TEDS is one of the largest seminaries in the world, enrolling more than 1,200 graduate students in professional and academic programs, including more than 150 in its Ph.D. programs.[3] The most popular degree at the school, the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree, prepares pastors, educators, and missionaries for many kinds of service. The school also offers a range of focused Master of Arts programs in mental health counseling, theological studies, New Testament, Old Testament, and other disciplines. Trinity offers a comprehensive listing of academic programs with Master of Arts (MA), Master of Divinity (M.Div), Master of Theology (Th.M), Doctor of Ministry (D.Min) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degrees.[4]
Trinity honors and continues the legacy of its major contributors through a combination of centers, lectures and honoraria. The Carl F. H. Henry Center is a nod to longtime TEDS faculty member and theologian Carl F. H. Henry which also continues his vision of theological development.[6] The Paul Hiebert Center for World Christianity and Global Theology is named after the Trinity Evangelical Missions department faculty member Paul Hiebert. He made numerous contributions to the field of missions research and practical application on the field.[7] The Hiebert Center at TEDS is designed to foster collaboration between missionary personnel, academics and lay persons from across the world to engage in research and field work. The Kenneth Kantzer Lectures are named after the namesake visionary who shaped Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.[8]
History of TEDS
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School was incorporated in 1963 as the result of a merge between Trinity Seminary and Bible College and its relocation to Deerfield Illinois.[9]Kenneth Kantzer was elected Dean and had the vision to create a “divinity school” which would be a university environment of biblical studies where world class scholars would produce world class students.[10] Trinity became an academic heavyweight in the late 1960s by hiring top academic faculty in their respective fields.[11] Trinity’s mission, statement of faith and curriculum were greatly influenced by Kenneth Kantzer and Carl F H Henry. Both men are ranked as being among the most important evangelicals of the 20th century.[12] Some of the most notable evangelical scholars came to Trinity due to Dean Kantzers recruiting efforts. These faculty included Robert Culver(Systematic Theology), John Warwick Montgomery (Church history), Walter Kaiser (Old Testament), Richard Troup ( Christian Education), Gleason Archer Jr (Old Testament)and David Hasselgrave (Missions) among several others.[13] Some of the academic faculty who were a part of Fuller Theological Seminary had left the seminary due to its change of stance on biblical inerrancy. The faculty which departed believed in full biblical inerrancy that the Bible doesn’t contain any error whether it is matters of faith but also no error in history or science.[14] Trinity became a rival to Fuller Seminary for the leadership of evangelicalism.[15] Trinity continues to produce first rate scholarship in the 21st century with professors such as Kevin Vanhoozer, Don A Carson, Paul Feinberg, John Feinberg, Paul Hiebert and John Woodbridge holding faculty positions within the school.[16][17] Trinity continues the legacy of both Kenneth Kantzer and Carl F. H. Henry through the schools operation but also the Carl Henry Center on campus and the Kenneth Kantzer Lectures.[18][19]
Notable faculty
Gleason Archer - Former Professor of Old Testament and Semitics (1965-1986)
Barry J. Beitzel - Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and Semitic Languages (1976-2016)
D. A. Carson - New Testament Scholar and Emeritus Professor of New Testament
John S. Feinberg - Chair of the Department and Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology
Paul D. Feinberg - Late Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy of Religion
Norman Geisler - Former Chair, Department of Philosophy of Religion (1970-1979)
Murray J. Harris - Professor Emeritus of New Testament Exegesis and Theology
James K. Hoffmeier - Egyptologist and professor of Old Testament and ancient near eastern history
S. Lewis Johnson Jr. - Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology (1980-1985)
Douglas J. Moo - New Testament Scholar and former Professor of New Testament (1980-2000)
John D. Woodbridge - Research Professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought
Notable alumni
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (September 2019)
