Email: [email protected]
First Year at Gordon-Conwell: 2006
Biography:
Dr. Grams is a professor of Biblical theology and ethics. He has served at Gordon-Conwell’s Charlotte campus from 1992-1997 and again since 2006. He directed the Robert C. Cooley Center for the Study of Early Christianity from 2007-2014. He was the first professor hired for the Charlotte campus, where he taught from 1992–1997.
Dr. Grams has also been actively involved in foreign missions for most of his life. Born in South Africa to missionary parents, he has spent many years overseas in theological education. He has lived and taught in Croatia, England, Kenya and Ethiopia. He has held academic posts at the Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology in Kenya; the Evangelical Theological College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Osijek, Croatia; the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies in the United Kingdom, and the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague. He was also a visiting lecturer at the Asia Theological Centre for Evangelism and Mission in Singapore and with TCM, International in Austria.
In addition to teaching at Gordon-Conwell, Dr. Grams presently works with doctoral students through the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life. He also helps establish overseas theological education through the Ridley Institute. He maintains a blog on the Bible, missions, theology, and ethics.
Dr. Grams’ scholarly interests include the integration of New Testament studies with missions, ethics, and theological interpretation. Within New Testament studies, his interests lie in Graeco-Roman backgrounds, biblical ethics, Pauline theology, the Gospel of Matthew, biblical theology, and hermeneutics. Among his various writings, Dr. Grams has written a primer for doctoral students entitled Rival Versions of Theological Enquiry, a reflective mission biography on his parents’ work in South Africa called Stewards of Grace, and a primary source work on the Bible and homosexuality, Unchanging Witness. He also has written books and articles on the Bible, missions, and ethics. He is currently writing a book on slavery.
Degrees
- BA (University of Michigan)
- MTS (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary)
- PhD (Duke University)
Featured Publications
Selected List of Publications
- Unchanging Witness: The Consistent Christian Teaching on Homosexuality in Scripture and Tradition (co-authored with Don Fortson, III). Nashville: B&H Academic, 2016.
- ‘‘’Jesus Christ, raised from the dead’ (2 Tim. 2.8): Exploring Key Differences over Beliefs about the Resurrection between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.” Pages 113-128 in Jesus and the Resurrection: Reflections of Christians from Islamic Contexts. Edited by David Emmanuel Singh. Oxford: Regnum Press, 2014.
- “Revealing Divine Identity: The Incarnation of the Word in John’s Gospel.” Pages 47-59 in Jesus and the Incarnation: Reflections of Christians from Islamic Contexts. Edited by David Emmanuel Singh. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2011.
- ‘‘’Not My People?’ Israel and the People of God in Early Christianity.” In First the Kingdom of God: A Festschrift in Honor of Professor Dr. Peter Kuzmic. Edited by Miroslav Volf, Corneliu Constantineanu, Marcel V. Măcelaru, Krešimir Šimić. Oxford: Regnum Press; Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2011.
- “The Shaping of Christian Convictions and the Avoidance of Ideology: Paul’s Contribution to a Vexing Issue in 1 Corinthians.” Baptistic Theologies 3(1) (2011): 1-14.
- Stewards of Grace: A Reflective, Mission Biography of Eugene and Phyllis Grams in South Africa, 1951-1962. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2010.
- “God’s Mercy from Generation to Generation: Luke’s Use of Psalms 105-108 in His Infancy Narrative Songs to Provide a Salvation Historical Understanding for His Two Volume History.” Baptistic Theologies 2 (2009): 93-108.
- Bible and Mission: A Conversation Between Biblical Studies and Missiology (co-edited with I. Howard Marshall, Peter Penner, and Robin Routledge). Schwarzenfeld: Neufeld Verlag, 2008.
- “God, the Beneficent-the Merciful, and Jesus’s Cross: From Abstract to Concrete Theologising.” Pages 157-166 in Jesus and the Cross: Reflections of Christians from Islamic Contexts. Edited by David Emmanuel Singh. Oxford: Regnum/Paternoster, 2008.
- Academic Reasoning, Research and Writing in Religious Studies. A Concise Handbook (co-written and edited with Parush R Parushev). Brno: Tribun EU, 2008.
- “Ethics.” In Dictionary of Mission Theology: Evangelical Foundations. Edited by John Corrie. Leicester, UK: InterVarsity Press, 2007.
- Towards an Understanding of European Baptist Identity: Listening to the Churches in Armenia, Bulgaria, Central Asia, Moldova, North Caucasus, Omsk and Poland (co-edited with Parush Parushev). Prague: International Baptist Theological Seminary, 2006.
- Rival Versions of Theological Enquiry. Prague: International Baptist Theological Seminary, 2005.