Dr. David Penchansky is Professor Emeritus from the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he taught for 29 years. While earning a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Vanderbilt University (1988) he taught in Missouri and Kentucky. Then took a position in the Theology Department at the University of St. Thomas in 1989. He has written about the Bible, and now also the Qur’an from the perspective of a literary critic, attending to characterization, plot, theme, and especially gaps and fissures in a text, omissions and ambiguities. He approaches the Qur’an as a sympathetic outsider, respectful though critical.
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He continues to teach in community venues, churches, the Selim Center (lifelong learning for seniors), assisted living facilities, as well as a course a year for the University. He has only begun his exploration of Qur’anic narratives. Solomon and the Ant is the first product of his research. He is active in Islamic-Christian dialogues both locally and on a national level.
He is married to Hend Al-Mansour, an artist, and has two grown children and two grandchildren.
He is married to Hend Al-Mansour, an artist, and has two grown children and two grandchildren.