Rev. Matthew Coomber
Matthew Coomber completed his Ph.D. at the University of Sheffield in October 2009. In his thesis, The Song Remains the Same? Corporate Globalization as a Model for Interpreting Prophetic Complaints Against Landownership Abuse, he developed a cultural-evolutionary model for interpreting the hidden socio-economic contexts behind prophetic complaints against economic injustice.
While at the University of Sheffield Matthew has taught Biblical Hebrew, The Bible: Fact or Fiction, and Decoding the Old Testament. He also developed and organised the 2008 Conference on Bible and Justice. He is currently editing a conference volume and a special edition of Political Theology.
Matthew is expanding his doctoral research to explore the ability of evolutionary models to shed light on various questions within the field, including the motivations behind prophetic writings against injustice.
Another area of Matthew's research interests focuses on the reciprocal influence that biblical texts and the societies into which they are received have on one another, with particular emphasis on the ways in which political and economic developments affect the interpretation and use of the Bible. Some of his present projects include the influence of economic, political, and cultural paradigms on biblical translation and interpretation and the evolution of biblical narratives in African-American music traditions, from early gospel to hip-hop and rap.
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