New Books in Biblical Studies

Can creative writing become a form of biblical interpretation?

That is the provocative question at the heart of my conversation with Sarah Rosenson about her new book, Fan Fiction on the Book of Genesis: A Guide to Close Reading of and Creative Writing on the Bible (Cherry Orchard Books, 2026).

The modern phenomenon of fan fiction involves readers writing
creative pieces that answer questions left open in favorite works of
literature. This also describes the ancient tradition of midrash, where
readers write stories filling in gaps in the Bible. In Fan Fiction on the Book of Genesis
Sarah Rosenson discusses the questions left open in the first book of
the Bible, and every chapter includes questions for the characters in
the stories, which can serve as prompts for conversations or creative
writing.

Rosenson argues that careful reading reveals narrative gaps:
characters whose motivations remain unexplained, conversations that
never occur, ethical dilemmas left unresolved, and emotions that are
only implied. Drawing on the long tradition of Jewish midrash, she
proposes that readers can engage these silences through disciplined
creative writing, using imagination not as a substitute for close
reading but as an extension of it.

In our conversation, we
discussed some of Genesis's most familiar stories from unexpected
angles. What if Eve's pursuit of knowledge is more complex than simple
disobedience? Why does Noah never challenge God's decision to destroy
the world? What happens when Hagar's perspective becomes central rather
than peripheral? Why does Abraham argue for the people of Sodom but
remain silent when Isaac is placed on the altar? And how does the Joseph
narrative negotiate the relationship between divine providence and
human responsibility?

We also explore the broader methodological
questions raised by the book. Does describing midrash as "fan fiction"
make an ancient interpretive tradition more accessible, or does it risk
misunderstanding it? How far can readers imaginatively expand biblical
narratives while remaining faithful to the text? And what safeguards
distinguish responsible interpretation from speculation?

Whether
you are interested in biblical studies, literary criticism, Jewish
interpretation, or creative writing, our conversation offers a
thoughtful discussion of how ancient texts continue to invite new
readings. More than providing answers, Rosenson's book encourages
readers to ask better questions and, in doing so, to discover that
Genesis remains as intellectually and ethically challenging today as it
has been for centuries.

You can find more about Sarah and her work here.

Amisah Bakuri (PhD) is
an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her work explores the intersections of
religion, sexuality, gender, and migration, especially within African
diasporic communities in the Netherlands.
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In Sanctified by the Spirit: John Owen, Habits of Grace, and Biblical Counseling (Reformation Heritage Books, 2024) Dr. Colin McCulloch examines how approaches to biblical counseling have diverged over the last generations, proposing John Owen's emphasis on Spirit-infused habitual grace as a helpful corrective and as a richer understanding of the dynamics of sanctification.
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What if the book of Genesis is not only the story of humanity’s first
family, but also the story of God learning how to parent? In this
episode, Rabbi Marc Katz sits down with Stephen Spector to discuss his
book God and the First Families: Parenting, Trauma, and Healing in the Book of Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 2026), a provocative reexamination of the Bible’s foundational stories through the lens of parenting.

Drawing on both biblical interpretation and contemporary psychology,
Spector explores how God’s relationship with the patriarchs and
matriarchs evolves throughout Genesis. God begins as a demanding
authority figure, shifts toward a more nurturing presence, returns
briefly to authoritarianism in the binding of Isaac, and ultimately
develops a style focused on fostering moral and emotional growth.
Remarkably, Spector argues, Genesis anticipates parenting insights that
psychologists would not articulate for thousands of years.

Along the way, familiar stories take on new meaning. Cain and Abel,
Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers—each
narrative becomes a window into questions of favoritism, resilience,
forgiveness, family conflict, and healing after trauma. By reading
Genesis as a story about parenting and human development, Spector
uncovers enduring wisdom about how families flourish, fracture, and find
their way back to one another.

Together, Spector and Katz explore what the Bible can teach about
raising children, repairing relationships, and understanding the complex
bond between love, authority, and growth.

Stephen Spector is a professor of English emeritus at Stony Brook University. He is the author of Operation Solomon: The Daring Rescue of the Ethiopian Jews and Evangelicals and Israel: The Story of American Christian Zionism,
among other volumes. Spector has taught the Bible to undergraduate and
graduate students for fifty years. He has been a visiting scholar at
Hebrew University and a senior research fellow at the National
Humanities Center and the Wesleyan Center for Humanities. 

Rabbi Marc Katz is the senior rabbi at Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, New Jersey. He is the author of The Heart of Loneliness: How Jewish Wisdom Can Help You Cope and Find Comfort, a National Jewish Book Award finalist and Yochanan’s Gamble: Judaism's Pragmatic Approach to Life.
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What would you do if you were pressured to support a rebellion that
you believed was misguided and doomed to failure? What if the safety of
your family and business depended on your answer? In A Ram for Mars (NFB Publishing, 2026), Marcus
and Miriam, recently freed slaves from Asia Minor, arrive in Israel
buoyed by hopes of finding Marcus's long-lost mother and starting a new
life together. They discover that the land is seething with social and
political unrest, with anti-Roman parties in the ascendancy. ​Marcus,
who grew up in a Roman colony and owes his present prosperity to a Roman
master, finds these anti-Roman sentiments perplexing. His uncertainty
increases when war breaks out and he's asked to ship supplies to the
rebel army, including a newfound cousin who protects the northern
front. As his entanglement with the rebellion deepens, Marcus is torn
between loyalty to the world in which he was nurtured and the need to
secure his family's safety. Then his adopted son runs off to join the
rebels. What is he to do? Fans of Conn Iggulden, Ken Follett, and Robert
Graves will be captivated by this richly detailed and compelling
exploration of the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-73 AD/CE) through the
lens of a pro-Roman Jew in the rural district of Galilee.

More about A Ram for Mars, as well as the trilogy, “A Slave’s Story,” can be found here.

Christopher D. Stanley is a social and religious historian who writes
about early Christianity and Judaism in the Greco-Roman world. He
served for over twenty years as a professor at St. Bonaventure
University in western New York, where he holds the title of Professor
Emeritus.

Dr. Stanley has written or edited ten books and dozens of
professional articles on early Christian texts and history and presents
papers at academic conferences around the world. The “A Slave’s Story”
trilogy, which grew out of his historical research on first-century Asia
Minor, is his first foray into fiction. He continues to write for the
academic world as well, including a recently finished book on sickness
and healing in the Greco-Roman world that explores some of the history
behind this trilogy, Paul and Asklepios: The Greco-Roman Quest for Healing and the Apostolic Mission (T&T Clark, 2023).

Jonathon Lookadoo is Associate Professor at the Presbyterian
University and Theological Seminary in Seoul, South Korea. While his
interests range widely over the world of early Christianity, he is the
author of books on the Epistle of Barnabas, Ignatius of Antioch, and the
Shepherd of Hermas, including The Christology of Ignatius of Antioch (Cascade, 2023).
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In the Middle Ages, hell was useful because it was vaguely defined.
Canonical scriptures scarcely mention hell, leaving much to the imaginations of early Christians, who used it to sort out who belonged within the faith. Translating hell: Vernacular theology and apocrypha in the medieval North Sea (Manchester University Press, 2026) by Dr. Stephen C. E. Hopkins explores how hell became a place for literary experiments with local challenges in theology and identity. Following the reception and transformations of two popular hell apocrypha, it argues that they served as this role because of their liminal textual authority. As noncanonical scriptures, apocrypha afforded medieval writers space to revise their hells (since they were not actually scripture), while also encouraging readers to revere those experiments as valid (since they seemed like scripture). The book brings together adaptations from early medieval England, Iceland, Ireland, and Wales, placing the early vernacular theologies of the North Sea in comparative conversation.

This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. 
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