In Accordance with the Scriptures
The Rev. Dr. Reed Carlson is an Old Testament / Hebrew Bible scholar, seminary professor, and Episcopal priest. He writes about spirit possession, apocalyptic expectation, and Jewish-Christian relations. His research and teaching bridges ancient biblical literature with contemporary religious experiences, developing frameworks for critical yet pastoral engagement with religious phenomena.
About
The Rev. Reed Carlson, Th.D., is Assistant Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at The University of the South, School of Theology in Sewanee, Tennessee. He earned his doctorate from Harvard Divinity School and previously served as Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies and Director of Anglican Studies at United Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia.
Growing up Pentecostal, Reed brings a unique perspective to his scholarship on spirit phenomena in biblical literature. His first book, Unfamiliar Selves in the Hebrew Bible: Possession and Other Spirit Phenomena (De Gruyter, 2022), won the Manfred Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise. He is currently working on two book projects: The first is a collected volume he is co-editing with Brigidda Zapata and Fred Tappenden entitled Ominous Times: Anticipating Cataclysm in Early Judaism and Christianity (De Gruyter, forthcoming). The second is We Are Israel: The Jewish Roots of Christian Supersessionism (Hendrickson, forthcoming) with co-author Ethan Schwartz. Reed has published extensively in scholarly journals including the Journal of Biblical Literature, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, and the Journal of Pentecostal Theology.
Reed enjoys visiting congregations, denominational conventions, ministry conferences, and clergy education events to preach and speak. Some topics he has presented on in the past include:
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Spirits, Angels, and Demons in the Bible
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Supersessionism, Biblical Israel, and the Church
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His journey from growing up as a Pentecostal pastor's kid to becoming an Episcopal priest
You can follow Reed on Bluesky and view his faculty page.
Education
ThD - Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
MA - Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, MN
BA - North Central University, Minneapolis MN
Fulbright Fellow, Göttingen, DE
Key Publications
For Academics
Unfamiliar Selves in the Hebrew Bible: Possession and Other Spirit Phenomena. Ekstasis 9. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2022.
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Winner of the 2021 Manfred Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise
For Academics
"Spirit Possession and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in the Law of Jealousy (Numbers 5:11–31).” Journal of Biblical Literature 143.4 (2024): 583–602
For Academics
“Provocateurs, Examiners, and Fools: Divine Opponents to the Aqedah in Early Judaism.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 83.3 (2021): 373–89.
For General Readers
“Are Possession and Other Spirit Phenomena Depicted in the Hebrew Bible?.” The Ancient Near East Today 11.3 (2023)
For Ministers
Commentaries on workingpreacher.org
Podcast Interview
“OnScript” Interview with Matthew Lynch