Dr. Brian K. Blount
Blount |
Brian K. Blount is President and Professor of New Testament at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, VA. He was called to this position in 2007, after serving for 15 years as the Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Princeton Theological Seminary.
An M. Div. graduate of Princeton Seminary in 1981, he obtained his B. A. from the College of William and Mary in 1978. After graduating from Princeton Seminary, he went on to become the pastor of Carver Memorial Presbyterian Church in Newport News, VA from 1982-1988. William and Mary’s first African-American to receive membership in the Alpha Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society received his Ph. D. in New Testament Studies from Emory University in 1992. He returned to teach at Princeton Seminary that same year.
In 1998, Professor Blount became the first African American to be tenured in the Department of Bible at Princeton Theological Semianry. His primary work has been in the Gospel of Mark and in the area of cultural studies and hermeneutics.
He is the author of four books:
- Cultural Interpretation: Reorienting New Testament Criticism (Fortress, 1995);
- Go Preach! Mark’s Kingdom Message and the Black Church Today (Orbis, 1998)
- The The Whisper Put on Flesh: New Testament Ethics in an African American Context (Abingdon, 2001)
- Can I Get A Witness? Reading Revelation Through an African American Lens (Westminster John Knox Press, 2005)
He has edited a volume of essays on worship with Leonora Tubbs Tisdale entitled Making Room at the Table: An Invitation to Multicultural Worship (WJK, 2000). He is also the coauthor of a book with Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann and theologian William C. Placher entitled Struggling With Scripture (WJK, 2001). He has also co-authored the book Preaching The Gospel of Mark in Two Voices (WJK, 2002) with Gary W. Charles, the pastor of Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, GA. He is currently completing a commentary on The Book of Revelation for Westminster John Knox’ New Testament Library Series.
President Blount presently anticipates the publication of the The Discipleship Study Bible by Westminster John Knox Press. As a part of his work for the Bible, he has also written the introduction and notes for Mark and Matthew. He is an associate editor of the New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bibel for Abingdon Press. He is also the General Editor for True to Our Native Land: An African American New Testament Commentary by Fortress Press. The author of numerous articles, he also preaches and directs adult education classes in local congregations. He is married, and he and his wife, Sharon, have two children, Joshua and Kaylin.