by Daniel Nardini

Hector Avalos is a very well known professor of religious studies at Iowa State University. Born on October 8, 1958, in Nogales, Sonora state in Mexico, Avalos went to the University of Arizona where he received his bachelors in anthropology in 1983. He then went on to the Harvard Divinity School where he received his masters in theological studies in 1985, and then on to Harvard University where he received his doctorate of philosophy in the Hebrew Bible and in Near Eastern studies in 1991. He became a professor at Iowa State University in 1993. In 1994, Avalos founded and became the first director for the Latino/a Studies program at Iowa State University. Avalos, once a Christian pastor, has since become opposed to those who do not want separation of church from state, and who want to teach what is called neo-creationism and “intelligent design.” In Avalos’ view, neo-creationism, which is essentially teaching that there is some form of super-intelligence that helped guide the process of evolution, is religion in concealed form and therefore detrimental to science and separation of church from state. Hector Avalos has published a number of books. These include: Illness and Health Care in the Ancient Near East: The Role of the Temple in Greece, Mesopotamia and Israel (1995), Fighting Words: The Origins of Religious Violence (2005), and The Bad Jesus: The Ethic of New Testament Ethics (2015).