Helen Paynter

Bio:

Baptist Minister and the Director of Bristol Baptist College’s Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence.

She was a nephrologist (kidney doctor) when God called her to Baptist ministry. She trained at Bristol Baptist College and then became Associate Minister at Victoria Park Baptist Church in South Bristol, where she worked part-time for six years. She then was interim Associate Minister at Westbury-on-Trym Baptist Church for two years.

Helen has a Masters in Missional Church Leadership, another Masters in Biblical Studies, and a PhD in Old Testament. Her main research interests are in the narrative portions of the Hebrew Bible. Her second Masters dissertation was on “total annihilation” in Deuteronomy and Joshua, her PhD thesis was on aspects of humour in the book of Kings, and her current research interest is in violence and Judges.

Recent Publications:

• God of Violence Yesterday, God of Love Today? Honestly Wrestling with the Old Testament: BRF (forthcoming)
• ‘Revenge for my Two Eyes’: Talion and Mimesis in the Samson narrative. Biblical Interpretation, 2018.
• Ahab: Heedless Father, Sullen Son: Humour and Intertextuality in 1 Kings 21. JSOT, 2018.
• Immigration and the Church: Reflecting Faithfully in our Generation: Grove, 2017
• Reduced Laughter: Seriocomic Features and their Functions in the Book of Kings Leiden: Brill, 2016
• The Ethics of Jubilee in Leviticus 25. Ministry Today, Spring 2016
• Jubilee Ethics and the Refugee Crisis. Ministry Today, Summer 2016
• Love the Sojourner. Baptist Ministers’ Journal, October 2016

Web: csbvbristol.org.uk
Facebook: facebook.com/CSBVBristolBaptistCollege