Libby Backfish and Cynthia Shafer-Elliott - Grounded Theology

Episode: In this episode, Kyle chats with Libby Backfish and Cynthia Shafer-Elliott about bringing archaeology and theology into conversation—the topic of their recent book, Grounded Theology in the Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Cultural Context that formed Ancient Israel. The conversation starts with the ancient Israelite household (and how it was essential to ancient thinking and theology), stays with the household (and related areas of ancient Israelite life and theology), and ends with the household (and, again, how it was essential to ancient thinking).

Guests: Cynthia Shafer-Elliott (Ph.D. Sheffield) is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Baylor University. Her field archaeology experience includes excavations at Tel Halif and Tel Abel Beth Maacah in Israel. She's the author and editor of several books, including Food in Ancient Israel (Sheffield, 2013), The 5 Minute Archaeologist in the Southern Levant (edited, Sheffield, 2016), and the book we're discussing in this episode (co-authored with Libby Backfish) Grounded Theology in the Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Cultural Context that Formed Ancient Israel (Baker, 2025).

Libby Backfish (Ph.D. TIU) is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Jessup University. She's the author of several articles and books, including Hebrew Wordplay and Septuagint Technique in the Fourth Book of the Psalter (Bloomsbury, 2019) and the book we're discussing in this episode (co-authored with Cynthia Shafer-Elliott) Grounded Theology in the Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Cultural Context that Formed Ancient Israel (Baker, 2025).

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