Hartford Seminary presents
The Transformative Power of King David and
President Barack Obama
with Professor Uriah Kim
Date: Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Hartford Seminary, 77 Sherman Street, Hartford
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King David of the Hebrew Bible (1 Samuel 16 to 1 Kings 2) invokes awe and adoration on the one hand and profound sympathy on the other. He is a hero of faith many of us strive to imitate, and, at the same time, he is all too human in whom we see our frailties. It is no wonder that this David has captured the imagination and the heart of so many people over the years. Even though many have uncritically appreciated this David for inspiration, there have always been critics of David, describing him more realistically as an ambitious man who was willing to do anything for power and control and for sexual fulfillment. In this lecture Prof. Uriah Kim presents a David of postcolonial imagination: he did not just use Realpolitik and the sword, nor did he depend totally on God's providence alone to establish his kingdom; rather he practiced the transgressive power of hybridity to forge a "multi-people" kingdom. Moreover, Prof. Kim will reflect on President Obama's use of this power to move the U.S. a step closer to realizing Dr. Martin Luther King's dream of America becoming the "beloved community."
Uriah Kim is Professor of Hebrew Bible at Hartford Seminary. He is author of "Identity and Loyalty in the David Story: A Postcolonial Reading" and "Decolonizing Josiah: Toward a Postcolonial Reading of the Deuteronomistic History."
Free
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For more information, contact Yvette Law at (860) 509-9555 or events@hartsem.edu.
