Fr. Eric Wagner, CR, PhD
Assistant Professor for Old and New Testaments
EDUCATION
PhD, The Catholic University of America
MPhil, The Catholic University of America
MDiv--MA, Aquinas Institute of Theology
BA, Washington University in St. Louis
ABOUT
Fr. Wagner is a priest in the Congregation of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, known commonly as the Resurrectionists. A proud graduate of Aquinas’ MA–MDiv program (2010), he also has a background in architecture (BA, 2005).
Fr. Wagner’s research treats Old Testament literature broadly. He has studied myth and biblical narrative, motifs and dynamics of prophetic literature, and the psalms’ communicative art. Recently, he has focused on the meaning and function of mountains and other highland landscapes in Old Testament texts. Keen to situate biblical texts in their ancient contexts, he stives to place them in dialogue with literary and visual art from ancient Mesopotamia and Greece. He also explores the reception of the Old Testament in later traditions.
A member of an active religious congregation, Fr. Wagner also assists at local parishes, co-directs his congregation’s North American vocation team, and serves in his province’s leadership.
Selected Courses
- Bible Interpretation
- Pentateuch
- Prophets
- Biblical Hermeneutics and Preaching
- Christian Scriptures
Selected Publications
Books
Personified Mountains in Ancient Canonical Narratives: Spatial and Mythic Studies of Mesopotamian, Greek, and Hebrew bible Landscapes. Orientalische Religionen in der Antike 62. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2025.
Jonah: Is it Good for You to Be Angry? With Isaac Alderman, Eric Trinka, and Jordan Schmidt. Directed by Fr. Olivier-Thomas Venard, O.P. The Bible in Its Traditions 5. Leuven: Peeters, 2023.
Books
Personified Mountains in Ancient Canonical Narratives: Spatial and Mythic Studies of Mesopotamian, Greek, and Hebrew bible Landscapes. Orientalische Religionen in der Antike 62. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2025.
Jonah: Is it Good for You to Be Angry? With Isaac Alderman, Eric Trinka, and Jordan Schmidt. Directed by Fr. Olivier-Thomas Venard, O.P. The Bible in Its Traditions 5. Leuven: Peeters, 2023.
Book Chapters
“What Sprouts from Mountains? On Grace, Wrath, and Justice in Prophetic and Wisdom Literature.” In Gnade, Zorn, und Gerechtigkeit in Prophetie und Weisheit: Tagungsband zur Ehrung zum Burkard M. Zapff. Edited by Joachim Eck and Melanie Peetz. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft. Berlin: De Gruyter Brill. In Preparation.
“May the Mountains Bear Peace: Revisiting Myth Theory to Reread Hebrew Bible Mountains.” In Unslain Dragons: Gobbets on the Bible, Its World, and Receptions in Honor of Robert D. Miller II. Edited with Eric Trinka. Life and Society in the Ancient Near East. London: Transnational Press, forthcoming.
“Political Entities as Highlands: Mountain Rhetoric in Prophetic Texts across the Long Sixth Century BCE.” In Weisheit und Prophetie im Kontext des zweiten Tempels / Wisdom and Prophecy in Second Temple Context. Edited by Melanie Peetz and Joachim Eck. Arbeiten zur Bibel und ihrer Geschichte. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2025.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
“Liken God to the (Disabled) Servant: Approaching (Two) Bodies in Isaiah 40-55,” in AVAR 3 (2024): 73-106.
Edited Volumes
Unslain Dragons: Gobbets on the Bible, Its World, and Receptions in Honor of Robert D. Miller II. Edited with Eric Trinka. Life and Society in the Ancient Near East. London: Transnational Press, In Preparation.
Public-Facing & Other
Workbook for Lectors, Gospel Readers, and Proclaimers of the Word: 2026 Year A. with María Enid Barga, Stephen J. Lampe, and Deborah Wilhelm. United States edition. Chicago: LTP, 2025.
Workbook for Lectors, Gospel Readers, and Proclaimers of the Word: 2026 Year A. with María Enid Barga, Stephen J. Lampe, and Deborah Wilhelm. Canada edition. Chicago: LTP, 2025.
"Rendered Relatable: Using Myth to (Re-)Read Hebrew Bible Languages." The Bible and Interpretation. Tucson: University of Arizona, 2025.
Workbook for Lectors, Gospel Readers, and Proclaimers of the Word: 2025 Year C. with María Enid Barga, Stephen J. Lampe, and Suzanne Nawrocki. United States edition. Chicago: LTP, 2024.
Workbook for Lectors, Gospel Readers, and Proclaimers of the Word: 2025 Year C. with María Enid Barga, Stephen J. Lampe, and Suzanne Nawrocki. Canada edition. Chicago: LTP, 2024.
Workbook for Lectors, Gospel Readers, and Proclaimers of the Word: 2024 Year B. with María Enid Barga, Stephen J. Lampe, and Suzanne Nawrocki. United States edition. Chicago: LTP, 2023.
Workbook for Lectors, Gospel Readers, and Proclaimers of the Word: 2024 Year B. with María Enid Barga, Stephen J. Lampe, and Suzanne Nawrocki. Canada edition. Chicago: LT
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