Biography
My path to Spring Arbor University starts in Denver, Colorado, where I was raised (a nice-enough state, though its box shape lacks imagination. Michigan, with its ‘hand-y' map is far better). After earning undergraduate degrees in Finance and Government, I worked for a software company for two years. During a mission trip at an orphanage in Venezuela, I responded to a call to ministry and soon after enrolled at Asbury Theological Seminary (Kentucky). And this is where I met my wife, Sarah (we married just weeks after 9/11). From 2002-2006, we lived in Scotland while I finished a PhD degree at the University of Aberdeen (beautiful country - though just as rainy as you might imagine). Since 2006, I've served on the faculty at Spring Arbor University… mainly teaching in the Theology department, but also broadening to include “Core” inter-disciplinary classes. I enjoy leading cross-cultural studies courses to countries in the Middle East / Mediterranean area, especially Israel, Egypt, and Greece. My favorite sections of the Bible to study and teach include the Wisdom Literature (especially Job) and the book of Genesis.
Education
Ph.D.: (in Divinity) University of Aberdeen, 2006
- Society of Biblical Literature: Co-chair of steering committee of the annual meeting program unit Theological Interpretation of Scripture (2012-2018)
- Faculty Merit Award, Spring Arbor University
2009
- Recipient, John Wesley Fellowship from A Foundation for Theological Education
2002-2006
- Recipient, Overseas Research Students Award (ORS) from Universities UK
2003-2005
- Recipient, fellowship from the Endowed Advanced Studies for Theological Education fund of the Asbury Foundation
2004
- Member, International Society of Theta Phi
- RecipienTowel and Basin Award for Servant Leadership (Asbury Theological Seminary)
- Books
Contributor to Edited Volume
• “On Sin: Irenaeus's Appropriation of Paul” in Irenaeus and Paul, edited by Todd
D. Still and David E. Wilhite (New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2020)
• “Irenaeus of Lyon: Communicating in Creaturely Time” in Words and Witnesses: Communication
Studies in Christian Thought from Athanasius to Desmond Tutu, edited by Robert H.
Woods, Jr. and Naaman K. Wood (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2018)
• The Wesley Study Bible (NRSV and CEB editions) notes and essays on Jonah, Nahum,
Obadiah (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009; 2013)
- Journals
Monograph
• Irenaeus and Genesis: A study of competition in early Christian hermeneutics (Winona
Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2009)