J richard middleton biography of donald

religious studies educator

J. Richard Middleton is Professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis at Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester, NY. He is the author of four books and numerous articles on topics in biblical creation theology, the problem of suffering, and the dynamics of human and divine power in biblical narratives. He is currently at work on three new books, one on the Aqedah (Gen 22), one on 1 Samuel, and another on Gen 2–3.

Background

Ethnicity: Father was English and German ancestry; Mother was Jewish.

Middleton, J. Richard was born on January 14, 1955 in Kingston, Jamaica. Son of Jack Reginald and Phyllis Merle Middleton.

Education

BTh, Jamaica Theological Seminary, Kingston. Master of Arts, University Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Doctor of Philosophy, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Career

Inter-Varsity campus minister, University of Guelph, 1981–1983. Assistant to the Dean, Hendricks Chapel, Syracuse University, 1984–1985. Associate Protestant Chaplain, University of Rochester, 1986–1988. Christian Reformed Chaplain, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada, 1988–1990.

Adjunct professor of philosophy, Redeemer University College, Ancaster, Canada, 1989–1991. Adjunct professor, worldview studies, Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto, 1990–1995. Assistant professor of Old Testament Interpretation, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Rochester, NY, 1996–2001.

Associate professor of Biblical studies, Roberts Wesleyan College, 2002–2008. Professor of Biblical studies, Roberts Wesleyan College, 2008–2011.

Professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis, Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester, NY, since 2011.

Achievements

• Vice-President, Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, 2018–2019.
  
  President, Canadian Evangelical Theological Association, 2011–2014.
  
  Winner of the Word Guild (Canada) Book Award — Biblical Studies Category — for A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology (2014).
  
  Annual Fall essay winner, Princeton Graduate Theological Forum, for “Why the ‘Greater Good’ Isn’t a Defense: Classical Theodicy in Light of the Biblical Genre of Lament” (1997).
  
  Book Award winner from Christianity Today magazine, for Truth, Is Stranger Than It Used to Be: Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age (1995).
  
  First prize, Canadian Church Press for best Theological Reflection — Inspirational, for “Let’s Put Herod Back into Christmas" (1993).

Works

• book

  • A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014). Winner of the 2014 Word Guild Award — Biblical Studies Category. Korean translation published 2015. E-book available.

    (In recent years, more and more Christians have come to ap...)

    2014
  • Truth is Stranger Than It Used to Be: Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1995). Co-authored with Brian J. Walsh. 1996 Book Award winner from Christianity Today magazine. UK edition published by SPCK (1995) in the “Gospel and Culture” series. Translated and published in Korean (2007).

    (The carnivalesque, pluralistic culture in which we live c...)

    1995
  • The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1 (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2005). Korean translation published 2009. E-book available.

    (For two thousand years, Christians have been intrigued by...)

    2005
  • The Transforming Vision: Shaping a Christian World View (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1984). Co-authored with Brian J. Walsh. Translated and published in Korean (1987), French (1988), Indonesian (2001), Spanish (2003), and Portuguese (2009); new Korean edition (2013); new French edition (2017).

    (Science, technology and economic growth motivate our soci...)

    1984

Membership

Society of Biblical Literature; Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (vice-president 2018–2019); Canadian-American Theological Association (president 2011–2014); Canadian Theological Society.

• Member since 1991.

  Society of Biblical Literature

• Member since 1992. Vice-president 2018–2019.

  Canadian Society of Biblical Studies

• Member since 1991. President 2011–2014.

  Canadian-American Theological Association

• Member since 1991.

  Canadian Theological Society

Connections

Married Marcia Ann Berry, August 27, 1977. Children: Andrew Derek, Kevin Timothy.

Father:

Jack Reginald Middleton

Mother:

Phyllis Merle Middleton

Spouse:

Marcia Ann Berry

child:

Andrew Derek Middleton

child:

Kevin Timothy Middleton