Papers Delivered at the "Bible Faculty Summit" (August 2017)

Every year I try to attend the "Bible Faculty Summit" held for those professors and academics more-or-less identifying themselves as moderate-fundamentalist (this includes more than just Baptist). I've been meaning to give a brief description of this year's papers for my audience (however, if you want a copy of any of them, you will have to contact the individual authors).

This year's Bible Faculty Summit was held at the absolutely gorgeous Appalachian Bible College (seriously, this has to be one of the most beautiful settings in North America for a Bible college). The theme for this year (no surprise!) was "The Reformation" (and for the first time in my life I got to research and write a paper on the Anabaptists! Many thanks, by the way, to the "Mennonite Historical Library" in Goshen, Indiana, for facilitating my research).

Every year there's always one or two papers that stand out in making a unique and fascinating contribution to biblical studies, theology, or church history. For me, I felt this year's best contribution was:

1. Mark Sidwell (prof. of Social Science at Bob Jones U.) on "Did Women Have a Reformation? The Case of Katherine Zell." The reason this paper fascinated me was that it raised an issue that I had never even considered, namely how the Protestant Reformation created a new class of women, nay, even a new type of position in the church, namely the "pastor's wife" (a class of which Katherine Zell is an excellent example). Consider: up until this point in history, clergy were supposed to be single and celibate (supposed to be, of course, does not mean that they always were). However, the 1500s saw the Protestant repudiation of that standard with many clergyman taking a wife (Luther himself setting the example for many). Sidwell does an absolutely fantastic job of discussing what, exactly, that entailed and how Katherine Zell, for one, both embraced her role and struggled with the implications of this hitherto unknown (for 1200+ years, probably!) social concept of "the pastor's wife."

If the reader will pardon a joke on this topic: Two friends, a young catholic boy and a young anglican boy, were walking down the street. Along comes the local Anglican priest. "Hello, Father," says the Anglican boy, reflexively. His Catholic friend turns to him and says incredulously  "He can't be a 'Father'! He's got three kids!"

Other papers were:

2. Scott Aniol, who has produced some helpful publications grappling with church music and worship (including one that came out just recently with Kregel), gave a paper entitled "Polishing Brass on a Sinking Ship: Toward a Dispensational Philosophy of the Church and Cultural Engagement." Here he defends dispensationalism (properly defined) against the accusation that it does not possess any appropriate model to engage culture. In the process he deals with various philosophical positions, e.g., "Two Kingdom Theology," Neo-Kuyperianism, etc.

3. Brian C. Collins, who works for BJU Press, presented on "Soli Deo Gloria or Beatitude: Aquinas, Calvin, and His Heirs on the Chief End of Man." Drawing off the work of Thomas Watson and the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Collins explores how "blessedness" and "God's glory" are potentially interrelated as the telos of humanity.

4. Kyle C. Dunham, who teaches at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, presented on "'For Our Good Always': How the Intertextual Links between Deuteronomy and Ecclesiastes Reinforce Qohelet's Positive Message." As Dunham puts it, ultimately the Preacher of Ecclesiastes draws from Deuteronomy to "commend obedience and joy, but not merely as a means of obtaining superior wisdom. He commends obedience and joy as an antidote to the pain and suffering endemic to a fallen world."

5. C. J. Harris (Positive Action for Christ) wrote and delivered a highly informative paper on "The Huguenot Mission to Brazil, 1556-58," describing for us the trials and tribulations of what was essentially one of the first overseas missionary attempts out of the Protestant Reformation.

6. Troy Manning, who is a language specialist for Bibles International, presented on "Literacy in Bible Times." He noted that, in spite of (1.) the low literacy rate in biblical times, (2.) the fact that literacy itself was never a biblical, "moral obligation", and (3.) the effectiveness of oral transmission, nonetheless writing Scripture down was a necessity for God's community, and that even today,what may be a primarily oral culture will still ultimately benefit from having written Scripture.

7. My fellow Petrine specialist Tim Miller (prof of New Testament at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary; Tim also has a doctorate in theology from Westminster) focused on the "milk of the word" phrase of 1 Peter 2:1-3. He defended the more traditional reading of the phrase as a reference to the Word of God (his primary scholarly foil in this paper was naturally Karen Jobes, who has published some significant material on the topic). Those interested should note that Tim will also be presenting this same paper at ETS in Rhode Island this year (wish I could be there!)

8. Joel Pinter spoke to us on the "Refutation of Saracens by M. Luther Then and Now," i.e. a discussion of Luther's polemic against Islam, based off of Luther's own discovery of a 200 year old book (which has "just recently become available to the English-speaking world") by Dominican monk Riccoldo Pennini (1200s). The modern English version of this book is translated by Londini Ensis.

9. Jon Pratt, professor of New Testament at Central Baptist Theological Seminary (Plymouth, Minnesota) presented on "The 'Israel of God' in Galatians 6:16," an exegetical paper that deals with whether or not the phrase refers to both Gentiles and Jews or only ethnic Jews. He concludes,

"In the end, the syntactical arguments point toward the Israel-as-ethnic-Jews position with the normal use of kai establishing a good foundation for this viewpoint and the use of the genitive providing solid evidence for a connection between Paul's usage of 'Israel' in Rom 9:6 and his use of 'Israel of God' in Gal 16:16, because the limiting function of the genitive requires a larger group (all ethnic Jews) from which the smaller group ('Israel of God') is distinguished. This leads to the strongest argument for the Israel-as-ethnic-Jews position: the consistent use of 'Israel' as referring to ethnic Jews throughout Paul's writings."

10. Mark Ward, who works for Logos/Faithlife, gave us a very practical and informative paper on "New Tools for Teaching Textual Criticism to Laypeople." He focused especially on: 1. "The Exploring Biblical Manuscripts" interactive feature of Logos software itself; 2. "The Lexham Textual Notes on the New Testament," and 3. his own ongoing project, "KJVParallelBible.org" (I might add, this latter one is a very helpful tool especially within Independent Baptist circles; it does not push an agenda, it merely points out all the areas where the King James differs from the standard critical Greek text). Ward also mentioned some helpful "introductory books" (I would especially like to highlight two from his list: David Alan Black, New Testament Textual Criticism: A Concise Guide and J. B. Williams and Randolph Shaylor, eds. God's Word in Our Hands: The Bible Preserved for Us). The reader should also note Mark's forthcoming book: Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible (Lexham Press). Mark's purpose is not to push one particular view of textual criticism, but simply to note how the difficulty of the KJV language (in this modern era) can lead to hermeneutical abuse.

11. Finally, my own paper, "A Canonical Anomaly: Why Did the Anabaptists Cite Wisdom of Solomon as Scripture" attempted to grapple with (and solve) a mystery that has bothered me since I took the excellent doctoral class "New Testament Canon" with Dr. L. Scott Kellum at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. That mystery is: why were the Anabaptists (part of the "Radical Reformation") quoting Wisdom of Solomon as Scripture when it seems that the Magisterial Reformation, although occasionally appreciative of the Apocrypha, were not granting it canonical status? In other words, how could the Anabaptists, generally speaking, have the same canon as the Roman Catholic Church even while radically different from them in theology?

For those thinking they might be interested in a doctorate . . .

The internet abounds in advice for prospective doctoral students in Biblical studies, and some books are bouncing around out there as well (see, for example, the fine work by Nijay Gupta, Prepare, Succeed, Advance). Nevertheless, a couple of conversations I've had with students lately have convinced me to add my own two cents to the mix (keep in mind, dear reader, every experience is different, and my perspective is necessarily colored by my educational background!).

Background--I am very fortunate and blessed. I'm not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, and Theological German totally humbled me, but nevertheless I graduated with a Ph.D. in New Testament at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary under scholar David Alan Black, had my dissertation published by Wipf&Stock, and today am teaching some bright young kids [can I call them that? Sounds weird, I'm only 34] at a Bible college.

Before we get started, please understand that a Ph.D. (at least in the States) is, minimum, a 3-year degree, but more likely a 4-5 year degree. I took 5 years for mine: 2-3 for the classwork, over half a year for comps and prospectus, and roughly 2 and a half for actually researching and writing my dissertation--I was slowed down a bit by deciding to re-write my prospectus, but that actually worked out for the better.

First of all, pray and seek the Lord's will--I happen to hold to the audacious idea that the Lord actually cares what we do with our life, and that he will lead and direct us. At the very least, we should avoid boasting "Tomorrow I will go to such-and-such a school, write a killer dissertation that rocks the scholarly world, and gain many accolades!" Such an attitude is simply asking for trouble (James 4:13-17). For myself, I began seriously praying about the Lord's will in a teaching career somewhere around my junior year in college. From there on out, the Lord providentially directed me down the right path, for which I am grateful.

Secondly, give heed to your grades. For most of us, our grades probably get better as we go along (studying the subjects we wish to study!). It should go without saying, however, that if you are only getting consistent B's in an MA or M.Div., you need to seriously buckle down and work harder. A "B" is frowned on in doctoral studies (though not unforgivable). At Southeastern, a "C"would result in a meeting, and a second "C" resulted in an automatic dismissal, as I recall. So if you're struggling with getting top-notch grades in either college or grad school (especially the latter), I have just one question for you: "If the footman tire you, what of the horseman?"

Thirdly, schools matter (but not as much as you might think): I went to a small independent Baptist college, then a very small (but accredited) independent Baptist seminary, and by the Lord's grace was able to study under some of the top New Testament scholars at one of the largest Protestant seminaries in America for a Ph.D. Now, I teach at a small independent Baptist Bible college that is not accredited; nevertheless, I work with some bright young souls who love Jesus and for whom a doctorate might open up special avenues of ministry. On the one hand, accreditation matters (I was asked point-blank about my school's accreditation when applying at Southeastern), yet nevertheless it is not the ultimate decision-maker. A good friend of mine is research assistant to a top NT scholar, yet only had TRACS accreditation [which is usually not too highly regarded], though he did have a Th.M. (which helped). One of my old profs did not have an accredited degree, but was accepted to Trinity's doctoral program on the second attempt after putting together a killer application which included, if I remember correctly, a state senator for a reference! (he defended successfully and has taught for 20+ years).

Having said that, to get into a top-tier school such as Duke or Princeton, you will need more than a degree from "Bubba Himes' Backyard Seminary and Garage Sale," no matter how good your referents! In some cases, you might have to be willing to take an extra MA from your target institution just to qualify. A lot of it will depend on denominational affiliation and contacts. Once again, if the Lord desires you to get a Ph.D., he will direct.

If you feel that your M.A. or M.Div. will not be adequate to get you into a good doctoral program (i.e., something other than "Bubba Himes' "Pay-me-by-credit-card-online-and-write-on-a-bunch-of-stuff then-print-out-your-degree" seminary), then consider pursuing a thesis-based Th.M. from a different school to increase the chances of being accepted. This will introduce you to higher-level research while significantly beefing up your application. A Th.M., from what I understand, will probably take 2 years though is doable in less (a year for classwork and a year for writing).

Fourthly, be well read. You should not be considering pursuing a Ph.D. in New Testament if you don't know anything about the Verbal Aspect Theory debate. If the Gospels are your passion, make sure you know who B. H. Streeter and J. Griesbach are. Don't expect to study theology at the highest level if you've never cracked open Karl Barth. As a side-note, you should be pouring in a lot of energy into the original languages (at least for Biblical studies majors)--my entrance exam for Southeastern involved sight-translating a passage in Greek and parsing every verb, with no helps at all.

Fifthly, study the schools, and be familiar with the major movers and shakers within each school. Before stepping foot on Southeastern, I had read material by Black, Robinson, and Andreas Kostenberger (and after I got there I was influenced by the other scholars). Do not even think about applying to Duke unless you know who Richard Hayes is (and have read some of his material). If you wish to study New Testament or Greek at Dallas, be thoroughly familiar with the work of both Daniel Wallace and Darrell Bock (among others). Know the strengths of each school--for many, Westminster Theological Seminary is the school of choice for apologetics. Trinity and Wheaton are probably well-balanced in all areas. I felt Southeastern had fantastic opportunities in New Testament (Greek, Biblical Theology, and Textual Criticism), which is why I applied there. If you wish to study Dispensational Theology, then Dallas is probably your best choice. You should also be considering European schools and their strengths (though with a somewhat different model of study--others, including my Doktorvater--blog about this, and they know more than I do)

However, with that in mind, please know that it's the scholar, not the school. At the doctoral level, you must decide who you wish to study under and why! For me, my targets were always either Dr. David Alan Black or Dr. Maurice Robinson. I was privileged to work under both of them: I had Dr. Black as my Doktorvater, and I worked as grader and occasional substitute teacher for Dr. Robinson. Nevertheless, ultimately I was applying to study under a person, first and foremost (though the sad irony is that I never actually got to take a class under Dr. Black, other than official mentorship; nevertheless, what I got was better than a class).

One more small point--have a solid financial plan! I didn't, and it hurt me in the long run (though--news flash!--the Lord always provides and keeps me from starving!)

For those with more questions, feel free to e-mail me, and I'll try to assist from my limited perspective. Hopefully, in the future I'll post on actually surviving the doctoral program itself.