President Brian Arnold announced Thursday (October 29) that Dr. Peter J. Gentry will join Phoenix Seminary as distinguished visiting professor of Old Testament.
President Arnold expressed his excitement about Gentry joining the Phoenix Seminary faculty. “Dr. Peter Gentry is an incredible addition to the faculty at Phoenix Seminary," Arnold said. "Not only is Dr. Gentry a leading evangelical Old Testament scholar, but he is also a seasoned educator, mentor, and churchman. I personally learned a great deal from him as a student and now I look forward to training ministers with him as a colleague.”
“I’m excited to serve at Phoenix Seminary,” Gentry said. “President Arnold, Dr. Michael Thigpen, and the leaders there believe in the kind of seminary education I believe in, one that focuses on the meat and potatoes of Greek, Hebrew, the Bible, exegesis, and historical and systematic theology.”
Gentry is the author of many articles, book reviews, and books including Biblical Studies, volume 1 (Hesed & Emet, 2020), and How to Read and Understand the Biblical Prophets (Crossway, 2017), which is regarded as a premier guide to interpreting the prophetic books. He has co-authored Kingdom Through Covenant: A Biblical-Theological Understanding of the Covenants, 2nd edition (Crossway, 2018), with Stephen J. Wellum, and with Christophe Rico a linguistic study of Isaiah 7:14 entitled The Mother of the Infant King (Wipf & Stock, 2019). The scholarly community is eagerly awaiting Gentry’s volume on Isaiah for the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament series, which will be the first commentary to evaluate the prophet in the light of modern discourse analysis.
“We are excited to have Dr. Gentry join us here at Phoenix Seminary,” said Provost J. Michael Thigpen. “He exhibits a wonderful combination of abiding faith and world-class technical scholarship. He is an extraordinarily well-rounded Old Testament scholar, as he has written extensively on Hebrew grammar, Old Testament theology, the prophetic genre, holiness, and the book of Isaiah.”
“Dr. Gentry brings an ability to help students understand the overarching story of Scripture through a close reading of the text in the original languages. Whether working with our Th.M. students on textual criticism, our M.Div. students on Isaiah, or gathering around the table with our faculty to discuss theology, Peter brings a warm collaborative spirit that will lead our students to new depths of understanding and will strengthen the church in Phoenix and beyond.”
Gentry has presented academic papers to groups such as the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, and the Society of Biblical Literature, organizations of which he is also a member. He is known internationally for his work in textual criticism, the study of the Septuagint, and Origen’s Hexapla. He edited Ecclesiastes for the Göttingen Septuagint Series (Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 2019), and his Introduction and Text History of the Greek Ecclesiastes is to be published later this year in Vandenhoek & Ruprecht’s De Septuaginta Investigationes series. Gentry has also given leadership to the Hexapla Institute, and he currently serves on the advisory board of Phoenix Seminary’s Text & Canon Institute.
“I’m elated that my mentor, friend, and former professor has become part of the Phoenix Seminary team. I never imagined that our students would be able to learn directly from such a high-caliber scholar and professor like Dr. Gentry,” said Dr. John Meade, associate professor of Old Testament. “Our students are in for a real treat! As I had the wonderful benefit of learning from Dr. Gentry’s scholarship in the classroom, they too will learn from him as he brings out of his great treasure what is new and what is old.”
As a visiting professor, beginning in late fall of 2021, Gentry will spend six months of each year living in Phoenix, and he will teach two courses each Spring—one modular and one semester-long course. While at Phoenix Seminary, Gentry will also continue his text-critical research as senior research fellow at the Text & Canon Institute.
Gentry has more than 35 years of experience in biblical scholarship and Christian higher education.
He has served as Donald O. Williams Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Languages at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky since 1999, and he will continue in his role there. Prior to his time at Southern Seminary, Gentry served for 15 years on the faculty of Toronto Baptist Seminary and Bible College and also lectured at the University of Toronto and Heritage Theological Seminary. Gentry received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from The University of Toronto. He and his wife, Barbara, have two adult children and three grandchildren.
A video announcement about Dr. Gentry's new position can be viewed here.
