Egyptian Presbyterian Safwat Marzouk called to Union Seminary as Old Testament professor
RICHMOND, VA (January 4, 2021) – Union Presbyterian Seminary’s board of trustees has called Dr. Safwat Marzouk, an Egyptian Presbyterian, to serve as Associate Professor of Old Testament on the Richmond campus, beginning July 1, 2021.
Dr. Marzouk comes to Union from his current position as Associate Professor of Old Testament / Hebrew Bible at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. Previously, he served as an instructor at the Coptic Catholic Seminary in Cairo and the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo; as teaching fellow at Princeton University and Princeton Seminary; and as instructor at St. Joseph’s University.
“I am excited for the opportunity our students will have in studying with Dr. Marzouk,” Union President Brian K. Blount said. “In classrooms, he invites students to reflect on what it means to read the biblical texts as a minority person and how these hermeneutical insights and theological reflections can transform our understanding.”
The author of numerous articles and book chapters, he is the author of three books: Egypt as a Monster in the Book of Ezekiel; Exodus, Joshua, Ezekiel in the Arabic Contemporary Commentary; and Intercultural Church: A Biblical Vision for an Age of Migration. He is currently working on a commentary for the New Interpretation Series of Westminster John Knox Press: Exodus: A Commentary.
He is intentional about integrating what he researches, writes, and teaches, with the life of the church locally and globally. “My scholarship emerges from my own experiences and identities as a Christian Egyptian who lives as a migrant in the U.S.,” Dr. Marzouk said. “Therefore, I have been and continue to research and publish on the place of the Bible in the life of Christian minorities in the Middle East, in general, and in Egypt, in particular.”
He received the Bachelor of Theology and the Master of Arts in Theological Studies at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, the Master of Arts in Sacred Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York, and the Doctor of Philosophy at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Dr. Marzouk is an ordained Presbyterian pastor and a member of the Wabash Valley Presbytery of the PC(USA), as well as a member of the Synod of the Nile Presbyterian Church in Egypt. He and his family currently worship with Sunnyside Presbyterian Church in South Bend, Indiana. He has preached, led Bible study, and helped Sunnyside develop a partnership with a Presbyterian congregation in Egypt. As a Christian Egyptian and migrant to the U.S., he interprets the Bible in ways that are interreligiously and interculturally sensitive seeking God’s shalom and justice for the vulnerable and the marginalized.
“I care about being connected with churches through preaching and teaching, in local congregations, and in denominational gatherings,” Dr. Marzouk said. “I see myself as a scholar for the church.”
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Contact:
Mike Frontiero
Union Presbyterian Seminary
mfrontiero@upsem.edu
804-278-4279
