by Tony van der Hiele

We have been sharing many testimonies from both current students and alumni about how CBT faculty impact lives with their knowledge, wisdom, prayers, and time. Our faculty invests in the growth of students. Their diverse ministry experience and personal walk with God are reflected in their teachings, both inside and outside the classroom. In a sense, the faculty members are the caretakers of CBT’s DNA, and passing this on to our students is an indispensable part of their role here. But sometimes, we forget how hard our professors work to keep up with developments in their areas of study and contribute as a scholar to their respective academic fields. In this newsletter, we want to highlight a few recent contributions from our faculty.

Dr. Kevin Peacock

Take Dr. Kevin Peacock for example. Having celebrated his 25th anniversary with CBT last year, our Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, authored a 138-page edition of Explore The Bible Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations. This quarterly adult commentary was recently published by Lifeway Christian Resources and in-depth resource and companion for Bible teachers who use the Explore the Bible Sunday School curriculum. Dr. Peacock’s overall purpose in life is to help people understand what the biblical text means. He shares, “I enjoy writing and digging up some new ground to explain Scripture in a way people can understand it. It is particularly gratifying to hear back from people how it helped them open their eyes to the meaning of certain words or passages.” To keep fresh and up-to-date, CBT encourages professors to interact with other scholars. Dr. Peacock is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and also holds a membership with the Institute of Biblical Research. He regularly attends their meetings to broaden his horizon, meet other scholars, and learn from one another as iron sharpens iron.

Dr. Susan Booth

Dr. Susan Booth, our Professor of Missions and Evangelism, and her husband Dr. Steve Booth, who serves as our Academic Dean and Professor of New Testament and Greek, have been on stateside assignment for the first half of 2023. They were not idle; on the contrary, they seemed to have worked harder than ever. Dr. Susan Booth has dedicated much of her time to finishing up a multi-year project: Habakkuk: The Christian Standard Commentary, a 350-page commentary that will be available in June of 2024. Working on something in partnership with the Lord gives her great joy. She shares, “It is amazing how the Lord provided this opportunity and how He wove my background in English Education, Missiology and love for the Bible together.” While the book is a strong academic commentary, Dr. Booth has written about this minor prophet through a missional lens. “It is interesting how relevant this book [Habakkuk] is for what we are going through today, with the world in turmoil all around us and many under the impression that God is doing nothing. Habakkuk found that God is already at work for his mission. God directed him to look to the end,” referring to Habakkuk 2:13-14. The commentary is written not only for scholars but also for the church – for pastors and lay people.

Dr. Scott MacDonald

Our newest faculty member, Associate Professor of Theology Dr. Scott MacDonald, has not only gained the reputation for requiring his students to work hard and dig deep – he himself does the same. On top of new course development, teaching responsibilities, and raising a young family, he aims to publish theological articles once or twice a year. While teaching is his first love, he sees researching and publishing as a way to keep going deeper. He says, “When you stop reading and writing, you stop thinking.” Most of his articles focus on relevant contextualization issues in the theology of majority-world Christianity. Dr. MacDonald explains another motivation to write: “There are theological conversations going on all over the world, and providing input to these conversations helps to shape global Christian thought in an evangelical manner.” He prefers his articles to be published in open-source journals. Themelios is one example, because it is one of the most commonly read journals and accessible to everyone. “When you publish, you don’t just contribute to the people who are in your class, but to a much broader audience, including those who might read your work in the future.” His most recent contribution discusses whether or not Christians should make use of healing cloths. You can read it here.

When the opportunity arises, our professors give guest lectures at other institutes and speak at conferences. With their recent work finished, Dr. Kevin Peacock, Dr. Susan Booth and Dr. Scott MacDonald have already started on new writing projects. The scholarly writing by our faculty in their fields of expertise not only contributes to other scholars – it also has tremendous value to a broader audience. Their publications and presentations are done with the purpose of highlighting, interpreting, and explaining the Word of God so that those who read it may understand the Bible better and grow deeper in their walk with the Lord. They also help the church to effectively carry out the command to “make disciples,” all to the glory of God.

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.”

2 Peter 3:18 (ESV)