About

I grew up in White blue-collar suburbia in the Pacific Northwest as an only child. My father taught me to love studying: he taught me to read from the King James Version. My mother inspired me with her compassion for the underprivileged as she took care of dozens of disabled children in our home while I was growing up. My father was diagnosed with cancer shortly after I was born, and while the treatment kept him alive, the specter of an early death hung over my childhood and became reality with his death while I was in graduate school. I dedicated my book on OT theology to him with these words: “for sharing a fervent devotion to reading great books of all kinds, instilling in us a deep love for the Old Testament, and modeling a passionate pursuit of truth.”

I went to Western Washington University for a chemistry degree, following the career path of both my father and my maternal grandfather. After working for two years as an analytical chemist for the Georgia Pacific pulp mill in Bellingham, Washington, I attended Northwest Baptist Seminary in Tacoma, Washington, to receive a Masters of Divinity and a Masters of Theology. During this time I spent almost a year and a half in Israel, where I attended Hebrew University. I also worked in a church as a pastor during my seminary years.

The next step in my academic journey was a doctorate in Old Testament from Wheaton College. Daniel Block was my mentor as I studied the divine violence in the book of Exodus for my dissertation. After graduation I was offered a position teaching Old Testament at Talbot’s School of Theology at Biola University in Southern California. I can often be found watching soccer, especially my favorite team, Arsenal.

My CV (the form of a resume used in academic circles)

My fun familial claim to fame is that my chemist grandfather, Robert Cox, invented Silly String! We have several original cans of it from the late 1970s.