Dr. Jessica Ann Hughes
Writer / Speaker / Professor of English
Welcome…
There’s an old story that begins, “One day, when Jesus was teaching, a lawyer stood up to test him.
“Teacher,” the lawyer asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What does the Law say?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”
As an English Professor, that might be my favorite question in the entire Bible.
When Jesus asks the lawyer about his reading of the Law, he is talking about the Torah, the first 5 books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. But most of those books aren’t “laws”… they’re stories. They’re the stories of complicated, broken people and a mysterious God’s unceasing love.
When Jesus asks, “What does the law say” and “How do you read it,” he’s asking questions fit for a literary classroom. He’s suggesting that creative reading is the foundation for living well in the world that God has made. He might even be suggesting that reading well is part of the secret to eternal life.
In this vein, my work centers on how stories shape our imaginations to form lives of justice, grace, and peace. I’m particularly interested in how fiction makes old stories new, be that in the novel’s characterization habits that work to re-enliven Jesus for Victorian readers…or in Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan that helps the lawyer re-imagine the law he knows so well.
Interested? Explore the site to learn more about my writing, speaking, and teaching.
grace & peace,
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Writer / Speaker / Professor of English Literature
Writer
& the American environmental tradition
Speaker
Jessica makes sense of complexity in ways that are engaging and accessible for all audiences, challenging them to find renewed faith, joy, and wonder in their own experiences.
Professor
With teaching experience in high schools & colleges around the globe, Jessica fosters intellectual engagement & practical understanding through her teaching & course design.
Topics, Issues, Questions & News
The Bible & the Novel: Ruth & Marilynne Robinson’s Lila
Too often texts fall silent because we think we know the story. Or because we find the barriers of time, place, and culture insurmountable. At George Fox University we are exploring ways to bring creative educational solutions to students during the COVID-19 crisis...
A big move back to the Pacific Northwest
On August 15, I officially started a new tenure-track position as the Director of Liberal Arts and Assistant Professor of English and Theology at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon! In my role as Assistant Professor of English and Theology, I get to teach...
The Professor and the Pastor — An Experiment in Conversational Preaching
What happens when two trained theologians—one a pastor and one a literary scholar—work together to preach a text? Calls for cross-disciplinary and cross-vocational projects like this one have recently been issued by thinkers like N.T. Wright and Miraslov Volf...