Alan F. Segal

Alan F. Segal is a professor of religion and Ingeborg Rennert Professor of Jewish Studies at Barnard College.cite web|title=Alan F. Segal|publisher=Barnard College Department of Religion|accessdate=2007-09-22|url=http://www.barnard.edu/religion/segal.htm]

Segal was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Massachusetts. He attended Amherst College (B.A., 1967), Brandeis University (M.A., 1969), Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Bachelor of Hebrew Letters, 1971), and Yale University (M.A., 1971; M.Phil., 1973; and Ph.D., 1975).

Segal is an expert in the history of the Old and New Testament periods, and on the Semitic languages in use in Israel in that period.fact|date=May 2008 According to Jewish Theological Seminary Professor Beth A. Berkowitz, in his work on St. Paul, Segal uses modern understandings of conversion in order to examine St. Paul's experience as it is described in the Acts of the Apostles. [ Execution and Invention: Death Penalty Discourse in Early Rabbinic and Christian Cultures, Oxforsity Press, by Beth A. Berkowitz, ( 2006) , p. 207]

Segal is a frequent media commentator on St. Paul [ [http://www.beliefnet.com/story/143/story_14384_1.html Do the Gospels Correct Paul's Letters? By Alan F. Segal -immortality resurrection Paul apostles Jesus founder Christian - Beliefnet.com ] ] [ [www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=26412851621644] ] and other issues to deal with early Christianity and Judaism. [ [http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/alan_f_segal/2006/12/the_davinci_code_is_wrong_and.html Alan F. Segal: “Son of God” Meaning Depends on Context - On Faith at washingtonpost.com ] ] [ [www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2004/08/03] ] [ [www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2004/12/10 ] ] [ [http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080322/NEWS/803220327/1001] ] [ [http://www.slate.com/id/2186654/ How early Christians grappled to accept the idea that Jesus returned from the dead. - By Larry Hurtado - Slate Magazine ] ] Segal, who has written on Christian and Jewish beliefs in an afterlife, has exlpained to reporters that belief in an existence beyond death persists among Americans no matter how little they observe their religion. [ [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gq7KQubcoZYlyDvdQtL1eVU3fEzQD8VH8LDO1 The Associated Press: Religion Today ] ]

During September 2007, Segal became part of the controversial tenure battle concerning Barnard anthropology professor Nadia Abu El Haj. Segal, who was opposed to Abu El Haj's tenure bid, told "The New York Times" that "there is every reason in the world to want her to have tenure, and only one reason against it — her work, I believe it is not good enough."cite web|title=Fracas Erupts Over Book on Mideast by a Barnard Professor Seeking Tenure|author=Karen W. Arenson|publisher="The New York Times"|date=10 September 2007|accessdate=2007-09-22|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/education/10barnard.html] Segal wrote a critique of Abu El Haj's book "Facts on the Ground" for the "Columbia Daily Spectator", in which he said that the reasons he opposed tenure for Abu El Haj for professional, not personal, reasons.cite web|title=Some Professional Observations on the Controversy about Nadia Abu El-Haj’s First Book|author=Alan F. Segal|publisher="Columbia Daily Spectator"|date=2007-09-21|accessdate=2007-09-22|url=http://www.columbiaspectator.com/?q=node/26830] Segal later told "The Forward" that Abu El Haj hates Israelis.cite web|title=Archaeologists Challenge Barnard Professor’s Claims |author=Marissa Brostoff|publisher="The Forward"|date=October 17, 2007|accessdate=2007-10-22|url=http://www.forward.com/articles/11840]

elected bibliography

* "Deus Ex Machina: Computers in the Humanities"
* "Jews and Arabs: A Teaching Guide"
* "Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religions", Doubleday, 2004. ISBN 978-0385-42299-4.
* "The Other Judaisms of Late Antiquity"
* "Paul the Convert: The Apostasy and Apostolate of Saul of Tarsus"
* "Rebecca's Children: Judaism and Christianity in the Roman World", Harvard University Press, 1986. ISBN 0-674-750764.
* "Two Powers in Heaven"

References