Rev. Dr. Nancy L. deClaissé-Walford
Professor Emerita
Rev. Dr. Nancy L. deClaissé-Walford
Dr. deClaissé-Walford came to McAfee from George W. Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas, where she was a lecturer in biblical languages. She earned a bachelor’s degree in ancient history from California State University in Northridge, California; a master’s degree in Semitic languages and literature from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California; and a doctor of philosophy in Old Testament from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Dr. deClaissé-Walford is the author of Reading from the Beginning: The Shaping of the Hebrew Psalter; Biblical Hebrew: An Introductory Textbook; The Book of Psalms: A Song from Ancient Israel; The Book of Psalms: The International Commentary on the Old Testament; The Shape and Shaping of the Book of Psalms: The Current State of Scholarship; and The Wisdom Commentary: Psalms, Books 4 and 5.
Book chapters and journal articles authored by her are numerous, including “The Importance of Place in Book Five of the Psalter;” “Psalm 44: O God, Why Do You Hide Your Face?;” “Both Sides Now: A Feminist Reading of the Enthronement Psalms;” “Finding the Feminine in the Psalter: Psalms 90, 91, and 92 As a Test Case;” “The Theology of the Imprecatory Psalms;” “Genesis 2: It Is Not Good for the Human to Be Alone;” and “Genesis 11: God Came Down and God Scattered: Acts of Punishment or Acts of Grace?”
Dr. deClaissé-Walford enjoys speaking with students about vocation. She believes God instills in each of us a drive, a motivation, that will not let go of us — a passion. And she maintains that our God-given call is to “follow our passion.” She discovered her passion 30 years ago in a classroom at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California — the Hebrew language. She went on to study advanced Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Ugaritic, Syriac, Akkadian, Sumerian, Egyptian, and various northwest Semitic languages. She states: “There is an old adage: ‘Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.’ While the saying contains much truth, a greater truth lies in the saying ‘follow your passion.’ Passion is that deep-seated feeling within one that says, ‘I can’t imagine doing anything different with my life.’ Passion, though, usually involves hard work, so ‘passion’ and ‘work’ are not mutually exclusive, as the old adage suggests. But I have discovered over the years that the ‘work’ involved in pursuing my ‘passion’ has taken me on an amazing journey.”
One of Dr. deClaissé-Walford’s joys and tremendous responsibilities of teaching seminary students is the immediacy of every teaching moment. Seminary students are practitioners who are likely to take what she says in the classroom today and teach it in a Bible study tonight, a lesson on Sunday, or incorporate it into a sermon. She takes great care when she prepare lectures, designs discussions, or prepares to debrief a reading assignment, to consider how her students will use the course content in their various ministry settings.
Education
- Ph.D., Old Testament, Baylor University, 1995
- M.A., Semitic Languages and Literature, Fuller Theological Seminary, 1985
- B.A., Ancient History, California State University, 1976