The board, faculty, and administration of Bethlehem College & Seminary are pleased to announce the hiring of Dr. Andy Naselli as Assistant Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology. Dr. Naselli has been serving as D. A. Carson’s research assistant and as the administrator of Themelios, the theological journal for The Gospel Coalition. Dr. Naselli holds PhDs from both Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Bob Jones University.
Dr. Naselli has taught New Testament Greek at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and he currently teaches Bible and theology as adjunct faculty at several seminaries. He has published over twenty articles, forty-five book reviews, and a few books, including Let Go and Let God? (2010).
We are excited about Dr. Naselli’s addition to our faculty. Bethlehem College & Seminary Chancellor John Piper writes, “I am thrilled that Andy Naselli has accepted the call to join us on the faculty of Bethlehem College & Seminary. Andy’s combination of gifts and graces and godly gumption make him a welcome partner in training generations of younger men who will herald with passion the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. We dream of forging a compelling, clear, world-encompassing, Bible-controlled, centuries-long vision of God and his ways. I am heartened that Andy is now a part of that.”
Dr. Naselli will officially begin on August 1, 2013. Below, please read Andy’s five reasons he is excited to serve at Bethlehem College & Seminary.
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Jenni and I are grateful to God and excited to join the Bethlehem College & Seminary family. We’re planning to move to Minneapolis this summer.
If you don’t know much about Bethlehem College & Seminary, these links are a good place to start:
- History (cf. John Piper’s announcement in 2008)
- Leadership (John Piper is chancellor)
We’re excited to serve at Bethlehem College & Seminary for at least five reasons:
1. Doctrine
The doctrine Bethlehem College & Seminary affirms and celebrates is what we affirm and celebrate.
Bethlehem College & Seminary embraces “historic Christian orthodoxy” (e.g., what the Nicene and Chalcedonian Creeds teach about the Trinity and Jesus’ incarnation).
Bethlehem College & Seminary also affirms important second-level doctrines such as
- Calvinism (i.e., Reformed soteriology, including a Reformed view of sanctification)
- Baptist ecclesiology
- Complementarianism
“On matters such as eschatology and the continuance of the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, we allow for a range of perspectives, provided that such positions are held in submission to the inerrant and infallible Word of God.”
For a fuller statement of Bethlehem College & Seminary’s doctrinal beliefs, see their Affirmation of Faith.
2. Strategy
Bethlehem College & Seminary is connected to several affiliate ministries, including Bethlehem Baptist Church.
Our aim is to give students an intense immersion in a God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated local church that combines rigorous study with church-based application, all to the end that they might joyfully magnify the infinite worth of Jesus Christ, and live for the praise of God’s glory in affection, thought, word, and deed. (“Mission and Vision”)
Education exists because worship doesn’t. (“Core Values”)
The seminary has a cohort-model that accepts only fifteen students a year, and those students take all their classes together. (My responsibilities will be primarily at the seminary-level.) The courses intentionally build on each other, and the professors (who are members of Bethlehem Baptist Church) shepherd the students.
Cf. these videos:
» Testimonies (4:38 min.)
» Jason Meyer – Associate Professor of New Testament (6:24 min.)
3. Research
Bethlehem College & Seminary has three types of professors. All of them teach, but they each have a different focus:
- Teaching
- Administration
- Research
The latter two have a lighter teaching load. In addition to mentoring a few students, the “research” professors also (a) supervise ThM students, (b) engage in ongoing research and writing, and (c) teach and preach outside Bethlehem College & Seminary as feasible.
I’ll be serving as a “research” professor, which is an ideal fit. It’s exactly the sort of position I’ve longed for.
4. Synergy
I didn’t realize until we moved to a small town in South Carolina—where I work in my home office—how much I love the edifying synergy that occurs when I regularly interact in person with colleagues. I miss that, and I’m looking forward to the camaraderie with the Bethlehem College & Seminary team.
In God’s providence, I already know Tim Tomlinson and Jason DeRouchie fairly well since we rafted through the Grand Canyon together in July 2011, and I’ve been friends with Jason Meyer since his first book came out. (Jason Meyer was recently formally approved as successor to John Piper.) Jenni and I have already enjoyed getting to know the Bethlehem College & Seminary family and look forward to building deeper friendships.
5. Piper
It’s an honor to serve with John Piper. He is Bethlehem College & Seminary’s chancellor, and he plans to invest himself in Bethlehem College & Seminary and to teach one course each semester.
Piper is a modern-day Charles Spurgeon and one of my favorite preachers. He exalts God by carefully and passionately explaining and applying the text of Scripture.
God used Piper to transform me as a freshman in college. On Christmas Day 1998, I read The Pleasures of God. I was riveted. I worshiped God as supremely sovereign over all things, including our salvation.
I didn’t know anything about Piper at the time, but what he wrote deeply resonated with me. Shortly later I read Desiring God. Then I started listening to Piper’s sermons and reading more of his books. Very influential then. Very influential now (e.g., over 45 of my blog posts have “John Piper” as a tag).
When Jenni and I started dating in late summer 2003, one of the first things I did was lend her my marked-up copies ofDesiring God, The Pleasures of God, and Rediscovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and I asked her to read them to make sure that we were on the same page theologically. She read them very carefully (especially the chapter on marriage in DG!), and God used them significantly in her life. Since that time, she’s enjoyed listening to hundreds of Piper’s sermons and many of his interviews and audiobooks that I’ve loaded on her iPod.
I’ve enjoyed interacting with John at various venues, and Jenni and I have regularly prayed for him. But we didn’t envision partnering this closely with him. We thank God for John and for this opportunity to serve at Bethlehem College & Seminary.
Cf. John Piper at Bethlehem College & Seminary (3:19 min.)