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Celebrating the release of Dr. Jennifer Awes Freeman’s The Ashburnham Pentateuch and its Contexts: The Trinity in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Boydell & Brewer, 2022), United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is pleased to invite members of the community to a special book event. On Monday, March 13, 2023 at Noon CT, join us on campus or via livestream for a discussion and Q&A with Dr. Awes Freeman, associate professor and program director of theology and the arts. Dr. Munjed Murad, Rev. Dr. Andrew Packman, and Theology and the Arts student Dee Grover will also offer responses to the book. Join us for an in-depth discussion of this important historical scholarship.

The Ashburnham Pentateuch is an early medieval manuscript of uncertain provenance, which has puzzled and intrigued scholars since the 19th century. Dr. Awes Freeman’s study examines the theological, political, and iconographic contexts of the production and later modification of the Ashburnham Pentateuch’s creation image. The discussion focuses on materiality, the oft-contested relationship between image and word, and iconoclastic acts as “embodied responses.” Ultimately, this book argues that the Carolingian-era reception and modification of the creation image is consistent with contemporaneous iconography, a concern for maintaining the absolute unity of the Trinity, as well as Carolingian image theory following the Byzantine iconoclastic controversy. Tracing the changes in Trinitarian theology and theories of the image offers us a better understanding of the mutual influences between art, theology, and politics during Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages.

Please note: Persons on campus need to be fully vaccinated. While masks are not required, visitors should wear a mask in accordance with health risks and the seminary’s COVID policy. 

Questions? Contact MJ at mluna@unitedseminary.edu.

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