Larisa Levicheva

Biography

Larisa Levicheva serves as Associate Professor of Biblical Studies. Her responsibilities include teaching Bible classes, biblical Hebrew and Greek, and Foundational Components in the MA and MDiv programs.

Ministerial and Professional Background

Dr Levicheva served as full-time interpreter for the Wesleyan mission in Vladimir, Russia 1995-2004. During that time she was involved in serving with the Youth Department and developing education materials for youth and children. After graduating from Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, KY, she returned to Vladimir, Russia to teach for two years at the Wesleyan Bible College in Vladimir, Russia. In 2005-2011 together with her husband Dr Abson Joseph she served as a Lecturer at Caribbean Wesleyan College in Torrington, Jamaica focusing on the areas of biblical exegesis, biblical languages, missions, and contextualization.

Larisa describes her testimony; “I was born and raised in a non-Christian family in the time when religion was outlawed in Russia. For the first time I heard about God and Christianity when I worked as an interpreter in the very first Russian-American Christian Youth Camp in the summer of 1993. After the camp was over, I was asked to help the missionaries who stayed in Vladimir to interpret for Bible studies, church services, and other ministries. As I watched the missionaries, I witnessed an attitude of peace, contentment, and overwhelming faith that permeated their every decision. With time I surrendered my life to God and was able to experience peace that transcended all understanding in my own life. Since 1994 God has been faithful to me and has richly blessed my family and me.

I have been involved in theological education for fourteen years and am excited to join the faculty of Wesley Seminary now. I am looking forward to the new chapter in my walk with the Lord!”

Personal Information

Larisa and her husband, Dr. Abson Joseph, who is originally from Haiti, have been married for thirteen years. Abson is a New Testament Professor and teaches at the School of Theology and Ministry, IWU. Larisa and Abson have two daughters: Daniella and Sophie.

Ordination

The Wesleyan Church of Russia, 2004

Publications

“Poor/Poverty.” Pages 310-313 in Global Wesleyan Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Kansas City, MO; Foundry Publishing, 2020.

“Temptation/Test.” Pages 381-383 in Global Wesleyan Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Kansas City, MO; Foundry Publishing, 2020.

“Commentary on Ecclesiastes.” Pages 358-370 in The Wesley One-Volume Commentary on the Bible, Robert Branson, ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2020.

“Heroes and Heroines.” Part 2 of Inexplicable: How Christianity Spread to the Ends of the Earth. Directed by Jim Hannon, performance by Larisa Levicheva, The State of Faith 2020, TBN, 2020. https://watch.tbn.org/videos/hd-dhi0002

"Lost in Translation: The formative and theological challenges and opportunities of using AI in Bible translation" (with Abson P. Joseph). In Faithfully Rendering God’s Word: Artificial Intelligence, Cultural Bias and the Future of Faithful Bible Translation. Kindle Edition. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086BRD4KT/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Review of Mark W. Hamilton. A Theological Introduction to the Old Testament. Jericho: Oxford University Press, 2018. Bulletin for Biblical Research 29.3 (2019): 401-403.

“Isaiah’s Images of the New World: Isaiah 60:1-9.” Pages 18–22 in Illustrated Bible Life. Kansas City, MO; Foundry Publishing, 2019.

“Hospitality in the Biblical World.” Pages 18–9 in Illustrated Bible Life. Kansas City, MO; Foundry Publishing, 2020.

Review of Brad E. Kelle. Telling the Old Testament Story: God’s Mission and God’s People. Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 2017. Bulletin for Biblical Research 28.3 (2018): 447-49.

Review of Brent A. Strawn. The Old Testament Is Dying: A Diagnosis and Recommended Treatment (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2017), Bulletin for Biblical Research 28:2 (2018): 267-69.

“John Wesley: A Christian Hero.” Pages 40-41in Illustrated Bible Life (Kansas City, MO; Foundry Publishing), 2019.

Review of J. Gordon McConville, Being Human in God’s World: An Old Testament Theology of Humanity (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2016), Bulletin for Biblical Research 28.1 (2018): 97–99.

“Treasured Possession.” Pages 16-17 in Illustrated Bible Life (Kansas City, MO; Foundry Publishing Company), 2018.

Review of Michael S. Moore, What Is This Babbler Trying to Say? Essays on Biblical Interpretation (Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publishing, 2016), Bulletin for Biblical Research 27.4 (2017): 544–546.

Review of J. Gordon McConville. Joshua: Crossing Divides (T&T Clark Study Guides to the Old Testament. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2017), Bulletin for Biblical Research 27.3 (2017): 389–390.

Review of David A. Lambert, How Repentance Became Biblical: Judaism, Christianity, and the Interpretation of Scripture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), Bulletin for Biblical Research 27.1 (2017): 110–111.

Review of Phillip G. Camp and Tremper Longman III, eds., Praying with Ancient Israel: Exploring the Theology of Prayer in the Old Testament (Abilene, TX: Abilene Christian University Press, 2015), Bulletin for Biblical Research 26.4 (2016): 574-75.

“Jeremiah's Call and Yours.” Seedbed (2016): 10/6.

Review of Rainer Albertz, Beth Aplert Nakhai, Saul M. Olyan, and Rudiger Schmitt, eds., Family and Household Religion: Toward a Synthesis of Old Testament Studies, Archaeology, Epigraphy, and Cultural Studies (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2014), Bulletin for Biblical Research 26.1 (2016): 88-90.

Review of Katharine J. Dell, Interpreting Ecclesiastes: Readers Old and New (Critical Studies in the Hebrew Bible 3; Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2013), Bulletin for Biblical Research 26.1 (2016): 102-104.

Review of William P. Brown, Wisdom’s Wonder: Character, Creation, and Crisis in the Bible’s Wisdom Literature (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014), Bulletin for Biblical Research 25.1 (2015): 101-102.

Review of Eugen J. Pentiuc, The Old Testament in Eastern Orthodox Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), Bulletin for Biblical Research 24.3 (2014): 393-394. 

Review of Samuel Wells and George Summer, Esther and Daniel (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible; Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2013), Bulletin for Biblical Research 24.2 (2014): 260-262.

Review of Reinhard Achenbach, Rainer Albertz, and Jakob Wöhrle, eds., The Foreigner and the Law: Perspectives from the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East (Wiesbaden: Harrossowitz Verlag, 2011), Bulletin for Biblical Research 23.4 (2013): 589-591. 

Review of Caryn A. Reeder, The Enemy in the Household: Family Violence in Deuteronomy and Beyond (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), Bulletin for Biblical Research 23.1 (2013): 100-101.

Review of Stuart Weeks, Ecclesiastes and Scepticism (Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 541. New York: T&T Clark, 2012), Ancient and Early Christian Studies (May 2013).

Review of Peter Enns, Ecclesiastes (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011), Bulletin for Biblical Research 22.3 (2012): 426-27.

“Russian Salvation: From Jokes to Jesus.” Missiology: An International Review 38.3 (2010): 335-347.

“Theology of Missions.” Pages 67-77 in Global Voices: International Leaders Identify Critical Issues Facing the Church (with Abson Joseph). Edited by Joy Bray. Indianapolis: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2008.

Forthcoming

Review of Kristine Garroway. Children in the Ancient Near Eastern Household (Explorations in Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations 3. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2014), Bulletin for Biblical Research (2016).

Review of Steven Joe Koskie, Jr. Reading the Way to Heaven: A Wesleyan Theological Hermeneutic of Scripture (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2014), Bulletin for Biblical Research (2016).

Review of Bill T. Arnold and Bryan E. Beyer, Encountering the Old Testament: A Christian Survey, 3^rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2015), Bulletin for Biblical Research (2016).

Memberships

• Society of Biblical Literature
• Institute for Biblical Research
• Wesleyan Theological Society
• Caribbean Evangelical Theological Association

Papers Presented

“Biblical Theology of Missions.” Seminar on Contextualization and Biblical Theology of Missions. The Stream Theological Symposium: Auckland, New Zealand. August 7 – 9, 2014.

“Survey of the Old Testament.” Seminar on the Overview of the Old Testament. Ministère Pour la Guérison des Nations : Namur, Belgium. November 25 – 28, 2013.

“Practical Holiness, Powerful Witness” (with Abson Joseph), Fifth Wesleyan National Convention, The Wesleyan Holiness Church in Jamaica, December 2009-2010.

Degrees

• PhD - Old Testament Studies
  2014, London School of Theology, Middlesex University
• ThM - World Missions and Evangelism
  2005, Asbury Theological Seminary
• MDiv
  2002, Asbury Theological Seminary
• AA
  1999, Christian Evangelical Wesleyan College
• BA - Teaching English and German
  1995, Vladimir State Pedagogical University