Research Profile: Sally Douglas

BA, B.Teach (Deakin University) Dip Min, MDiv, MTS, PhD (United Faculty of Theology, University of Divinity Melbourne).

Sally’s interdisciplinary research spans biblical studies and systematic theology, as she reflexively engages with the biblical text, early church writers and the potential implications of re-engaging with, often suppressed, texts in contemporary context. In particular, Sally’s research attends to questions of christology, soteriology, gender, discipleship, worship and prayer. Her doctoral excavation and exploration of early church christology was published to critical acclaim n the LNTS series by Bloomsbury as Early Church Understandings of Jesus as the Female Divine: The Scandal of the Scandal of Particularity (2016).

Her most recent book The Church Triumphant as Salt: Becoming the Community Jesus speaks about was published by Coventry Press (2021). This book invites readers to engage with the biblical metaphor of salt, with early church writers, and contemporary expressions of church. Douglas argues that rather than the church dying, the cultural accoutrements of church are dying. Through engaging with various aspects of the metaphor of salt, Douglas offers fresh and ancient ways to think about being church.

Sally is a Uniting Church Minister working in the mode of ‘scholar – pastor’. Alongside her academic work she serves in placement with an inner-city congregation. Sally teaches across a range of subjects and is regularly invited to speak at local, state, national and international biblical and theological conferences. Sally continues to be a guest on various podcasts including The Inverse Podcast, Love, Rinse, Repeat, By the Well and also on ABC Radio National’s God Forbid. Sally also regularly writes popular level articles.

Research Supervision

Sally welcomes research proposals focused on New Testament and early church texts that relate to questions of christology, soteriology, discipleship, and understandings of gender.

Teaching

Sally’s teaching includes:

• • Jesus, Discipleship and Justice
  • Cross and Resurrection in Earliest Christianity
  • Mark’s Gospel in Context
  • Introducing the Gospels
  • Prayer and Spirituality

Recent Publications

Monograph

The Church Triumphant as Salt: Becoming the Community Jesus speaks about

Early Church Understandings of Jesus as the Female Divine: The Scandal of the Scandal of Particularity, Library of New Testament Studies, vol. 557. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2016.

Book Chapters

‘The Problem with Powerlessness: Attending to Power and Authority in Matthew’s Wisdom christology’ in Contemporary Feminist Theologies: Power, Authority and Love. London: Routledge, 2021. pp. 59-71.

‘Jesus’ Impact on Understandings of Gender: Attending to First Century Dialogue’ in The Impact of Jesus of Nazareth: Historical, Theological and Pastoral Perspectives, Volume 2.  SCD Press Publication, 2021, pp. 155-178.

Articles

“I Desire Mercy Not Sacrifice” How Soteriology Constructs Discipleship – A Test Case’, Colloquium, (2019) pp. 44-60.

‘Being the Church: An Exploration of Mission’, The Australian Journal of Mission Studies, December (2015): 38-44.

‘A Decoding of Evil Angels: The Other Aetiology of Evil in the Biblical Text and its Potential Implications in our Church and World’, Colloquium, (2013): 42-60.

Popular level writing

Sally also publishes articles for a more general audience focusing on the bible, theology, the church, spirituality, and contemporary culture including the following:

• ‘What and why of worship’ (2021) 
• ‘Holy Communion in Covid’ (2020) 
• ‘Why We Must Reject Consumerist Culture’ (2019)
• ‘Seeking a Meaningful Understanding of Suffering and God’ (2019) 
• ‘Violence Against Women: When the Church Fails’ (2017) 

Find more articles here:
https://victas.uca.org.au/authors/sally-douglas/