Dangerous Prayers and Holy Texts: Rev. Dr. Robert Wallace on the Bible, Palestine, and the Work of Justice

…And we’re back with an episode for this Mini Season featuring the Rev. Dr. Rob Wallace, a Baptist pastor, teacher, and scholar who tells us that his radicalization came from one major place - the Bible itself. It wasn’t a political awakening, it wasn’t a protest, but rather decades of sitting with scripture, letting it say what it actually says, and following it into places that made him uncomfortable, that ultimately led him to the work of his life.

NOTE: You may have noticed that Lauren is missing from this episode — she is deep in the manuscript of her forthcoming book, Becoming Soulful Revolutionaries, and we are so grateful for your patience and support as she heads into the home stretch! In her absence, Hannah is holding down the podcast with a mini season of conversations with people who have shaped her own journey.In this episode, Hannah sits down with her long-time friend and former professor Rob — a Hebrew Bible scholar, Senior Pastor of McLean Baptist Church, and one of the most quietly radical people she knows — for a conversation that is equal parts theological lecture, personal testimony, and holy roast. They trace the through-line of a life shaped by curiosity and commitment (and a sense of humor, of course): from a classroom in Indiana to archaeological digs in Israel, a “flipped” university classroom, and finally to Wednesday night Bible studies that are, as Hannah says, “not what I would call a ‘Bible study’.” (*air quotes*)

Whether he’s forewarning us about the “dangerous prayer” that is the Lord’s Prayer (stay with us here), or talking about the interpretive framework that has distorted a century of evangelical thinking about Israel and Palestine, OR pointing out the deeply plural grammar of the Gospels…he does so with a characteristic warmth, precision, and wit that pushes us further in the impetus that we, as the body of Christ, are called to do this work together. He is a person who has made a career of saying “I love this, let me show you why”…and in this conversation, you will understand exactly why Hannah has kept going back to him for guidance for years.

As always, thank you for listening.To watch the extended video version of this interview here, subscribe to this publication.

About Dr. Rob

Robert considers Indiana home, though he has moved quite a bit in his life. He started taking classes in engineering at Purdue University, but he later found his calling in the study and teaching of Scripture. Robert spent over 20 years as P