The DSR is saddened to hear about the death of Dr. John Weldon Parrish.
John began his PhD studies at the Department for the Study of Religion and completed his PhD in Religious Studies at the University of Alberta, where he had also done his M.A. He also held a B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Alabama, and a A.S. in Psychology at Northeast Alabama Community College.
His dissertation, Re-Cognizing Paul (2020) was completed under the supervision of Professor Willi Braun, a graduate of the DSR, and made a brilliant case for understanding Paul as engaged in spirit and ecstatic practices. He proposed to understand the political significance of Paul’s “resurrection language” by comparing the Corinthian situation with the American Indian Ghost Dance of 1870 as it developed among the Paiute on the Walker River Reservation in Nevada.
John had numerous articles published in scholarly journals and anthologies and had presented his research frequently at the annual Society of Biblical Literature Conferences.
John Parrish passed away on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at his residence in Alabama.
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