothing to lose, these men were involved in many military campaigns and other adventures during biblical times. The book covers individuals such as Joshua, Samson, Ehud, Gideon, Joab, and numerous others. The Publishers Weekly reviewer particularly praised Mobley's "excellent scholarship."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 2005, June Sawyers, review of The Birth of Satan: Tracing the Devil's Biblical Roots, p. 32.

Publishers Weekly, August 22, 2005, review of The Birth of Satan, p. 61; September 26, 2005, review of The Empty Men: The Heroic Tradition of Ancient Israel, p. 81.