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This transcript has been edited for clarity and space.
Esau McCaulley
Hello. My name is Esau McCaulley. I’m the Jonathan Blanchard Associate Professor of New Testament and Public Theology at Wheaton College,
David Capes
Dr Esau McCaulley. Esau, Good to see you. Welcome to your first appearance here on The Stone Chapel Podcast.
Esau McCaulley
Thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to have a conversation with you.
David Capes
It’s going to be fun. I’ve wanted to have you on with us for a while. For those who don’t know you that are listening to this podcast, they may be in Cambodia, they may be in Ireland, who is Esau McCaulley?
Esau McCaulley
I’m a child of God! Can I be super Christian about it? I am an Associate Professor in New Testament at Wheaton College. Before that, I taught for a couple of years in Rochester, New York, at Northeastern Seminary. I did my PhD studies from 2013-2016 at the University of Saint Andrews. NT Wright was my doctoral advisor. We did a project on Galatians.
My areas of research are Pauline interpretation and African American biblical interpretation. I’ve written a couple of books on those topics. My dissertation was published. It’s called Sharing In the Son’s Inheritance. My second book was called Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope. I just recently released on August the 7th, a book where I’m the general editor of a commentary called The New Testament in Color, which is a multi-ethnic commentary on the New Testament. I’ve also written popular books. Believe it or not, I write kid’s books because I love the kids. I have four kids and I feel like I want to have Christian resources for them. So, I’ve written a book called Josie Johnson’s Hair and the Holy Spirit, and Andy Johnson and the March for Justice. And there’s a book on Lent.
David Capes
You’ve got one about the promised land too.
Esau McCaulley
I forgot about that one. It’s with my memoir. How Far to the Promised Land. That came out in 2023. I’m a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. I write a column for The New York Times. I’ve also written for The Atlantic on occasion, and also the Washington Post and Christianity Today.
David Capes
I’m excited about the commentary that you were just talking about, The New Testament in Color. I haven’t had a chance to get a copy of it. I’m looking forward to receiving a copy and maybe talking with you about it one day. But you’re a prolific young scholar. You’re married, and you and your family spent the first part of 2024 in Oxford, at Yarnton Manor. You were living in the vicarage, which is a beautiful, old, old house there. Tell us about your impressions of that place.
Esau McCaulley
Yes, I spent six months in the United Kingdom during my sabbatical. I’m married and have four kids. My wife is a Navy pediatrician, and she’s a reservist now. She just got her official pin. She was made Captain. So, Captain McCaulley. I don’t know how you say Captain, Dr. McCaulley. We have four kids, 16,14,10 and 8, who all came with us. Yarnton was amazing. It’s a beautiful, beautiful place. Amazing staff and leadership there. There was an endless wave of scholars who were coming in; people from all different areas of studies. And so that part was great.
The library was still in the midst of being constructed. The Manor itself was open. We used that for study. I was also able to connect with several colleges. It’s a beautiful, amazing place. It’s a 15 minute bus ride from to Oxford. S,o I spent a lot of time at the Bodleian [Library]. And I was able to connect with Wycliffe College. I was a visiting academic scholar and gave lectures there. I gave lectures at the Pusey House. I gave a lecture at the New Testament Seminar in Oxford. So, it was Yarnton and the connection and opportunity to be a part of the intellectual life in England.
I took advantage of the spiritual life in Oxford. I attended Evensong services. It really was an amazing experience. My wife works at a Christian Medical Center here in Chicago, and she was able to take leave as well. And she walked the kids to school. Our two youngest kids enrolled in school. She got to meet some of the other moms. We got involved in the local church in the area. Dan Steele, who I think, is doing the pastoral side did a great job. It’s an amazing place, and I’m trying my best to find a way to get back.
Esau McCaulley
I’ll give a shout out to Annie Smith too. I think she runs the grounds.
David Capes
She’s the estate manager there.
David Capes
Now, you’re going to be coming to the Lanier Theological Library in Houston in October 2024. October 12, 2024 is the public lecture. We’ll be there for the whole weekend. And your topic is “The Gospels and the Anti-Slavery Movement.” It’s an interesting project that you’re a part of and you’re working on. I’ve heard you talk a little bit about it. But for those who may not be able to join us in person or virtually, tell us a little bit about that lecture. I tell students all the time, within the first four or five minutes, a good lecturer should lay out what they hope to do in the lecture. So, what’s the big idea? What are you going to be trying to accomplish?
Esau McCaulley
The short answer to what the lecture is an examination of the use of the Jesus tradition, the Gospels, during the slavery and abolitionist movements. And we’re looking at how both sides use Jesus to make their cases. And it’s often been assumed and implicit in the academic and wider cultural discourse that at the time, that the pro-slavery movement had the better biblical argument. And the abolitionist movement had the better moral argument, and that the abolitionists were more loose with their interpretations of Scripture.
And this lecture challenges that as it relates to the Gospel tradition. And it shows that, in my opinion, the abolitionist movement made greater and more substantial and theologically robust use of the Gospels than did the pro-slavery party. And it’s part of a wider project of a book that I’m working on with Yale University Press. It’s still in the early stages and entitled How to Read the Book That Set You Free. It examines the use of Scripture during the slavery-abolitionist debate in the 18th and 19th century. What we tried to do in this book is break it down into manageable sections. There’s going to be a chapter in the book on how both sides used the Torah. How did they examine and make sense of that part?
