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Midwestern Seminary faculty, students to present papers during ETS meeting

Posted October 15, 2020 by T. Patrick Hudson

KANSAS CITY, Mo., (MBTS) – Midwestern Seminary will be represented by 39 faculty members, current Ph.D. students, and recent graduates as they present scholarly papers at the 72nd annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, which will be held virtually in light of COVID-19, on Nov. 16-20. The theme of this year’s meeting is “Christianity and Islam.”

“In serving the local church, one of Midwestern Seminary’s primary goals is to produce future generations of pastors, missionaries, and ministry leaders who are intellectually capable of leading their churches and ministries headstrong into our lost and increasingly godless culture. As such, high-level scholarship is amongst our chief training goals, and an excellent place for this to be showcased is the ETS annual meeting,” said President Jason Allen. “At ETS, our faculty and many of our brightest Ph.D. students are afforded the opportunity to exhibit this top-notch scholarship, interacting with the most significant issues affecting today’s theological landscape.

Allen added that he is extremely pleased with the strong number of representatives Midwestern Seminary has presenting papers and serving in other capacities at this year’s meeting. This continues to grow each year, he said, and “it speaks volumes to the quality of our faculty and of our Ph.D. program.”

Midwestern Seminary Provost Jason Duesing added, “I am grateful to see our faculty and Ph.D. students persevere this year by continuing to present their papers amid adjusted circumstances. This is a credit to their diligence but also to their desire to continue contributing to scholarly engagement among evangelicals.”

The Presentations

Midwestern Seminary professors and students taking part in the meeting and their topics are as follows:

Jason K. Allen (president; professor of preaching and pastoral ministry): “We Preach Christ: A Proposal in the Human v. Divine Author Enigma in Hermeneutics & Homiletics.”

Jason B. Alligood (Ph.D. student): “Restoration Plus: 1 Corinthians 6.9-11 and Revelation 21.27 in the Biblical Storyline.”

Stephen J. Andrews (senior professor of Hebrew and Old Testament): “It’s Nuzi Again! HSS 5 67, Hagar, Bilhah, and Zilpah.”

Jordan Atkinson (Ph.D. student): “The Old Testament Prophetic Hermeneutic of 1 Peter 1:10-12.”

Matthew Barrett (associate professor of Christian theology): “Reforming the Trinity? The Biblical and Dogmatic Incompatibility Between Social and Nicene Trinitarianism.”

John R. Blackmon (Ph.D. student): “Further than the Wittenberg Door: The Protestant Reformation and the Celebration of Marriage.”

Alan Branch (professor of Christian ethics): “Can Christians Use Medical Marijuana?” and “The Sanctity of Human Life and the American Society of Human Genetics’ Ethical Stance on Germline Therapy.”

Jared Bumpers (director of student life & events; assistant professor of preaching and ministry): “‘John the Baptist:’ The Denominational Convictions and Evangelical Influence of John Albert Broadus.”

Todd R. Chipman (assistant dean of graduate studies; assistant professor of biblical studies): “Why Did God Make Moses Feel Like a Failure? Linguistics and LXX Narrative.”

Donnie DeBord (Ph.D. student): “Resurrection on the Third Day and the Question of Premodern Hermeneutics.”

Jason Edwin Dees (adjunct faculty): “Ardent Support of Missions: Samuel Pearce’s Impact on the Baptist Missionary Society.”

Thomas S. Kidd (distinguished visiting professor of church history): “American Christians and Islam: From the Colonial Era to the Post-9/11 World.”

Jenny-Lyn de Klerk (Ph.D. student): “‘Exercise Universal Love to Every Member of Christ’: Lucy Hutchinson On Loving All Believers.” and Respondent to “American Christianity – The Mayflower at 400: Reflections on the Puritans and their Place in American Religion.”

Jason S. DeRouchie (research professor of Old Testament and biblical studies): “The Hermeneutical Significance of the Shape of the Christian Canon.”

David Dickenson (Ph.D. student): “Anything You Can Do Paul Can Do Better: Paul’s Rebuke in 1 Corinthians 1:14-16 and 14:18-19.”

Jason G. Duesing (provost; professor of historical theology): “Creeds Added to the Bible? Defining and Defending Baptist Confessionalism.”

Brandon M. Freeman (Ph.D. student): “The Use of Psalm 118 (117 LXX) in Luke’s Gospel.”

Robin Dale Hadaway (senior professor of missions): “Folk Islam: Why Apologetic Arguments Fall Short with Most Muslims.”

Blake Hearson (associate professor of Hebrew and Old Testament): “The Sanctification of the Temple in 1 Kings 8 as the Opening of a Line of Communication with God.”

Timothy Howe (Ph.D. student): “The Expanded Authority of God’s Image Bearers: An Interpretation of the Imago Dei in Genesis 9:6.”

Carissa Jones (Ph.D. student): “The Doctrine of Transcendence as the Key to Re-enchanting American Culture.”

Stephen Kim (Ph.D. Student): “The First Commandment and The First Amendment: Islam as the Linchpin of Religious Liberty.”

Brian M. Koning (Ph.D. student): “Determining Chronological Direction of Biblical Allusions: A New Proposal.”

Andreas J. Köstenberger (research professor of New Testament; director of the Center for Biblical Studies): “Reconceiving a Biblical Theology of Mission: Salvation to the Ends of the Earth Revisited.”

Joseph Lanier (Ph.D. student): “Who is a God Like You? A Theological-Historical Hermeneutic.”

John Lee (associate professor of New Testament): “Zacchaeus Was Indeed Repenting: A Strengthened Defense of the ‘Old’ Reading of Luke 19:8.”

Cory M. Marsh (Ph.D. student): “A Johannine Theology of Christian Suffering: Insights from John 9 and 11.”

Robert J. Matz (assistant professor of Christian studies; director of online student success): “The (Im)passibility of God and Christian Prayer.”

Michael D. McMullen (professor of church history; editor of the Midwestern Journal of Theology): “The Wilberforce Impact: Robert Murray M’Cheyne, Henry, Martyn, and Abdool Masih.”

Matthew C. Millsap (director of library services; assistant professor of Christian studies): “‘It Is Not Good That the Man Should Be Alone:’ Does the Imago Dei Preclude A.I. Companionship?”

Phillip Ort (Ph.D. student): “The Fullness of Ephesians: An Epigraphical Analysis.”

Sung Jin Park (dean of Asian studies; associate professor of biblical studies): “Hebrew Accents: Their Divisions and Exegetical Roles beyond Syntax.”

Jacob Rainwater (Ph.D. student): “Reorienting the Doctrine of Sanctification in Light of Paul’s Inaugurated Eschatology.”

David A. Robarts (Ph.D. student): “An Analysis of the Limitations of Preaching: A Corrective for Evangelical Seminaries.”

Daniel T. (Danny) Slavich (Ph.D. student): “Sola Scriptura as a Methodological Guardrail in Constructive Theology: Jn 17:21 as a Case Study.”

Owen Strachan (associate professor of Christian theology; director of the Center for Public Theology): “What Would Gandalf Do? Voluntary Limits on Supernatural Power in High Myth & High Mythology.”

Brad Swygard (Ph.D. student): “Eros, Agape, and the Ontology of Gender.”

Matt Thomas (Ph.D. student): “Freedom from the Beast: Thomas Helwys’s Apocalyptic for Religious Freedom.”

Champ Thornton (Ph.D. student): “Able to Admonish? Precondition for One-Another Edifying Speech in the New Testament.”


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