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• Ph.D., 1999, Duke University
• M.Div., 1992, Princeton Theological Seminary
• B.A., 1989, Lee University
• A.A. , 1986, Miami Dade Community College

Professor of Biblical Studies

Powery joined the 91ÖÆƬ³§ faculty as Professor of Biblical Studies in 2008. His research, writing, and editing relates to the New Testament, including Jesus Reads Scripture (Brill, 2003) and True to Our Native Land: An African American NT Commentary (Fortress/Augsburg, 2007). His most recent (co-authored) publication, The Genesis of Liberation: Biblical Interpretation in the Antebellum Narratives of the Enslaved (WJKP, 2016), engages the function of the Bible in the 19th-century ‘slave narrative’ tradition, including the narratives of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs.

Powery served on the editorial board of the Journal of Biblical Literature (2005-2013) and the editorial board for the Common English Bible; also, he was a recent past (regional) President of the Society of Biblical Literature (SE Region; 2006-2007).

Presently, he co-chairs the “Slavery, Resistance, and Freedom” section of SBL.

When not dissecting some peculiar Greek phrase, wrestling with a cultural hermeneutical perspective, or listening to Bob Marley’s tunes, Emerson enjoys attending Mets games, with Kimberly and their four sons, in D.C. or Philadelphia.

• Recent publication—The Genesis of Liberation