Timothy Beal is Florence Harkness Professor of Religion at Case Western Reserve University. He writes about the Bible and the fascinating and complicated ways it figures in culture. He has 11 books and has published essays in The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Washington Post, and has been featured on radio shows including NPR’s “All Things Considered” and “The Bob Edwards Show.”

Mr. Beal was born in Hood River, Oregon, and grew up just outside Anchorage, Alaska. He is married to Clover Reuter Beal, who is a Presbyterian minister (he calls her a “Presbyterian shaman,” which totally makes sense to anyone who knows her). They have two kids, Sophie and Seth, and live in Shaker Heights, Ohio.