Michael Birkel

Professor of Religion

Programs/Departments

• Religion
• Jewish Studies
• Medieval Studies
• Quaker Studies
• Middle East Studies

Degrees

• Ph.D., Harvard University
• M.A., Earlham School of Religion
• B.A., Wilmington College

Contact Info

Campus Mail
Drawer 43

Phone
765-983-1535

E-mail
birkemi@earlham.edu

Office
333 Carpenter Hall

Selected Courses

Recent Courses: Hebrew Scriptures Friends Colloquium Islam Islam and Film Less Recent New Testament, Gospel of Mark in Greek, Ancient Christianity, The Medieval Allegorical Imagination in the Monastic West, Historical Christianity, Quakerism, Scripture and Liberation in Latin America, Intermediate Biblical Hebrew, Translation of Selected Epistles of Margaret Fell into Spanish, Abrahamic Mysticism, Old World Klezmer Music

Research Projects

Quakers and Jakob Boehme Influences on Rufus Jones John Woolman's Bookshelf The Theology of George Keith Quaker Interpretation of the Song of Songs Translation of Moishe Kulbak's play Yakov Frank The Qur'an as Understood among North American Muslims

More About Me

Selected Publications Invited entries in reference works: Dictionary of American Christianity (1991), Encyclopedia of Protestantism (2004), The New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality (2005), Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers (2005), American History through Literature, 1820-1870 (2006), Zondervan Dictionary of Spirituality (2011), Encyclopedia of African American History (forthcoming) Book reviews in Quaker History, Quaker Life, Cistercian Studies Quarterly Articles in Friends Journal, Quaker Life, Quaker Theology, Quaker Religious Thought, Magistra: A Journal of Women’s Spirituality in History Recent Articles and Essays "Silence in Heaven: The Revelation to John Woolman,” Quaker Theology 15:97-105 (2008). “Toward a Deeper Dialogue,” in Quakers and the Interfaith Movement, edited by Anthony Manousos, Friends General Conference and Quaker Universalist Fellowship, 2011, 33-49. A translation from Latin and introduction of Robert Barclay’s Christianae quaedam animadversiones in Nicolai Arnoldi: (qui S.S. theol. doct. & profess. se praedicat) exercitationem theologicam de Quakerismo, ejusque brevis refutatio, Rotterdam, 1675. In Quaker Theology 11/1 (Winter-Spring 2012), 41-59 (Introduction in print version, translation in online supplement, 1-35). Pamplets in the Pendle Hill Series (on Quaker Spirituality): The Messenger that Goes Before: Margaret Fell as Spiritual Nurturer (2008) The Mind of Christ: William Taber on Meeting for Business (2010) Book chapters in Makers of Christian Theology in America (1997) Quaker Crosscurrents: Three Hundred Years of New York Yearly Meeting (1995) The Tendering Presence: Essays on John Woolman (2003) Quakers and the Interfaith Movement (2011) Contemplative Literature: A Comparative Sourcebook, edited by Louis Komjathy (forthcoming) Oxford Handbook on Quaker Studies, edited by Ben Pink Dandelion and Stephen W. Angell (forthcoming) The Theological Thought of Early Quaker Leaders, 1650 – 1700, Cambridge University Press (forthcoming) Books Editor of two Festschriften: The Lamb's War: Quaker Essays to Honor Hugh Barbour (1992) and The Inward Teacher: Essays to Honor Paul A. Lacey (2002) “A Near Sympathy”: The Timeless Quaker Wisdom of John Woolman, Richmond, IN: Friends United Press, 2003 Silence and Witness: Quaker Spirituality, in Traditions in Christian Spirituality, series edited by Philip Sheldrake, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Press, published in Great Britain by Darton Longman and Todd, 2004 Engaging Scripture: Encountering the Bible with Early Friends, Richmond, IN: Friends United Press and Earlham Press, 2005; Spanish edition, Encuentro con las Escrituras, 2007 (co-translated with Dinora Uvalle-Vazquez) Genius of the Transcendent: Mystical Writings of Jakob Boehme, co-authored with Jeffrey A. Bach, Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2010.