Daniel Smith-Christopher

Dr. Daniel L. Smith-Christopher has taught Old Testament and Hebrew Bible at LMU since 1989.  Daniel (who, as a life-long Quaker, prefers to go by his first name) has published a number of academic books and articles, including commentaries on Daniel, 1 Esdras, Micah, and Ezra-Nehemiah, has also taught courses on a variety of other interests in Theological Studies.  Particularly interested in cross-cultural interpretation of the Bible, Daniel has taught courses examining Native-American Christianity, “The Bible and the Blues” in Memphis, TN, and Prophecy and Society in the Bible and Maori Prophetic Tradition (in Aotearoa/New Zealand).  Daniel also has keen interest in how the Bible is used in progressive political movements, and in 2024 published his book on Keir Hardie (1856-1915) one of the founders of the British Labour Party (Keir Hardie, the Bible, and Christian Socialism, Bloomsbury/London).

Daniel received his BA in Philosophy and Sociology at George Fox University, his MDiv from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (Indiana), and his DPhil in Old Testament Theology from Oxford University in England.   Daniel has spoken in a variety of Adult Education contexts for Catholic and Protestant churches and meetings, and served for a period of time as a non-Catholic consultant on the Theological Commission of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles by invitation from Cardinal Mahoney.  More recently, Daniel was invited to lecture (on cross-cultural approaches to the Book of Daniel) at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, in Rome, Italy (Fall, 2023).