Lubbock Christian University

Dr. Mark Sneed Invited to Speak at University of Cambridge While Abroad in Spain

Last year, the LCU experience expanded to <link majors-programs study-abroad lcu-in-avila-spain>Avila, Spain, as students and professors alike travel overseas during the fall semester as part of LCU’s Global Campus program. This fall, 27 members of the LCU community, including some professors and their families, traveled to be a part of the study abroad semester.

Dr. Mark Sneed, professor of Bible, and his wife, Arlene, joined students in Spain. While in there, Sneed was invited by one of the world’s top Old Testament biblical wisdom scholars deliver a lecture at the University of Cambridge in England on Oct. 11 during the Old Testament Senior Seminar of the Faculty of Divinity.

Sneed, grateful for the invitation and his closer proximity to Cambridge in Avila, traveled to England for the seminar. Sneed and his wife were hosted by St. Catharine’s College, one of 27 colleges at Cambridge.

Sneed present his lecture for the seminar at CambridgeSneed spoke on the topic “The Sage ‘Concerned with Prophecies’ (Sir 39:1): The Scribal Cooption of Prophecy.”

“Against the consensus of biblical scholarship, I argued that the authors of biblical wisdom literature – the sages – were interested in prophecy from the very beginning and not later, as many hold, during the time of Ben Sira (2nd century BCE),” Sneed explained. He felt his lecture was well received.

“There were several famous Old Testament scholars there,” he said, “and it was great to meet authors I only knew through books.”

After the presentation, there was a formal dinner with guests dressed in regalia, prayers spoken in Latin, and drinks served with silver goblets.

“I felt very proud to represent LCU at those hallowed halls,” Sneed said.

Sneed and his wife accompanied 18 students in the Study Abroad program to Avila. Three other faculty members and their families are also currently abroad.