Full-time Faculty

Full-time and regular faculty include full-time teaching faculty and administrators, and faculty and administrators with part-time teaching loads and other institutional responsibilities. All are involved in daily campus life. In the case of teaching faculty, they have completed the regular full interview process, or in some cases, may be a Dean’s appointment. The date that follows the name of each faculty member indicates the year that full-time teaching at Trinity began.

David K. Bryan, 2020
Director of TEDS Undergraduate Programs
Assistant Professor of New Testament [UG]
BA, James Madison University
MTh, Luther Seminary
MDiv, PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Dr. Bryan started his work at TEDS as an adjunct professor and then Masters Programs Coordinator. He served previously on a church planting team in Madrid, Spain, and currently serves as a pastor at Lakeview Presbyterian Church in Vernon Hills. He is the co-editor of Ascent Into Heaven in Luke-Acts (Fortress, 2016) and has published other works related to the Gospel of Luke. His research interests focus on the Gospel of Luke, the parables of Jesus, authority and politics in the ancient world, political theology, and the kingdom of God. He is currently revising his dissertation on Luke’s narration of the domain of Jesus’s authority for publication, and he is also working on a monograph on the art of hearing and preaching Jesus’s parables. He and his wife, Beth, have three children.

Steven M. Bryan, 2016
Professor of New Testament
BSc, Oklahoma State University
MDiv, ThM, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
PhD, Cambridge University

Before coming to TEDS in the fall of 2016, Dr. Bryan served as a missionary in Ethiopia for more than 23 years. He served as the first Dean of Studies of the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology for 6 years and taught for many years at the Evangelical Theological College in Addis Ababa.  From 2009-2015, he was the Director of SIM Ethiopia, leading the work of 150 missionaries from Europe, Australasia, Africa, and North America, as well as 400 Ethiopian ministry and support staff, in a wide variety of church planting, disciple-making, leadership development and compassion ministries. Dr. Bryan was selected as part of the Ethiopian delegation to the 2010 Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town, South Africa. He completed his PhD in New Testament at Cambridge University, and his PhD thesis – Jesus and Israel’s Traditions of Judgement and Restoration - was subsequently published by Cambridge University Press. In addition, he has published a number of articles and reviews in a variety of journals and publications.  His research interests focus on Jesus and the gospels, mission, and Second Temple Judaism. He is married to Dawn, a graduate of Trinity College and they have three adult sons.  Steve enjoys reading about culture, politics, and history and coaching his sons’ basketball teams.

John A. Carter, 2023
Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology
BA, North Central University
MA, US Naval Ware College
MDiv, Westminster Seminary California
ThM, Duke University
DMin, Covenant Theological Seminary

A retired Commander in the US Navy Chaplain Corps, Dr. Carter ministered for over 20 years in various settings from Europe, to the Middle East, and Japan, holding various ministry positions of increasing responsibility. Prior to coming to TEDS, he served as the Base Chaplain at the largest training installation in the Navy. Previously, he was the Officer in Charge of the Navy and Marine Corps activity at Arlington National Cemetery, our nation's most sacred shrine to military service. An ordained minister of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, he serves on his denomination’s Committee for Chaplains and Military Personnel and on the board of the International Association of Evangelical Chaplains. His dissertation focused on the impact of religious pluralism on the delivery of ministry in the military. He was involved in church planting in Hawaii and has pastored chapels in the Far East, Washington State, and Illinois. He's been married to Linda for more than 30 years, and they have four children.

Peter T. Cha, 1997
Professor of Church, Culture, and Society
BA, University of Chicago
MDiv, ThM, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
PhD, Northwestern University

Prior to joining the Trinity faculty, Dr. Cha was involved in a number of different ministries, including you and young adult ministry in Korean immigrant churches, campus ministry with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, church planting, and pastoring a multiethnic congregation. He also served as a board member of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, USA and of the Louisville Institute. Dr. Cha is a coauthor of Following Jesus without Dishonoring Your Parents: Asian American Discipleship (IVP, 1998) and Growing Healthy Asian American Churches (IVP, 2006). He also contributed chapters to This Side of Heaven: Race, Ethnicity, and Christian Faith (Oxford University Press, 2006), Honoring the Generations: Learning with Asian North American Congregations (Judson Press, 2012), Teaching for a Culturally Diverse and Racially Just World (Wipf and Stock, 2014), Christian Higher Education: Faith, Teaching, Learning in the Evangelical Tradition (Crossway, 2018), and Emerging Adults: Formation for Mission (Lexham Press, 2022).

Deborah A. Colwill, 2013
Chair of the Educational Ministries Department
Professor of Educational and Leadership Studies
BA, University of Minnesota
MDiv, PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
PhD, Benedictine University College of Business

Prior to coming to TEDS, Dr. Colwill served as Associate Professor of Leadership and Director of Institution Research and Evaluation at Asbury Theological Seminary (ATS) in Wilmore, Kentucky.  Dr. Colwill is author of the books Educating the Scholar-Practitioner in Organization Development (2012) and Conflict, Power and Organizational Change (2022) as well as numerous, articles, chapters, and peer reviewed conference papers. In addition to her teaching roles, Dr. Colwill has worked in a variety of leadership and consulting positions within both profit and non-profit organizations.

Fellipe do Vale, 2021
Chair of the Biblical and Systematic Theology Department
Assistant Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology
BA, Calvin College
MAs, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
PhD, Southern Methodist University

Dr. do Vale is Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology. He has an enduring interest in utilizing the tools of theology to investigate those categories of identity that make being human so remarkably complex, like gender, race, disability, politics and the like. His research is driven by the conviction that the recognizable tools of theology, accountable as they are to the gospel, are suitable to address these complexities of being human in a distinctly Christian way. His first book, released from Baker Academic in November 2023, is entitled Gender as Love: A Theological Account of Human Identity, Embodied Desire, and Our Social Worlds, and it provides a theological answer to the question "What is gender?" He has published articles in the International Journal of Systematic Theology (where he won the Colin Gunton Prize), Philosophia Christi, The Irish Theological Quarterly, TheoLogica, and The Journal of Reformed Theology among others. He has presented his research nationally and internationally, including Rome and Helsinki. Dr. do Vale was born in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

David M. Gustafson, 2012
Chair of the Mission and Evangelism Department
Professor of Evangelism and Missional Ministry
BB, Western Illinois University
MDiv, ThM, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
DMin, Fuller Theological Seminary
PhD, Linköping University

Dr. Gustafson served twenty-five years in ministry, first as campus director with Cru at Fresno State University in California, and then as pastor in two Evangelical Free churches in the Great Lakes District. Prior to Trinity, he taught courses in Christianity at the University of Houston and courses in practical ministries at Houston Graduate School of Theology.  Dr. Gustafson’s areas of expertise include evangelism, Evangelical Free Church history, and missional praxis. He is book review editor of Witness: Journal of the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education. He is an ordained minister of the Evangelical Free Church of America and serves on its Board of Ministerial Standing. He is an affiliate docent at Johannelund School of Theology in Uppsala, Sweden, and a contributing author in evangelism to the International Alliance for Christian Education.  He and his wife, Sharon, have four children, and he enjoys bicycling, backpacking, and cooking stir-fry. He is author of Gospel Witness: Evangelism in Word and Deed (Eerdmans, 2019)  and Gospel Witness through the Ages: A History of Evangelism (Eerdmans, 2022).

Donald C. Guthrie, 2012
Director, PhD Program in Educational Studies
Professor of Educational Ministries
The Jeanette L. Hsieh Chair of Educational Leadership
BA, Grove City College
MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
MA, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
EdD, University of Georgia

Prior to joining the TEDS faculty, Dr. Guthrie served as a faculty member and the academic dean at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO. Previously, he served as a campus minister and senior administrator with the Coalition for Christian Outreach in Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to his teaching and administrative roles at Trinity, Dr. Guthrie also serves as Executive Director of the Center for Transformational Churches. He has authored several journal articles focusing on teaching and learning. He is a co-author of Resilient Ministry: What Pastors Told Us About Surviving and Thriving; The Politics of Ministry: Navigating Power Dynamics and Negotiating Interests; and Pastoral Wellbeing, as well as a contributor to Christian Higher Education: Faith, Teaching, Learning in the Evangelical Tradition. Dr. Guthrie serves on the board of Covenant Theological Seminary, the Society of Professors in Christian Ministry, and on the editorial board of Christian Higher Education. Dr. Guthrie is a frequent teacher at conferences and retreats, often addressing whole life discipleship, intergenerational ministry, leadership, and adult learning. Donald and Mary have two adult children and one wonderful daughter-in-law.

Dana M. Harris, 2006
Chair of the New Testament Department
Professor of New Testament
BA, Stanford University
MA, PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Dr. Harris taught as an adjunct at TEDS from 2001 to 2006. Her dissertation topic was The Eternal Inheritance in Hebrews: The Appropriation of the Old Testament Inheritance Theme by the Author of Hebrews. She is currently writing the volume on Hebrews for the Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament (Broadman & Holman). She recently wrote the article on “Priest,” in the NIV Study Bible. Her research interests include Hebrews, Revelation, Greek syntax, linguistics, hermeneutics, Second Temple Literature (particularly apocalyptic literature), and archaeology. In July 2010, Dr. Harris became the editor of the Trinity Journal. Dr. Harris has taught extensively at retreats, conferences, and adult Sunday school classes. She also teaches Bible and theology classes in various overseas contexts. Prior to coming to Trinity, Dr. Harris was the managing editor of the Hoover Digest, a quarterly academic journal covering public policy, economics, and foreign affairs, published by the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. For the first five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, she coordinated a program, funded by the Pew Charitable Trust that brought young diplomats from former Soviet-satellite countries to Stanford for four-month study programs. As an undergraduate, she double-majored in International Relations and French Studies. Prior to coming to Trinity, she was also extensively involved in ministry.

Joshua Jipp, 2012
Professor of New Testament
Executive Director, The Henry Center for Theological Understanding
BA, Northwestern College
MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
ThM, Duke Divinity School
PhD, Emory University

Dr. Jipp came to TEDS in the spring of 2012.  Prior to teaching at Trinity, he has lectured on the New Testament in a variety of settings, including Northwestern College, the Interdenominational Theological Center (Atlanta, GA), as a part of the Emory Theology Certificate program for incarcerated women in Atlanta, GA, and as a teaching fellow at TEDS. Dr. Jipp received the 2013 Paul J. Achtemeier Award through the Society of Biblical Literature for his paper, “Christ the King as Living Law: Paul’s ‘The Law of Christ’ and Ancient Kingship Discourse.”  His dissertation, Divine Visitations and Hospitality to Strangers in Luke-Acts: An Interpretation of the Malta Episode in Acts 28:1-10 was recently published (Leiden: Brill, 2013), as was Christ is the King: Kingship Ideology in the Letters of Paul (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2015), He will soon be contributing a commentary on the book of Acts in the Two Horizons Commentary series.  Dr. Jipp has also published articles in reputed journals, like Journal of Biblical Literature, New Testament Studies, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, and The Journal for the Study of the New Testament.  He is married to Amber, who also graduated from TEDS, and they have two children.  Dr. Jipp enjoys reading, traveling, and is an avid fan of the Iowa State Cyclones and the Minnesota Twins.

Patrick J. Jones, 2022
Director of Supervised Ministries
BA, Toccoa Falls College
MDiv, Columbia International University
ThM, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Prior to joining Trinity in the summer of 2022, Rev. Jones served for over ten years in ministry. From the country roads of West Virginia to the bustling metropolis of Bangkok, he has provided leadership and care in a variety of ministry contexts. He has been an adjunct professor for TEDS and Toccoa Falls College. Patrick and his wife, Susan, have two children. He enjoys board games, sci-fi, and FSU football.

Jonathan Kim, 2021
Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology
Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program
BTh, Tyndale College
MDiv, Tyndale College
MLE, Trinity Western University
PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Dr. Kim’s areas of study include theology, linguistics, and education. He previously served with Wycliffe Bible Translators for 20 years, where he equipped local church leaders and empowered other missionaries. During his time at Wycliffe, the Bible books Jonah and Ruth were published in a minority language he worked with. Mark and Genesis were published subsequently after his departure. He taught courses such as Language and Culture Acquisition, Sociolinguistics, Developing Intercultural Competency, Adult Education, Multicultural Leadership, and Cultural Anthropology in Canada and West Africa. He speaks five languages. Dr. Kim has served as a pastor and is passionate about utilizing his position to cater TEDS’ resources directly to churches worldwide, mission agencies, and non-governmental organizations. He enjoys hiking and walking with his wife, spending quality time with their three adult children, and reading in coffee shops while listening to jazz.

Michelle Knight, 2018
Associate Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages
BA, Lincoln Christian University
MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
PhD, Wheaton College

In 2018, Dr. Knight completed her dissertation on the narrative function of the Song of Deborah and Barak in the book of Judges, before joining the faculty later that year. While working toward her PhD, she taught Hebrew language and Old Testament courses as a Guest Professor at Wheaton College and an Adjunct Professor at TEDS. She is an active member of the Institute for Biblical Research, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the Evangelical Theological Society, where she serves as the Program Unit Chair for the Old Testament Theology section. She is currently writing a textbook on the historical books (Baker), a commentary on Joshua (Cascade) and a commentary on Judges (Baker). Her research interests include narrative criticism, theology of the Old Testament, the early historical books, and poetry in biblical narrative. Dr. Knight and her husband, Kenyon, have a son, Oliver. In her spare time, she enjoys serving as a deacon in her church, reading with her son, and seeing movies.

Kimberley Kroll, 2023
Assistant Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology
BA, Queens College
MDiv, Grace Theological Seminary
MA, Biola University
PhD, University of St. Andrews, Scotland

Dr. Kroll is Assistant Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at TEDS. Upon the completion of her PhD (2020) and her joining TEDS (2023), Dr. Kroll taught philosophy at Grand Canyon University (2021-2023) and literature at The Stony Brook School (2020-2021).  Dr. Kroll’s primary area of research is pneumatology with a focus on (1) the metaphysics of the indwelling relation between the human creature and the Spirit of God and (2) the epistemology of discernment given the relation of the Spirit of God to the redeemed creature. She has published journal articles and contributed to edited volumes specializing in conversations across disciplines and constructive dogmatics (See her chapter, co-authored with Joanna Leidenhag, ‘On the revelation of the Holy Spirit and the problem of thirdness’, in The Third Person of the Trinity: Explorations in Constructive Dogmatics (2020), and the forthcoming chapter, ‘Necessary Ambiguity: The Pneumatic Gestalt Experience of Indwelt Human Creatures’, in Analytic Essays in Pentecostal and Charismatic Theology, as examples). If she is not teaching, reading, or writing, you can find her on some sort of outdoor adventure with her favorite girl—pup Numa.      

Mimi L. Larson, 2021
Assistant Professor of Educational Studies
Executive Director, Center for Faith and Children
BA, Wheaton College
MA, Wheaton Graduate School
MA, Covenant Theological Seminary
PhD, Concordia University Chicago

Prior to joining the TEDS Faculty, Dr. Larson served for over 25 years in practical church ministry and was Visiting Assistant Professor of Christian Formation & Ministry and Wheaton College. Her research is in the area of children's faith formation with a particular interest in how faith is formed in early childhood. She has received several grants for her work, including the most recent Nurturing Children Through Worship and Pray Initiative from Lilly Endowment which has enabled her to establish the Center for Faith and Children here at TEDS.  Dr. Larson serves on the board for the Society of Children's Spirituality: Christian Perspectives and her latest book is Bridging Theory and Practice in Children's Spirituality: New Directions for Education, Ministry and Discipleship (edited with Robert Keeley, Zondervan, 2020). Dr. Larson regularly consults with churches regarding their ministry with children and families and has developed curriculum for children's ministry in the local church. 

Te-Li Lau, 2008
Associate Professor of New Testament
BS, MS, Stanford University
MDiv, ThM, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
PhD, Emory University

Dr. Lau grew up in Singapore, before it became the place known for Crazy Rich Asians. As part of his national service, he served as a Singaporean infantry platoon commander for two and a half years. He also studied electrical engineering at Stanford University and worked as a computer engineer in Silicon Valley for ten years, obtaining several patents in the field of computer architecture. In 1998, he sensed God’s call to ministry. After completing his theological studies at TEDS and Emory University, he joined the faculty at TEDS in 2008. His publications include Defending Shame: Its Formative Power in Paul’s Letters (Baker, 2020), The Politics of Peace: Ephesians, Dio Chrysostom, and the Confucian Four Books (Brill, 2010), the introduction and notes for Ephesians in the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible (2015), and several other essays and articles. His current research interests include the relationship between emotions and moral formation, and the comparative analysis of New Testament and Confucian texts.

Dennis R. Magary, 1979
Chair of the Old Testament and Semitic Languages Department
Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages
BA, Fort Wayne Bible College
MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
MA, PhD, University of Wisconsin

Dr. Magary joined the full-time TEDS faculty in 1984.  Dr. Magary has also taught at Trinity College (Bannockburn), the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Institute of Christian Studies (Madison, WI) and Bethel College (Indiana).  He has taught as adjunct professor at the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology (Kingston, Jamaica), Visiting Instructor at Torch Trinity Graduate School of Theology (Seoul, Korea), and professor of Old Testament for Timothy Training International (Hong Kong).  In addition to teaching at Trinity, he also serves as a lecturer with the U.S. Center for World Missions and has taught in China and Eastern Europe.  Dr. Magary’s publications include chapters contributed to Seeking Out the Wisdom of the Ancients (which he also co-edited), Preaching the Old Testament (Baker), and most recently co-edited Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith? A Critical Appraisal of Modern and Post-Modern Approaches to Scripture (Crossway).  He has contributed articles to the New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis and to Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. He served as a translation consultant and contributor of notes to both the ESV Study Bible and Quest Study Bible.  He served as a theological advisor and content collaborator for the Jeremiah Study Bible.  He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Biblical Literature.  Dr. Magary is a licensed minister in the Missionary Church. Dennis and his wife, Pamela, reside in Vernon Hills, Illinois.  They have three married children and seven grandchildren.

Scott M. Manetsch, 2000
Chair of the Church History and the History of Christian Thought Department
Professor of Church History
BA, Michigan State University
MDiv, MA, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
PhD, University of Arizona

Dr. Manetsch joined Trinity’s faculty in 2000 after serving three years as Assistant Professor of Religion at Northwestern College (Iowa). During graduate school, he was awarded a Fulbright fellowship and spent two years doing archival research on French Reformation history at the University of Geneva. He is the author of Theodore Beza and the Quest for Peace in France, 1572-1598 (Brill, 2000), Calvin’s Company of Pastors. Pastoral Care and the Emerging Reformed Church,
1536-1609 (Oxford, 2013), and co-editor of three books, including The Great Commission: Evangelicals and the History of World Missions (Broadman & Holman, 2008), and Theodore Beza at 500: New Perspectives on an Old Reformer (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2021). His articles have appeared in such journals as the Bibliothéque d’humanisme et renaissance, Calvin Theological Journal, Church History, Themelios, Trinity Journal, and Westminster Theological Journal. Dr. Manetsch is the associate general editor of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture series (InterVarsity Press) in which he has published the volumes on 1 & 2 Corinthians.  He is a member of the Calvin Studies Society, the Evangelical Theological Society, the Sixteenth-Century Studies Society, and the American Society of Church History. Dr. Manetsch is an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America.

John M. Monson, 2008
Associate Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages
BA, Wheaton College
MA, Institute of Holy Land Studies
MA, PhD, Harvard University

Dr. Monson was born to missionary parents in Zaire but spent most of his youth in Jerusalem, Israel, where he developed an interest in biblical studies, archaeology, and historical geography. Prior to coming to Trinity, he taught for eleven years at Wheaton College, where he received the Faculty Achievement Award in Teaching. His archeological fieldwork has taken him to Syria, Lebanon, and numerous excavations in Israel. His most recent publications include Dothan I: Remains from the Tell (1953-1964) (Eisenbrauns), 1 Kings in the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (2016), and The Temple of Solomon (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).

Harold A. Netland, 1993
Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Intercultural Studies
BA, Biola College
MA, PhD, Claremont Graduate University

Prior to coming to Trinity, Dr. Netland was a missionary educator for nine years in Japan with the Evangelical Free Church of America. Dr. Netland was involved in ministries among university students, church planting, and teaching at Tokyo Christian University. Dr. Netland’s areas of expertise include religious pluralism, epistemology of religion, and missions in East Asia. Dr. Netland’s published works include Encountering Religious Pluralism: The Challenge to Christian Faith and Mission; Christianity and Religious Diversity; and Religious Experience and the Knowledge of God: The Evidential Force of Divine Encounters.  He coauthored with Gerald R. McDermott, A Trinitarian Theology of Religions; coauthored with Keith Yandell, Buddhism: A Christian Exploration and Appraisal; and coedited with Craig Ott, Globalizing Theology: Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity.

Craig Ott, 2002
Professor of Mission and Intercultural Studies
BA, California State University, Long Beach
MDiv, PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Dr. Ott was a missionary with ReachGlobal (EFCA) to Germany for twenty-one years. He served as academic dean and faculty member at the Akademie für Weltmission (Korntal, Germany), and planted several churches in both the United States and Germany. Areas of expertise include theology of mission, contextualization, church planting, and teaching across cultures. From 2015 to 2022 he was director of the PhD program in intercultural studies at TEDS. He has published numerous award winning books and academic articles, including most recently Teaching and Learning across Cultures and The Church on Mission: A Biblical Vision for Transformation among all People. He has taught or consulted mission movements and national organizations in over forty countries and is a member of the Evangelical Missiological Society, American Society of Missiology, and the Midwest Mission Studies Fellowship.

David W. Pao, 1998
Dean of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Professor of New Testament
BA, Wheaton College
MA, Wheaton Graduate School
MTS, MA, PhD, Harvard University

Prior to joining the faculty at Trinity, Dr. Pao taught and preached at the Chinese Christian Church of Rhode Island while completing his doctoral work at Harvard, where he majored in Greco-Roman World/Early Christianity. He has taught as a visiting professor in several institutions in Hong Kong, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. His publications include Acts and the Isaianic New Exodus (2000), Thanksgiving: An Investigation of a Pauline Theme (2002), Early Christian Voices: In Texts, Traditions, and Symbols (coeditor, 2003), Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, 2 vols. (2008, 2009), After Imperialism: Christian Identity in China and the Global Evangelical Movement (coeditor, 2011), Commentary on Colossians and Philemon (2012), and 1–2 Timothy, Titus (2024). He has also contributed to a number of collections of essays and reference works, including The Expositor's Bible Commentary (vol. 10; 2007), Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (2007), The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary (2012), and The Cambridge Companion to the Book of Isaiah (2024). He is currently serving as the New Testament editor of the Tien Dao Bible Commentary series and the consulting editor of the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary series.

Manuel R. Rauchholz, 2018
Director of the Doctor of Philosophy (Intercultural Studies) Program
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Intercultural Studies
University of Tübingen
ThM, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Dr. Phil., Heidelberg University

Dr. Manuel Rauchholz earned the PhD. from Heidelberg University in cultural anthropology, and the Th.M. in missions and evangelism from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He completed university studies at Heidelberg University and theological studies at Krelingen in Germany. Dr. Rauchholz’s research and publications have been primarily in applied anthropology on ethical topics such as human trafficking, sexual exploitation, adoption practices, human rights and economic development. In 2011, he received the prestigious Frobenius Research Award for his dissertation, titled: "Towards an Understanding of Adoption, Person and Emotion: The Ideal Norm and Reality of Life amongst the Chuukese of Micronesia.” Since 2016, Dr. Rauchholz has established and managed the Faichuk Educational Development and Research Project in Chuuk State. This is an interdisciplinary educational and research project focused on education and community development, based on a grant of $1.3 million from the Chuuk State Department of Education and the US Department of the Interior. Dr. Rauchholz’s academic teaching experience is extensive including three years as researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Anthropology, Heidelberg University where he also mentored masters’ theses and research projects. He has taught as adjunct professor at numerous institutions teaching Social Science Research Methods at Internationale Hochschule Liebenzell in Germany, Anthropology and Missions at Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary in Seoul, and Anthropology at the University of Guam. 

Eric Rivera, 2022
Chair of the Pastoral Theology Department
Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology
BA, Moody Bible Institute
MDiv, PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Dr. Rivera has been a Pastor since 2008 and is currently the Lead Pastor at The Brook, a multiethnic church in Chicago that he and his team planted with the EFCA in 2013. Dr. Rivera is passionate for mobilizing the church to be on mission in an urban context. He earned his PhD in Historical Theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity and is the author of Christ is Yours (Lexham, 2019) and Unexpected Jesus: How the Resurrected Christ finds us, meets, and heals us (Lexham Press, 2022). He contributed the chapter, “Planting a New Church,” in the One Volume Seminary (Moody Publishers, 2022) and, “Building up your Spouse,” with his wife Erikah in The Story of Us: A Couples Devotional (FamilyLife, 2019). In addition to these, he has written, “The First Mexican Protestant Loved the Bible” for Christianity Today (February 2019), “The Legacy of Scripture in the Latino(a) Protestant Church in America,” for Church Leaders (September, 2021) and “Stay in Chicago” for Legacy Disciple (September 2018). He married his best friend Erikah in 2003 and together they serve the local church and speak for FamilyLife’s Weekend to Remember marriage getaways. They are parents to three amazing kids.  

Julie West Russo, 2011
Program Director for the Mental Health Counseling and Chaplaincy and Ministry Care Programs
Clinical Coordinator
Assistant Professor of Counseling
BA, Northwestern University
MA, Trinity International University
EdD, Argosy University

Dr. Russo is a licensed professional counselor, providing individual and family counseling services, with particular expertise in the treatment of addictions. She is a member of the American Counseling Association, the Illinois Counseling Association, the Association of Counselor Educators and Supervisors, and the Christian Association for Psychological Studies.

Luis San Roman, 2022
Chair of the Counseling Department
Assistant Professor of Counseling
AA, William Rainey Harper College
BA, Northeaster Illinois University
MAs, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
EdD, Governors State University

Luis is a licensed clinical professional counselor in Illinois. Luis offers bilingual counseling at White Stone Counseling Resources, a Christian counseling ministry that serves local churches in Chicago’s northern and northwest regions.  Luis considers counseling the key component in understanding the underlying issues surrounding our emotional well-being. His faith informs his practice, and he believes spirituality can be vital to the therapeutic process when a client is open to the concept. Luis specializes in working with couples struggling in their relationship. His research interests include Marriage and Family, Latino Mental Health, and Church Leadership. 

John Simons, 2019
Associate Dean
Director of the MDiv Program
Assistant Professor of Church History [UG]
BA, JD, University of Florida
MA, Reformed Theological Seminary
PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

In his previous career, Dr. Simons practiced law in Atlanta, Georgia, and Ocala Florida for more than ten years. His legal practice included  commercial litigation, business law, health care law, and real estate law. In Fall of 2010, he stepped down from his legal practice to pursue advanced theological education. His research explores the intersection of church history, theology, and legal history. His dissertation focuses on the relationship between puritan theology and the work of the magistrates who governed the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven in the second half of the Seventeenth Century. He has taught in a variety of contexts at the undergraduate and graduate level. John and his wife, Lynn, have three adult children. John enjoys woodworking and cycling. He is an avid fan of University of Florida athletics.

Michael Sleasman, 2019 
Director of Bioethics Programs
Associate Professor of Bioethics
BA, Malone College
MDiv, PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Prior to joining the Trinity faculty full-time, Dr. Sleasman was the managing director and research scholar at The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity for 12 years where he oversaw the center's research agenda and online resource development. He also served as an affiliate professor, adjunct instructor, and online course tutor at the college and graduate level in the areas of philosophy, theology, ethics, and cultural engagement. His research focuses on the theological engagement of bioethical issues with emphasis on biotechnologies, other emerging technologies, and human futures, as well as the intersection of technology, ethics, and culture in general. He co-edited Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends with Kevin J. Vanhoozer and Charles A. Anderson (Baker Academic). He has authored and co-authored a number of essays, book chapters, and articles in the areas of theology, emerging technology, and bioethics. Dr. Sleasman is the editor of Ethics & Medicine: An International Journal of Bioethics and and a consulting editor for the Journal of the Christian Institute on Disability. He has been interviewed on a range of bioethical issues by print and radio media, and has delivered workshops, lectures, and presentations for churches, universities, and at several professional societies.

Tite Tiénou, 1997
Research Professor, Theology of Mission
The Tite Tiénou Chair of Global Theology and World Christianity
Dean Emeritus
BS, Nyack College
Maîtrise en Théologie, Faculté Libre de Théologie Evangélique, Vaux sur Seine, France
MA, PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary

Dr. Tiénou has served as pastor of the Central Church of the Église de l’Alliance Chrétienne in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. He is the founding director of Maranatha Institute in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso as well as the founding president and dean of Faculté de Théologie Evangélique de l’Alliance Chrétienne in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. He has taught at the Alliance Theological Seminary in Nyack, New York. He is an active participant in numerous conferences and special lectureships.

Dr. Tiénou is the author of Tâche théologique de l’Église en Afrique (1980), The Theological Task of the Church in Africa (1982, Second edition 1990), Revisiter la théologie en Afrique contemporaine (2018), Understanding Folk Religion: A Christian Response to Popular Religious Beliefs and Practices, co-authored with Paul Hiebert and R. Daniel Shaw (1999) and co-editor of Majority World Theologies: Theologizing from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the ends of the Earth, with Allen Yeh (2018), and Issues in African Christian Theology, with Samuel Ngewa and Mark Shaw (1998) and has published more than sixty articles, book reviews and books chapters.

Eric J. Tully, 2012
Director of the PhD (Theological Studies) Program
Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages
BA, Moody Bible Institute
MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
MA, PhD, University of Wisconsin

Prior to coming to Trinity, Dr. Tully taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Nashotah House Theological Seminary. He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Biblical Literature. His research interests include the prophetic literature, Hebrew linguistics, and textual criticism. He is the author of The Translation and Translator of the Peshitta of Hosea (Brill, 2015), Old Testament Textual Criticism: A Practical Introduction (with Ellis Brotzman, Baker Academic, 2016), Hosea: A Handbook on the Hebrew Text (Baylor, 2018), and Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture (Baker Academic, 2022). He is currently working on a commentary on the book of Ezekiel.

Kevin J. Vanhoozer, 1986-90, 1998-2009, 2012
Research Professor of Systematic Theology
BA, Westmont College
MDiv, Westminster Theological Seminary
PhD, Cambridge University, England

In addition to teaching at TEDS, Dr. Vanhoozer was appointed Blanchard Professor of Theology at Wheaton College and Graduate School (2008-11) and Senior Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Edinburgh (1990-98), where he also served on Doctrine committee of the Church of Scotland. He is theological mentor to the Augustine Fellowship of the Center for Pastor Theologians, Senior Fellow for Systematic Theology of the C. S. Lewis Institute, and Senior Fellow of Newton House, Oxford. He is the author of Is There a Meaning in this Text? the Bible, the Reader, and the Morality of Literary Knowledge (Zondervan, 1998), The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology (Westminster John Knox, 2005), Remythologizing Theology: Divine Action, Passion and Authorship (Cambridge University Press, 2010), Faith Speaking Understanding: Performing the Drama of Doctrine (Westminster John Knox, 2014), Biblical Authority after Babel: Retrieving the Solas in the Spirit of Mere Protestant Christianity (Brazos, 2016) and, most recently, Mere Christian Hermeneutics: Transfiguring What it Means to Read the Bible Theologically (Zondervan, 2024). He has edited several books, including The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology (Cambridge University Press, 2003), Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible (Baker, 2005), and a collection of essays by Trinity students entitled Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Influence Trends (Baker, 2005). He is presently at work on a three-volume systematic theology. He met his wife Sylvie while serving as a missionary in France, and together they have two adult daughters.

John D. Woodbridge, 1970
Research Professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought
BA, Wheaton College
MA, Michigan State University
MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Doctorat de Troisième Cycle, Université de Toulouse, France

Dr. Woodbridge was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and has done post-graduate study with fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities [2] and the American Council of Learned Studies.  Dr. Woodbridge has taught history at the University of Toulouse, Northwestern University and Hautes Etudes, Sorbonne, Paris.  He is the author of Revolt in Prerevolutionary France (Johns Hopkins) and Biblical Authority Infallibility and Inerrancy in the Christian Tradition (Zondervan).  He is the co-author with Timothy George, The Mark of Jesus (Moody), co-author with Frank James, The Zondervan History of the Christian Church Volume Two (Zondervan),  co-author with Maurice Possley, Hitler in the Crosshairs A GI’s Story of Courage and Faith (Zondervan), co-author with Collin Hansen, A God-Sized Vision Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir (Zondervan), co-author with D. A. Carson, Letters along the Way (Crossway) and co-author with Mark Noll and Nathan Hatch, The Gospel in America (Zondervan). 

He is editor of Great Leaders of the Christian Church (Moody Press; Gold Medal Award), Ambassadors for Christ (Moody; Gold Medal Award), More Than Conquerors:  Portraits of Believers from All Walks of Life (Moody Press; Gold Medal Award).  He is co-editor with Thomas McComiskey, Doing Theology in Today’s World:  Essays in Honor of Kenneth S. Kantzer (Zondervan),  co-editor with D. A. Carson, God and Culture:  Essays in Honor of Carl F. H. Henry (Eerdmans); co-editor with Jacques LeBrun, Richard Simon, Additions aux Recherhes curieuses sur la diversité des langues et religion (Press Universitaires de France); co-editor with Henning Graf Reventlow and Walter Sparn, Historische Kritik and biblischer Kanon in der deutschen Aufklärung (Otto Harrasowitz), co-editor with D. A. Carson, Hermeneutics, Authority and Canon (Zondervan), co-editor with D. A. Carson, Scripture and Truth (Zondervan) and co-editor with John N. Akers and John H. Armstrong, This We Believe: The Good News of Jesus Christ for the World (Zondervan). Dr. Woodbridge has also served as a senior editor for Christianity Today.  He enjoys composing music for relaxation.