Гэри Майерс назначен заместителем директора Института археологии НОБТС

Myers appointed associate director of NOBTS archaeology institute By Timothy Cockes/NOBTS NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) graduate Gary Myers has been appointed as associate director of the Michael and Sara Moskau Institute of Archaeology at the seminary. Myers is a four-time graduate of NOBTS, and his degrees include a Master of Arts in biblical archaeology and a doctor of philosophy in biblical interpretation. Myers has participated or co-led several excavations with the archaeology institute and has made several academic presentations on a variety of topics within the field. He will continue to serve in his current ministry role as missions minister at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana. “I am excited to enter this new role with the Moskau Institute,” Myers said. “Dr. Jim Parker and Dr. Dennis Cole mentored me in my archaeology journey through their work at the Institute and our excavations at Tel Gezer and Tel Hadid. I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to invest in others who are entering the field of biblical archaeology.” The Michael and Sara Moskau Institute of Archaeology is a ministry of NOBTS and serves to encourage the scholarly development and research of the seminary’s faculty and students regarding archaeology and biblical studies. It partners with the H. Milton Haggard Center for New Testament Textual Studies to facilitate the seminary’s Museum of the Bible and Archaeology. The Institute continues the seminary’s long history of involvement in archaeology, as NOBTS professors and students have been participating in various archaeology research for more than 50 years. In recent years, the Institute has participated in several excavations in the Greater New Orleans area, as well as in Italy and Israel. Parker serves as executive director of the Michael and Sara Moskau Institute and professor of biblical interpretation and archaeology. He voiced his enthusiasm for Myers stepping into this role. “Gary has been involved in the Institute and has worked on various excavations, including Tel Gezer and Tel Hadid, for over a decade,” Parker said. “We are beyond proud and excited to make this announcement.” Myers said he is thrilled to continue working with the Institute and praised the seminary for its continued support of the archeology program. “These are exciting days for biblical archaeology and for the seminary’s excavation work,” Myers said. “Time and time again, we are finding convergence between what we see in the biblical text and what we find in the ground. Even some of the most mundane finds are helping us to better understand the culture we encounter in the Bible. The Institute plays a key role helping churches and pastors keep up to date on newer finds and continue to grow in their understanding of the Bible’s historical context. “I am grateful that the seminary and the Institute have worked so hard to maintain an evangelical voice in archaeology, and I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to continue that legacy.” Spurgeon College dean releases Bible study on Proverbs By MBTS Staff KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS) recently celebrated the release of “Proverbs: Walking in the Way of Christ,” a new Bible study by Samuel L. Bierig, vice president of undergraduate studies, dean of Spurgeon College, and associate professor of biblical and systematic theology. “I am so thankful for the release of this new study in Proverbs by Spurgeon College’s dean, Sam Bierig,” said President Jason Allen. “Having previously served as a youth pastor and now serving as Spurgeon College dean, Dr. Bierig understands students and how they think. This new book is sure to benefit them and those teaching them, while teaching how to daily walk in the way of wisdom and avoid the way of destruction.” Published by New Growth Press as part of “The Gospel-Centered Life in the Bible” series, the study helps readers understand Proverbs as a unified book that points to Christ and shapes the daily life of His people. The resource includes discussion questions, brief articles, practical application and leader’s notes for use in small groups, Sunday School classes and one-to-one discipleship. Reading Proverbs as a whole Bierig wrote the study after noticing a disconnect in the way many Christians read Proverbs. Though the book remains a favorite for daily Bible reading, its individual sayings are often separated from the larger message of the book — and from the larger story of Scripture. “Proverbs is a favorite devotional read for many, but few readers understand how the book works as a whole,” Bierig said. “Proverbs challenged me as a problem to solve, but it has also long invigorated me to help the church understand how to put the whole book together as a cohesive literary piece that sits nestled inside a larger cohesive literary piece — the Bible.” That challenge has occupied Bierig for years. His academic work has focused on biblical theology, hermeneutics and Proverbs, including his doctoral dissertation on hermeneutics and the interpretation of the book. In this new study, he brings that scholarship to bear on a resource written for the local church. One habit Bierig hopes to correct is the tendency to treat Proverbs as a collection of isolated sayings. Reading one proverb at a time may offer a memorable thought, but it can also obscure the book’s movement, recurring images and theological purpose. “The notion that ‘a proverb a day keeps the devil away’ is a piecemeal approach to Proverbs instead of a holistic, literary-theological and gospel-centered approach,” he said. “One ought to read Proverbs sequentially to get the flow of the composition as a whole. This allows the main metaphors to rise to the surface instead of topicalizing the proverbs.” Walking in the way of Christ Bierig also addresses a deeper problem: Proverbs can easily be read as a ladder of moral achievement. When wisdom is detached from the gospel, it can sound like a list of standards readers must meet in order to prove themselves righteous. “One is not earning his own salvation by reaching and even exceeding the wisdom bar set before him,” Bierig said. “Christ Himself kept the law and the proverbs for you. Christ’s wisdom and obedience is imputed to you.” The book’s subtitle, “Walking in the Way of Christ,” reflects this gospel-centered approach. Proverbs does call God’s people to wisdom, but Bierig argues that its call must be heard in light of Christ, who embodies the wisdom of God and supplies the righteousness His people need. “Christ is the wisdom of God manifest,” Bierig said. “No one lived wiser nor calls others to wisdom more powerfully than Jesus Christ. He saves us by grace through faith, and Proverbs helps us live that faith in Christ.” Seen in this light, Proverbs is not “gospel-less or gospel-light,” Bierig explained. Rather, the book speaks especially to discipleship and sanctification. Its wisdom is not a way to earn acceptance before God, but a guide for those who have already been justified and adopted through Christ. “Proverbs says, ‘You are justified and adopted; now let me help you live as a living sacrifice,’” he explained. That foundation changes the way readers approach ordinary decisions. Throughout Proverbs, two paths are set before them: wisdom and folly, righteousness and wickedness, life and death. Bierig hopes the study will help Christians recognize those contrasts and learn to choose the way of wisdom with greater clarity. “I hope they will begin to see that all of their decisions are a contrast between life and death, wisdom and folly, righteousness and wickedness,” he said. “Proverbs compels us to conceive of our life and world as a series of decisions between a wise path and a foolish path.” A resource for the local church Bierig wrote primarily with small groups and Sunday School classes in mind. Still, he believes pastors will benefit from the study’s approach, particularly before preaching through a book that is familiar to many readers but often difficult to teach as a whole. “Given that it is a hermeneutical overhaul, pastors can really benefit from the book if they read it prior to preaching through Proverbs,” Bierig said. More than anything, Bierig hopes readers finish the study better prepared to return to Proverbs again and again. Rather than depending on a single study to supply every answer, he wants Christians to understand the book’s shape, follow its argument and recognize how its wisdom belongs within the whole counsel of God. “I hope they walk away equipped to read Proverbs for the rest of their lives,” Bierig said. “Proverbs: Walking in the Way of Christ” is now available for purchase.