Journey with Us through Lent to Easter.

An evening series in collaboration with Ballard First Lutheran, “Almost-Banned from the Bible” will include a light soup-supper (6:00-6:30 pm), speaker/discussion (6:30-7:15 pm), and compline worship to close (7:15-7:30 pm).

The four books we will cover are Esther, the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Revelation. A final session will look at the book the Texas A&M administration has banned from the syllabus in a philosophy course as an expression of race (or “woke”) ideology: Plato’s Symposium. We are excited to welcome religion and philosophy scholars from Seattle Pacific University and Seattle University; see their bios below.

Wed., 2/25, at Ballard First Lutheran  (BFL)
The Book of Esther, • Dr. Sara Koenig, SPU

Wed., 3/04, at Queen Anne Lutheran (QAL),
Ecclesiastes • Dr. Sara Koenig, SPU

Wed., 3/11, at BFL
Revelation • Dr. Dave Nienhuis, SPU

Wed., 3/18, at QAL, 
Song of Songs • Dr. Sara Koenig, SPU

Wed., 3/25, at BFL
Plato's Symposium • Dr. Jason Wirth, SU

Rev. Dr. Sara Koenig

is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), and wants to live in a world where there is laughter, where kindness is the default, and all people know that they matter and are loved. She is professor of biblical studies at SPU, where she did her undergraduate degree and returned there to teach after getting her M.Div. and Ph.D. at Princeton Theological Seminary. She writes about biblical characters, and how the Bible has been received during the centuries. When she's not teaching or researching, you can find her drinking coffee, reading books for fun, spending time with her teenage kids and husband, or walking her dog. Her most recent article, titled “Styling Eve and Adam’s Clothes,” was published in June 2022.

Dr. David R. Nienhuis

is Professor of New Testament Studies at Seattle Pacific University, where he has served for over 25 years. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2005. His teaching and research interests focus on the ancient formation of the New Testament, the nature and function of scripture in the Christian life, canonical approaches to reading the scripture, and the doctrine and practice of Christian reconciliation. He has authored, co-authored, and edited five books, the most recent of which is The Concise Guide to Reading the New Testament: A Canonical Introduction (Baker Academic, 2018). Another book, to be released next year, is a work of creative nonfiction entitled The Other Side of the Deep: A Memoir in Scripture (Eerdmans, 2026). 

Dr. Jason M. Wirth

 is Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Seattle University. He works and teaches in the areas of Continental Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy,  Aesthetics (especially film, painting, poetry, and the novel), and Environmental Philosophy. His recent books include Nietzsche and Other Buddhas: Philosophy after Comparative Philosophy (Indiana 2019), Mountains, Rivers, and the Great Earth: Reading Gary Snyder and Dōgen in an Age of Ecological Crisis (SUNY 2017), a monograph on Milan Kundera (Commiserating with Devastated Things, Fordham 2015), Schelling’s Practice of the Wild (SUNY 2015), and the co-edited volume (with Bret Davis and Brian Schroeder), Japanese and Continental Philosophy: Conversations with the Kyoto School (Indiana 2011). He is the associate editor and book review editor of the journal, Comparative and Continental Philosophy. He is currently completing a manuscript on the cinema of Terrence Malick, as well as a work of ecological philosophy called “Turtle Island Anarchy.” He is also an ordained Soto Zen priest.