Frederik Poulsen

Primary fields of research

1) Exile as a literary and theological theme in the Bible; religious identity in the Diaspora; see e.g. my doctoral dissertation [Habilitation] The Black Hole in Isaiah: A Study of Exile as a Literary Theme (Mohr Siebeck, 2019). I am co-editor of the volume Images of Exile in the Prophetic Literature (Mohr Siebeck; 2019).

2) Biblical theology, including the concept of canon, the Septuagint, and the relationship between the Old and New Testaments; see e.g. my PhD dissertation God, His Servant, and the Nations in Isaiah 42:1-9: Biblical Theological Reflections after Brevard S. Childs and Hans Hübner (Mohr Siebeck, 2014).

3) The Old Testament prophets and their theology, especially the book of Isaiah, see e.g. my book Representing Zion: Judgement and Salvation in the Old Testament (Routledge, 2015). See also my contribution to the textbook Fire indgange til gammeltestamentlig teologi (Det Teologiske Fakultet, 2016).

4) The Old Testament as Christian Scripture, especially the biblical readings in church service. I am co-editor of the book Bibelen i gudstjenesten (Det Teologiske Fakultet, 2015).

Current research

Until 2021 I'll be working on an individual research project, sponsored by the Carlsberg Foundation:

Stories in a Strange Land: Biblical Narratives about Assimilation and Religious Identity

Issues of migration and religious belonging were just as important in the ancient world as they are now. Several stories in the Bible reflect experiences of living among foreigners. How do the ancient texts envision religious life abroad? What strategies do they reflect for living in different worlds simultaneously without being at home in any of them? My project analyzes four biblical stories about assimilation and preservation of religious identity (Joseph, Esther, Daniel, and Tobit). Mapping attitudes towards faith in foreign lands can shed light on the experiences of religious minorities today.

From 2015-2017 I worked on the individual research project "Images of Exile", sponsored by the Independent Research Fund Denmark and its Sapere Aude programme (see announcement). The main outcome of the project is a monograph on exile in the book of Isaiah and an edited volume of conference papers about images of exile in the prophetic books of the Bible.