Gather Chapel - Dr. Mary Conway

Passage: Lamentations

There is a time and place for happiness, but we often fail to recognize the need for lament. Dr. Mary Conway recounts some of the horrific events of World War II and contrasts them to those described in the book of Lamentations.

Mary L. Conway (Ph.D., McMaster Divinity College) teaches courses in Old Testament biblical studies and Hebrew. Her dissertation involved an adaptation of Appraisal Theory to Hebrew narrative in order to evaluate characters and determine authorial stance in Judges. A former secondary English teacher, she is particularly interested in literary and linguistic interpretation of the Bible. Her articles include “Daughter Zion: Metaphor and Dialogue in the Book of Lamentations,” which has been published by the Society of Biblical Literature in Daughter Zion: Her Portrait, Her Response, and “’The Wisest Might Err’: A Re-evaluation of Solomon’s Character as Revealed by His Prayer for Wisdom in I Kings 3:1-15” in the Canadian Theological Review. She is currently co-authoring a new commentary on Judges for the Zondervan series “Hearing the Message of Scripture.” She also teaches adult groups in her local church.