Biblical Studies Update

My journey to become a biblical scholar

My studies have been delayed a bit, so I wanted to publish an update on where things are at in my journey to become a biblical scholar.

My long term goal is to achieve at least a master’s degree in biblical studies and then go on to a ministry in research, writing and teaching. It is possible that a PhD is included in that long term goal, but I do not want to get ahead of myself.

Drilling down on that a bit more, I have received training from a number of schools, but it is primarily two institutions where I am focusing; Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) and Redemption Seminary. My current goal is to achieve an Associates of Divinity from CLI and a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Redemption Seminary before the end of 2025.

I will be receiving mentoring for the discipleship and church history courses at Redemption Seminary beginning in January. Then I will begin my final project, which will be focused on ministry planning, by mid-August. After that, I will finish up the ADiv at CLI.

My ministry purpose is slowly taking shape. It’s focus will be around the life of the Christian mind. In other words, intellectual pursuits in biblical studies. This might involve teaching biblical interpretation, apologetics or comparative studies to name a few areas. The goal is to equip believers with better tools for Bible study and better thinking about the Bible, all towards the end of producing maturity and a better understanding, including skills for extracting meaning from the text and discovering how to apply it. It’s still taking shape and these are only high level thoughts of mine at this time. It could definitely change and will become more specific and narrow.

There are three primary reasons for the delay (as I was planning to finish up in 2024). First, is that I had to find a new job. The company I had worked for was acquired and the changes were not acceptable to me, so I found something more in line with my goals. Of course, changing jobs can be disruptive and I am having to do a lot of learning, which of course, expends mental energy. Second, is that I have had a number of health issues that have resulted in chronic fatigue. It makes it hard to find the energy for all that I have to do. Third, is that I have been working through some childhood trauma issues and relationships with my family of origin. It’s been quite difficult, and I have had to make some difficult decisions. Once I am finished with my degrees, I plan to take some time to write about some of that here. And healing from childhood trauma might be a focus area or a second offshoot ministry. Will see what happens.

If the reader is so inclined, I would appreciate your prayers. Thank you for reading, and please reach out to me with any questions/comments etc.

~ Dain

ChatGPT generated image of a biblical scholar - just so i have an image for this post :)