Professor of Sacred Scripture

Tel: +353 (0)1 708 3505
E-mail: Seamus.OConnell[at]spcm.ie

Office Location: Room 11, Dunboyne House

Office Hours:
Semester One: Wednesdays, 2.00 – 3.00 pm
Semester Two: TBA

Biography:
Priest of the Diocese of Kerry, ordained in 1982. Undergraduate studies in Maynooth (BSc and BD); graduate studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome (SSL) and in Fribourg (DTheol). Chaplain, Millstreet Community School, Co. Cork (1986–89); Director of Scriptural Formation for the Diocese of Kerry (1992–1998). Lecturer in Sacred Scripture, 1998, appointed Professor 2006. Chair, Committee on Scripture Use, National Bible Society of Ireland (1996–present); President, IBA (2002–2005); Member of CBA (1996–present); Member, Irish Episcopal Committee for Theology (1999–present); Member, Consultative Committee for the Study of Near Eastern Religions, RIA (2005–2009); Convenor, Workgroup on Theology in Higher Education (2005–2009); Member, Program Committee CBA (2009–present).

Research Interests:

• Identification and exploration of redactional features in the Gospel of Mark as keys to the gospel’s composition history and theology.
• Synoptic Problem
• Lectio Divina and Scripture in the Pastoral Life of the Church

Select Publications:

• “The Word is Very Near to You’ (Deut 30:14): The Word that Makes Alive in Moses and Paul” in Brendan Leahy and Séamus O’Connell (eds), Having Life in his Name (Dublin: Veritas, 2011), 213–25.
• “Lectio Divina: The Challenge in the Academic Setting” in Bernard Treacy, alii (eds), Reading Scripture for Living the Christian Life, [Doctrine and Life 59 (2009)], 32–46.
• “Identity, Collective Beliefs, and the Allocation of Resources.” The Economic and Social Review 39 (2008): 39–54.
  Co-author with Thomas D. Jeitschko (Michigan State University) and Rowena A. Pecchenino (NUIM).
• From Most Ancient Sources: The Nature and Text-Critical Use of the Greek Old Testament Text of the Complutensian Polyglot Bible.
  Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 215 (Fribourg: Academic Press and Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2006).

• “Towards the First Gospel: Redactional Development in the Gospel of Mark”
  Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association 26 (2003): 66–91.

• Working Paper: “Having Life More Abundantly: Caring for the Body, Mind and Spirit”
  Co-author with Thomas D. Jeitschko and Rowena A. Pecchenino, Department of Economics, Michigan State University, 2005.
• “How People are Nourished by their Faith in the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland at Present” and “A Catholic View of How Spirituality May be Developed.” Co-author with Myles Rearden CM in The Deepest Freshness Deep Down Things (Belfast: The Irish Inter-Church Meeting, 2005), 6–8 and 70–78.
• “The Menu is not the Meal: the Scriptures as Food for our Lives.” The Furrow 59 (2008): 92–98.
• “Let the Reader Understand: Recent Writing on Mark.” The Furrow 60 (2009): 111–119.
• “SBL 2008 Boston.” Intercom 39/1 ( February 2009): 28.
• “Walking Towards God: On Practicing Lectio Divina.” Intercom 39/2 (March 2009): 26–27.
• “Walking Towards God: On Practicing Lectio Divina (2).” Intercom 39/3 (April 2009): 28–29.
• “Walking Towards God: On Practicing Lectio Divina (3).” Intercom 39/4 (May 2009): 26–27.
• “Mind the Gap: Lectio Divina and Contemporary Approaches to Reading.” Intercom 41 (Sept 2011): 27.

Current Research:

• “Into the Desert: the Dynamics of Exclusion in the Gospel of Mark.” Paper presented at the International Meeting of the CBA, Fordham University, New York, August 3, 2008.
• “Strict Twofold Repetitions in the Gospel of Mark.”
  A Research Report presented at the International Meeting of the CBA, Santa Clara, August 5, 2007.

• Research Report: “Fourfold Repetitions in the Gospel of Mark.” Presented to the Synoptic Gospels Seminar of the British New Testament Conference, Liverpool Hope University, September 2005

Courses

• SC 333 Convert, Apostle and Pastor: Introducing the Writings, Theology and Spirituality of Paul the Apostle [Semester II]
• SC 237 Jesus and his God in the Gospel of Mark [Semester I]
• SC 132 Reading in Scripture [Semester II]
• SC 135 Risen Lord in a Pagan Empire [Semester I]
• PS 408 Scripture in a Pastoral Setting [Semester I]
• PG 437 Narrating the Risen Lord [Semester I]
• PG 413 The Soul of Theology [Semester II]

Links and Other Interests

• Lectio Divina Resources
• Lectio Divina Group Page (PDF File)
• The Text this Week
• New Jerusalem Bible Online
• Oremus Bible Browser
• The Aleppo Codex
• David Steindl-Rast OSB ~ The Heart of Gratefulness
• Dead Sea Scrolls Online (Digital Dead Sea Scrolls)