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Biblical Studies

The Department of Biblical Studies is built on the understanding that the Bible is the story of the redemptive mission of God. Studies of the missio dei as expressed in the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the New Testament epistles provide the theological foundation for graduates preparing to be on mission in any area of service.

Remembering Billy Graham, the Modesto Manifesto 70 Years Later

As an aspiring scholar at Taylor Seminary (Canada) more than a decade ago, I vividly remember my enthusiasm in writing a biographical-paper assignment on Billy Graham—I greatly admired Billy, and it was an opportunity for me to know more about him. I ended up handing in 18 pages, instead of the required 8 pages! We will […]

“Divine Providence or Good Luck?: A Biblical Theology of Providence Compared with ‘Chance’ and ‘Good Luck’ in Greco-Roman and African Traditions.”

Dr. Matthew Michael presents a biblical theology of providence by exploring the theological tensions between divine determinism and the beliefs in ‘chance’ and ‘good luck’ in Greco-Roman and traditional African worldviews. It also situates the discourse in the template of biblical theology and other defining theological works. Finally, the paper explores the distinctive character of […]

The Multilingual Jesus and the Sociolinguistic World of the New Testament

Was Jesus multilingual? Which languages did he speak? What does the linguistic composition and sociolinguistic situation of first-century Palestine look like? On what occasions were Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin spoken in that ancient community? These questions have biblical scholars searching for answers since the sixteenth century, proposing different opinions on the issues related to […]

Pleasant places in the gospel according to St. John

Recently Dr. Fergus King published a journal article entitled, “Pleasant places in the gospel according to John: A classical motif as introit to theological awareness” in Pacifica: Australasian Theological Studies. This piece notes that the locus amoenus motif, common in both Graeco-Roman literature and art, may have provided a literary entry point through which non-Judaic readers might […]