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George Whitefield College with Mark Dickson

Mark Dickson, Principal of George Whitefield College

To hear the podcast click here.

George Whitefield College is ably led by its Principal, Mark Dickson.  It is set on the coast in a beautiful part of Africa, not far from Cape Town.  

I had the opportunity to teach a two week intensive, Honours-level course there in fall 2022.  While there, I found time to visit with the Principal.  

Mark Dickson describes George Whitefield as an evangelical Anglican college with a bit of Reformed theology for good measure.  Bottom line: they take the Bible seriously. Since its founding in 1989, it has served as a training ground for clergy members in one denomination.  But it has become clear that their reach must increase to train pastors and teachers from various denominations who want to take the Gospel all across Africa.

There are 1.2 billion people living on the African continent.  That is more than twice the population of North America (USA and Canada).  In addition, there are more Christians in Africa than there are people in the United States.  But few pastors and church leaders have any theological training.  

The biggest challenge now is to “grow their own wood,” that is, raise up from among their student ranks faculty members to perpetuate the mission of the college. 

George Whitefield College offers various degrees accredited in the South African context.  They are also developing more and more online course work so they can reach further north into Africa. 

The president has big designs on a library for a college.  He would like to see a library suitable for the school to offer a PhD.  This means developing their print collection but also their digital collection.  One of the impressive features of the library is that it houses the books of Leon Morris, one of the best known and prolific New Testament scholars in the world.  

If you’d like to know more about George Whitefield College, their website is https://www.gwc.ac.za

Two of their faculty members, Drs. Vuyani Sindo and Nathan Lovell, came to deliver a lecture in the Stone Chapel in November 2021.  To hear that lecture click here. 

For information on upcoming lectures at the library, click here.

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Beginning Greek in Uganda with Emmanuel Mukeshimana

I am pleased to know that teachers in Africa offer biblical languages courses for their students. Challenges abound, I am sure of it. But their commitment to Scripture read well and exegeted correctly makes a different.

Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Mukeshimana earned his Ph.D. from Uganda Christian University where he is now Lecturer. His research explored Christ’s mission to the poor in Luke’s Gospel in order to construct a Christian model for poverty alleviation in Rwanda. Today’s topic: The Greek language of 3 John 1 has parallels to the vernacular of Dr. Mukeshimana’s Ugandan students of elementary Greek, paving the way for the original text to speak directly to the Ugandan context.

To hear the podcast (7-8 minutes) click here.

“Exegetically Speaking” is a weekly podcast of the friends and faculty of Wheaton College, IL and The Lanier Theological Library. Hosted by Dr. David Capes, it features language experts who discuss the importance of learning the biblical languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek—and show how reading the Bible in the original languages “pays off.” Each podcast lasts between seven and eleven minutes and covers a different topic for those who want to read the Bible for all it is worth.

If you’re interested in going deeper, learn more about Wheaton’s undergraduate degree in Classical Languages (Greek, Hebrew, and Latin) and our MA in Biblical Exegesis. 

You can hear Exegetically Speaking on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. If you have questions or comments, please contact us at exegetically.speaking@wheaton.edu. And keep listening.

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God’s Silence and His Plan for the World with Jordan Pickering

Jordan Pickering

Dr. Jordan Pickering is a biblical-studies scholar at the University of Cape Town YMCA Christian Study Centre, South Africa, and the author of Turn Neither Right Nor Left: Recentering Evangelicalism and Troubled Waters: A Fresh Look at Baptism and Why We Argue. Today’s topic: How the structure of Genesis 12 illuminates a hidden moment of silence, which in turn speaks to us about the nature of faith and blessing, and God’s long-term plan for the nations.

To hear the podcast click here.

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From Snake to Dragon with Nathan Lovell

Dr. Nathan Lovell George Whitefield College

Dr Nathan Lovell is Director of Research at George Whitefield College, Cape Town, South Africa. He has published The Book of Kings and Exilic Identity along with several articles, and is he currently writing commentaries on Kings (Hodder Bible Commentary) and Chronicles (The Bible in God’s world). In a previous episode he joined Dr. Capes to talk about 1 Kings 3. In this new episode he addresses a listener’s question about the creature that tempted Eve in Genesis 3. In that context it is a talking snake. Close attention to the language of later biblical passages sheds light on how it happens that Revelation finally refers to this creature as a dragon, indeed, as Satan.

To hear the podcast click here.

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The Rewards of Learning Greek and Hebrew with McDowell & Towner

To hear the podcast click here.

Both Cathy McDowell and Phil Towner join David Capes on “The Stone Chapel Podcast” to talk about their new book: The Rewards of Learning Greek and Hebrew: Discovering the Richness of the bible in its Original Languages (Tyndale House Publishers). So much of the richness of the Greek New Testament and Hebrew Old Testament is hidden in translation or not translatable. 

They wrote their book to promote the study of the Biblical languages.  These days it has become less common for seminarians to study Biblical languages. Many seminaries and graduate schools do not require the languages any longer. Also, they do not offer enough courses so people can actually use the language after graduation.  Forty to fifty years ago that was not the case.

Why the change?  McDowell thinks the root is money.  Enrollment is down, and schools are making their degrees shorter and easier. To be honest, the language courses are some of the most difficult. 

Many popular ministers today do not focus on expository preaching.  When they did, they talked about the Greek and the Hebrew in their sermons. So younger people are not being exposed to these insights in sermons. Another factor. The advances in computer technology cause Bible students to imagine they can avoid the hard work of language learning.  

At the Lanier Theological Library we are interested in teaching people Greek and Hebrew.  That is why we regularly offer Greek classes at the library. 

Keep watching the Library website because soon we are going to teach Hebrew too. 

Catherine McDowell is associate professor of Old Testament at Gordon Conwell Seminary in Charlotte, NC.

The Rev’d Dr. Philip H. Towner is a professor at Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, where he teaches translation studies. He is also a visiting professor of New Testament exegesis and translation at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome.

Stick around for a nugget of wisdom!

To hear the podcast click here.

If you are interested in Biblical languages, you may enjoy this previous lecture at the library. Click on the title.

“Between the Chairs” New Testament Evidence for the Hebrew Jesus Spoke