Harding School of Theology Faculty

Faculty

Headshot of Peter Rice

Peter Rice, B.S., M.Div., Ph.D.

Dean of Harding School of Theology
Associate Professor of New Testament

About Peter Rice

Degrees

Ph.D., Religion (New Testament), Baylor University, 2014
MSIS, Harding University (in progress)
M.Div., Abilene Christian University (2009)
B.S. Psychology and Vocational Ministry, Oklahoma Christian University (2004)

Research

Behold, Your House Is Left to You: The Theological and Narrative Place of the Jerusalem Temple in Luke’s Gospel, Pickwick Publications, 2016.
“The Rhetoric of Luke’s Passion: Luke’s Use of Common-place to Amplify the Guilt of Jerusalem’s Leaders in Jesus’ Death,” Biblical Interpretation 21.3 (2013): 355-76
“Pure Heart Vision: A New Mission for Disciples of Jesus: Insights from John 13–17,” Harding University Lectureship—Fall 2016
Panelist for Michael Sandel’s What Money Can’t Buy, Christian Scholars Conference (Lipscomb University)—June 2015
“Modifying Mark’s Passion: Luke’s Use of Rhetoric to Amplify the Guilt of the Jewish Leaders,” National Society of Biblical Literature Meeting (San Francisco)—November 2011
“The Samuel Childhood Cycle in Luke 1-2,” Christian Scholars Conference (Pepperdine University)—June 2011

More Information


Book Reviews

Craig Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary, in Stone-Campbell Journal 16.1 (2013)

Ministry Involvement

Bible Class Teacher and Fill-in Preacher, Cloverdale Church of Christ, Searcy, AR (2014–present)

Foster Parent, Searcy Children’s Homes/Sparrow’s Promise, Searcy, AR (full-care, assisting: 2014–2017, 2022–present)

Headshot of Steve Cloer

Steve Cloer, B.A., M.Div., D.Min.

Associate Professor of Ministry
Director of the Center for Church and City Engagement

About Steve Cloer

Degrees

D.Min., Congregational Mission and Leadership, Luther Seminary, 2015
M.Div., Harding School of Theology, 2006
B.A., Bible, Mathematics, Harding University, 2002

Research

“Missional Leadership Formation: Reframing the Doctor of Ministry Degree,” Journal of Christian Ministry 12 (2023).
“The Missional Catalyst: Reimagining the Role of the Minister,” Missio Dei Journal 10:2 (Summer-Fall 2019)
“God’s on the Move! Insights for Preaching through Ezekiel,” Preaching: The Professional Journal for Ministry Leaders 34:1 (Fall 2018): 34-37
“God Becomes the Good Shepherd (Ezek. 34:11-16),” Preaching: The Professional Journal for Ministry Leaders 34:1 (Fall 2018): 40-42.
“Missional Partnership: Reframing the Concept of “Placing Membership,”” Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry 4:1 (2018): 1-19.
The Minister-Elder Relationship Within ‘Churches that Work,’” Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry 2:2 (2016): 1-15.
“The Elder-Evangelist Relationship Through the Stone-Campbell Movement.” Restoration Quarterly 58:4 (2016): 229-239.
“A Light to the City: The Missional Journey of Southside Church of Christ,” Missio Dei Journal 3:2 (August 2012).

More Information

Ministry Involvement
  • Preaching Minister, Southside Church of Christ, Fort Worth, TX; 2006-2021
  • Campus Minister Apprentice, Highland St. Church of Christ, Memphis, TN; 2003-2006
  • Associate Minister, Cave City Church of Christ, Cave City, AR; 2002-2003

Steve Cloer, assistant professor of ministry, teaches courses in congregational ministry, mission, and leadership. He also directs the Doctor of Ministry program. His research and writing interests include missional theology, church leadership, ministry in urban contexts, and racial reconciliation. Steve has served in youth ministry, campus ministry, and preaching ministry. Most recently, Steve was the preacher for Southside Church of Christ in Fort Worth, TX for 15 years. This historic congregation was located two miles south of downtown. For most of his time there, Steve and his family lived in an urban neighborhood near the Southside church building. Steve and his wife, Lindsay, have three children, Joshua, Lydia, and Bethany. Steve enjoys sports, outdoor adventures, spending time with family, and cheering for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

 

Headshot of Lance R. Hawley

Lance R. Hawley, B.A., M.Div., M.A., Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Old Testament

About Lance R. Hawley

Degrees

Ph.D., Hebrew Bible, University of Wisconsin, 2016
M.A., Hebrew Bible, University of Wisconsin, 2012
M.Div., Harding University Graduate School of Religion, 2003
B.A., Biblical Studies, York College, 1999

Research

Metaphor Competition in the Book of Job. Journal of Ancient Judaism Supplements 26. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2018.
“Job.” In Adaptable for Life: The Message of the Old Testament for Contemporary Readers. Eds. Kilnam Cha, Melinda Thompson, and Kevin Youngblood. Wipf & Stock/Cascade Books. Forthcoming
“Life in Job.” In Biblical Theology of Life in the Old Testament. Reformed Theology in Africa Series 5. Eds. A.J. Coetsee and F.P. Viljoen, 195-215. Cape Town: AOSIS, 2021.
“The Rhetoric of Condemnation in the Book of Job.” Journal of Biblical Literature 139 (2020): 459-478.
“The Agenda of Priestly Taxonomy: The Conceptualization of מאֵ טָ and קץֶ שֶׁ in Leviticus 11.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 77 (2015): 231-249.
“Linguistic Markers of Polar Interrogatives in Biblical Hebrew.” Hebrew Studies 56 (2015): 7-22.

More Information

Select Presentations

  • “The Rhetoric of Condemnation in the Book of Job,” Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting, Fall 2017
  • “The ‘Low-life’ Mockers of Job: Job 30:1-8 as an Extended Animal Metaphor,” Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting, Fall 2015
  • “Metaphor Coherence and Competition in the Joban Discourse: ‘Proverbs of Ashes’ in Its Conceptual Context,” Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting, Fall 2014

Research Interests

Hebrew Bible, Wisdom Literature, Poetry

Ministry Involvement

Shepherd, Sycamore View Church of Christ, Memphis, TN.

Past ministry involvement includes mission work in Wisconsin.

Headshot of Matthew D. Love

Matthew D. Love, B.A., M.Div., Ph.D. candidate

Instructor of Preaching and Ministry

About Matthew D. Love

Degrees

Ph.D. candidate (Preaching), Baylor University
M.Div., Harding School of Theology, 2019
B.A., Bible (Missions), Harding University, 2012

Research

Dissertation: “Preaching to Bring the Heart Home: The Language of Emotions in the Sermons of Effective Preachers” (forthcoming)
“Preaching with Newman: Sermonic Vernacular for the Moral Formation of the Church,” International Journal of Homiletics 7 (October 2024): 18–28. https://doi.org/10.21827/ijh.7.1.18-28
“‘Christ Is Speaking’: The Psalms as the Grammar of Augustine’s Sermons," Religions 15, no. 4: 414. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15040414
“Preaching in Place: Reflections on the Sermons of Oscar Romero, Dislocated Pulpits, and the Dangers of an Incarnate Word,” Homiletic 28, no. 2 (2023): 16–32. https://doi.org/10.15695/sespkx42.

More Information

Presentations

  • “Teaching Preaching via Rhetorical Criticism,” Evangelical Homiletics Society Conference, 2024, Lancaster Bible College, Lancaster, PA

  • “‘Christ is Speaking’: The Psalms as the Grammar of Augustine’s Sermons,” Academy of Homiletics Conference, 2023, Emory University, Atlanta, GA

  • “Preaching Colossians,” Neller Preaching Lectures, 2023, Harding University, Searcy, AR

  • “Preaching in Place: Reflections on the Sermons of Oscar Romero, Dislocated Pulpits, and the Dangers of an Incarnate Word,” Christian Scholars’ Conference, 2023, Houston, TX

  • “Preaching with Beautiful Words: George Herbert and the Beautiful Sermon,” Christian Scholars’ Conference, 2023, Houston, TX

 

Ministry Involvement

  • Preaching Minister, Beebe Church of Christ, Beebe, AR, 2015–Present

  • Youth Minister, Beebe Church of Christ, Beebe, AR, 2010–2015 

Headshot of Jeff Peterson

Jeff Peterson, B.A., M.A., M.Div., Ph.D.

Professor of New Testament

About Jeff Peterson

Degrees

Ph.D., New Testament Studies, Yale University, 1997
M.Div., Princeton Theological Seminary, 1990
M.A., Biblical and Related Studies, Abilene Christian University, 1987
B.A., Biblical Languages, Abilene Christian University, 1986

Research

“The Nuptial Vision of the Bible and its Opponents,” Journal of Christian Studies 1/2 (May 2022): 9–31
“Haggadic Concord and Halakhic Conflict in the First Christian Generation,” in Ethics in Contexts: Essays in Honor of Wendell Lee Willis (ed. James W. Thompson and Richard A. Wright; Wipf & Stock, 2019), 67–87
“The Authority of Scripture Today: A Review Essay,” Christian Studies 31 (2019): 73–81
Review of Richard Bauckham, The Jewish World Around the New Testament, in Stone- Campbell Journal 22 (2019): 296–98
Review of Larry W. Hurtado, Ancient Jewish Monotheism and Early Christian Jesus- Devotion, in Stone-Campbell Journal 21 (2018): 294–95
“Aspects of Baptismal Symbolism in the New Testament,” Christian Studies 29 (2017): 7– 16
“From Passover to Eucharist: The Didache and Early Eucharistic Observance,” in Eucharist and Ecclesiology: Essays in Honor of Everett Ferguson (ed. Wendell Willis; Wipf & Stock, 2016), 125–43
“Confessions of Faith in the New Testament,” Christian Studies 28 (2016): 37–46
Marcan Priority Without Q: Explorations in the Farrer Hypothesis (co-editor, with John C. Poirier; Library of New Testament Studies 455, T & T Clark, 2015)
“Matthew’s Ending and the Genesis of Luke-Acts: The Farrer Hypothesis and the Birth of Christian History,” in Marcan Priority without Q, 140–59
“Biblical ‘Restorationism’: A Response to Mark Shipp,” Christian Studies 27 (2015): 31–38
“On Earth As It Is in Heaven,” in Lord, Teach Us to Pray: The Lord’s Prayer for Today’s Church (ed. M. R. Weed, K. D. Stanglin, and M. T. Hall, Christian Studies Press, 2015), 17–29
“Redeeming the Time: The Christian Year and Life in the Risen Christ,” Christian Studies 26 (2013–14): 33–46
Guest Editor, Journal of Early Christian Studies 20/3 (Fall 2012), “Everett Ferguson’s Baptism in the Early Church: A Forum”
“What Should Christian Do? Revisiting John Howard Yoder’s What Would You Do?” Christian Studies 25 (2011–12): 61–78
“‘All the Things I Have Commanded’: Matthew’s Conclusion and the Life of the Church,” Leaven 19 (2011): 98–102
“The Sacrifice of Praise,” Christian Studies 24 (2010): 43–54
“The First and Second Tables of the Law in the New Testament,” Christian Studies 23 (2009): 47–58
“Philippians,” in The Transforming Word: A Restoration Bible Commentary (ed. Mark W. Hamilton, ACU Press, 2008), 965 –71
“The Image of God in Pauline Preaching,” Leaven 16 (2008): 82–85
Renewing the Tradition: Studies in Honor of James W. Thompson (co-editor, with Mark W. Hamilton and Thomas H. Olbricht), Princeton Theological Monograph Series 65, Wipf & Stock, 2006
“Christ Our Pasch: Shaping Christian Identity in Corinth,” in Renewing the Tradition, 133–44
“A Reply to Leroy Garrett,” Christian Studies 21 (2005): 57–78
“The Extent of Christian Theological Diversity: Pauline Evidence,” Restoration Quarterly 48 (2005): 1–14
“Order in the Double Tradition and the Existence of Q,” in Questioning Q (ed. Mark S. Goodacre and Nicholas Perrin, SPCK, 2004), 28–43
“Living as Sacrifices: Walking in Accordance with the Spirit in Romans 12–15,” Christian Studies 20 (2004): 33–42
“‘The Circumcision of the Christ’: The Significance of Baptism in the Letter to the Colossians and the Churches of the Restoration,” Restoration Quarterly 43 (2001): 65–77
“Three Things That Matter: A Sermon,” Christian Studies 18 (2000–2001): 61–68
“A Pioneer Narrative Critic and His Synoptic Hypothesis: Austin Farrer and Gospel Interpretation,” SBL 2000 Seminar Papers (Atlanta: SBL, 2000), 651–72
Things That Matter: A Guide to Christian Faith (contributor and co-editor, with Michael R. Weed), 3rd ed., Christian Studies Press, 2000 [1st ed., 1994]
“Preaching Technique: Ministry of the Word in a Wired World,” Christian Studies 17 (1999): 47–56
“Spirit of Holiness or Spirit of the Age? The Holy Spirit in the Teaching of Paul,” Christian Studies 16 (1996–97): 17–32
“Whatever You Ask in My Name,” Leaven 3 (1994): 7–9
“‘How Shall the Seeker Say Amen?’ The ‘Seeker’ and the Service in 1 Corinthians 14,” Christian Studies 13 (1993): 22–31
Reviews in Religious Studies Review, Restoration Quarterly, Christian Studies, Libraries and Culture, Stone-Campbell Journal, Christian Chronicle

More Information

Jeff Peterson grew up near Houston and graduated from Galena Park High School. He earned a B.A. and M.A. from Abilene Christian University, an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in New Testament studies from Yale University. He taught New Testament and theology for 28 years at Austin Graduate School of Theology (earlier known as the Institute for Christian Studies) and more recently at Lipscomb University. Peterson has served several churches as interim pulpit minister and in 2023-24 was the preaching minister for the University Avenue Church of Christ in Austin, Texas. He has authored numerous popular and scholarly works and served as president and as coordinator of the Society of Biblical Literature, Southwest Region.
Headshot of Keith Stanglin

Keith Stanglin, B.A., M.Div., Ph.D.

Professor of Historical Theology

About Keith Stanglin

Degrees

Ph.D., Calvin Theological Seminary, 2005
M.Div., Harding School of Theology, 2001
B.A., Oklahoma Christian University, 1998

More Information

Keith Stanglin, Professor of Historical Theology, teaches courses in the history of Christianity and theology. He specializes in Reformation and post-Reformation theology, the history of biblical interpretation, moral theology, and Arminianism. A prolific author, Keith has written or edited eleven books and numerous articles for both scholarly and popular audiences.

Keith is the Executive Director of the Center for Christian Studies in Austin, Texas and the editor of the Journal of Christian Studies. He has served churches in a number of ministry roles, most recently as an interim preaching minister.

Select Publications
The Catholic Arminius: Theological Influences and Contexts in Early Modern Protestantism.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, under contract.


Super-Abundant Grace: Reflections on Romans. Eugene: Cascade, 2022.
Ethics beyond Rules: How Christ’s Call to Love Informs Our Moral Choices. Grand Rapids:
Zondervan Reflective, 2021.


After Arminius: A Historical Introduction to Arminian Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2021. (Co-authored with Tom McCall.)


The Letter and Spirit of Biblical Interpretation: From the Early Church to Modern Practice.
Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2018.


The Reformation to the Modern Church: A Reader in Christian Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress
Press, 2014.


Jacob Arminius: Theologian of Grace. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. (Co-authored with
Tom McCall.)


The Missing Public Disputations of Jacobus Arminius: Introduction, Text, and Notes. Brill’s Series
in Church History, vol. 47. Leiden: Brill, 2010.


Arminius, Arminianism, and Europe: Jacobus Arminius (1559/60–1609). Brill’s Series in Church
History, vol. 39. Leiden: Brill, 2009. (Co-edited with Th. Marius van Leeuwen and Marijke
Tolsma.)


Arminius on the Assurance of Salvation: The Context, Roots, and Shape of the Leiden Debate,
1603–1609. Brill’s Series in Church History, vol. 27. Leiden: Brill, 2007.


Research Interests
Reformation and post-Reformation theology, the history of biblical interpretation, moral theology,
Arminianism


Ministry Involvement
Executive Director of the Center for Christian Studies in Austin, Texas and the editor of the
Journal of Christian Studies. Has served churches in a number of ministry roles, most recently as
an interim preaching minister.

Headshot of Whitney Hammes

Whitney Hammes, B.M.E., MSLS

Assistant Professor
Theological Librarian

About Whitney Hammes

Degrees

M.A. in Old Testament, Harding School of Theology, in progress MSLS, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, 2013 BME in music education, Harding University, 2010

Facts

Whitney Hammes is theological instruction librarian for HST and the College of Bible and Ministry. She has worked in the Brackett Library at Harding University for 11 years, most recently serving as the instruction and outreach librarian.

Staff

Headshot of Rebecca McCown

Rebecca McCown

Advising and Accreditation Specialist
Headshot of Gregory Muse

Gregory Muse

Major Gift Officer, Advancement
Headshot of Christopher Jackson

Christopher Jackson

Admissions Counselor
Headshot of Tyler Burdette

Tyler Burdette

Administrative Assistant

Adjunct Faculty

CARISSE MICKEY BERRYHILL, B.A., B.A., M.A., M.S., M.A., Ph.D.                                                            Ph.D. (English), Florida State University

ALLEN BLACK, B.A., M.Th., Ph.D.                                                                                                          Ph.D. (New Testament), Emory University

KEVIN BURR, B.A., M.S.E., M.Div., Ph.D.                                                                                               Ph.D. (New Testament), Asbury Theological Seminary

SCOTT LAIRD, B.Sc., M.A.C.M, D.Min.                                                                                                 D.Min. (Ministry and Leadership), Harding School of Theology

ETHAN LASTER, B.A., M.Div., M.A.                                                                                                             Ph.D. Candidate (Theological Studies), Saint Louis University

DAVID MAHFOOD, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.                                                                                                     Ph.D. (Systematic Theology), Southern Methodist University

RILEY PATE, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., LPC-S, LMFT-S                                                                                             Ph.D. (Counselor Education and Supervision), Regent University

MARK E. POWELL, B.A., M.Div., Ph.D.                                                                                                   Ph.D. (Systematic Theology), Southern Methodist University

KEVIN YOUNGBLOOD, B.A., M.A.R., M.Div., Ph.D.                                                                                  Ph.D. (Old Testament), Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Faculty Emeriti

Allen Black, B.A., M.Th., Ph.D.                                                                                                        Professor of New Testament Emeritus

Dave Bland, B.A., M.Div., D.Min., Ph.D.                                                                                           Professor of Homiletics Emeritus

Evertt W. Huffard, A.A., B.A., M.A., M.Th., Ph.D.                                                                              Professor of Missions and Leadership Emeritus

Don Meredith, B.A., M.Th., M.S. in L.S.                                                                                           Professor of Library Science Emeritus

Richard Oster, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.                                                                                                      Professor of New Testament Emeritus

 

Contact Information



Mailing address:
Harding University
Harding School of Theology
HU 12280
Searcy, AR 72149-5615