Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou is a biblical scholar and broadcaster. She is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion at the University of Exeter in the UK. Her research is on ancient Israelite and Judahite religions, and portrayals of the religious past in the Hebrew Bible.
Her most recent book deals with ancient constructs of God's body, it’s called ‘God: An Anatomy’. It won the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize for non-fiction; was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize; named a best book of the year in both the Economist and Sunday Times, and was serialised on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week.
Francesca is also very active as a public speaker and in the media, appearing on and presenting various tv shows in the UK including ‘The Bible: A History’ and ‘The Bible’s Buried Secrets’. She is an atheist and a Patron of Humanists UK… and as you can imagine that really pisses off a lot of people interested in her work.
Francesca Stavrakopoulou’s faculty page: https://theology.exeter.ac.uk/staff/stavrakopoulou/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProfFrancesca
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesca_Stavrakopoulou
‘God: An Anatomy’ publisher’s page: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/francesca-stavrakopoulou/god/9781509867370
NOTES:
In Indonesia, a Blurred Boundary Between the Living and the Dead (New York Times): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/14/travel/torajan-death-rituals-indonesia.html
Hans Holbein’s The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Body_of_the_Dead_Christ_in_the_Tomb
Why Greeks are exhuming their parents (BBC) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34920068
The Cluster F Theory Podcast is edited by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-cluster-f-theory-podcast/id1736982916
Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5V4bBn54hiImeoyDNmTcIr?si=729367e48b0940d9
5. Living With Death - Francesca Stavrakopoulou