Dunham Bible Museum Lectures

The Dunham Bible Museum Lectures were initiated in 2008 to illuminate the Bible’s influence on every area of academic discipline and culture.

2024

• Scribes and Scripture Conference with Drs. John Meade and Peter Gurry of the Text and Canon Institute, Saturday, January 20, 2024, 9am – 3pm.  
• “Discovering the Dead Sea Scrolls”, by Dr. Randall Price, January 11, 2024.  Unfortunately, Dr. Price’s lecture at HCU January 11 was not videoed.  However, this links to a lecture Dr. Price gave in 2023 on “Using the Dead Sea Scrolls in Biblical Studies.”

2022

• 25th Anniversary of the Dunham Bible Museum, November 2, 2022.  Dr. Roy Peterson, former head of Wycliffe Bible Translators and the American Bible Society:
  • Convocation Address – Transforming Power of the Bible
  • Conversation with Dr. Robert Sloan
• International Society of Bible Collectors Annual Convention, October 13-14, 2022 .   Dr. Craig Evans, John Bisagno Distinguished Professor of Christian Origins at Houston Christian University, gave three lectures on early Bible history:
  • How Long Did the New Testament Autographs Last?
  • Value of the Dead Sea Scrolls to Bible Study
  • The Galen Codex and how the Bible was written
• Dr. Jennifer McNutt – “The Bible of the Reformation” – Professor of Biblical and Theological studies at Wheaton College spoke on the 500th anniversary of Luther’s translation of the Greek New Testament into the common language of the German people.

2021

• Gary Zimmerman – “The Tanakh and the Hebrew Scriptures” – Jewish missionary Gary Zimmerman shares his collection of scrolls of Hebrew Scriptures and the history of Jewish preservation of the Scriptures.

2020

• Dr. Bill Mounce – a Greek scholar and President of Biblicaltraining.org, and author of numerous works, including the best-selling biblical Greek textbook, Basics of Biblical Greek, on March 5  delivered a lecture on “Why we Can Trust the Bible.” Dr. Mounce considered questions about the reliability of the Scripture texts, alleged contradictions in Scriptures, and the trustworthiness of Bible translations.

2018

• The God Who Speaks, a documentary on the authority and authenticity of the Scriptures was shown, followed by a panel discussion.
• Tim Ternes, Director of The St. John’s Bible spoke on the conception and history of the The St. John’s Bible‘s production.  Permission was not given to video the lecture, but a similar lecture given at The Library of Congress can be viewed online.

2017

• Dr. Paul Maier –  Professor Emeritus of Western Michigan University and a leading Lutheran scholar, on October 31, 2017, delivered two lectures on “Luther and the Bible: the 500^th Anniversary of the Reformation:”  Young Luther and Luther’s Impact.
• Dr. Matthew Barrett – Associate Professor of Christian Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the founder and executive editor of Credo. He is the editor of the 5 solas series by Zondervan and the author of Sola Scriptura.  Unfortunately, Dr. Barrett’s lecture on “Sola Scriptura” was not recorded, however, the lecture he gave at Southern Baptist Seminary on the same subject can be accessed by clicking here.

2016

• Dr. John Fea  – Chair of the Department of History at Messiah College and author of The Bible Cause: A History of the American Bible Society –  “200th Anniversary of the American Bible Society”
• Ad Fontes, Ad Futura: Erasmus’ Bible and the Impact of Scripture, a conference on the 500th anniversary of Erasmus’ Greek New Testament, in conjunction with the Department of Theology.
  • Dr. Craig Evans – “Erasmus and the Beginnings of Textual Fundamentalism”
  • Dr. Timothy George, Dean of Beeson Divinity School and a leading scholar on the theology of the Reformation,  “Erasmus and the Search for the Christian Life”
  • Dr. Herman Seldherhuis– “The Impact of Erasmus’ Biblical Work on the Reformation”
  • Dr. Daniel B. Wallace, Senior Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and executive director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts –  “Erasmus and the Publication of the First Greek New Testament”
• Jonathan Sandys, great-grandson of Winston Churchill and co-author of God and Churchill: How the Great Leader’s Sense of Divine Destiny Changed His Troubled World and Offers Hope for Ours. Jonathan Sandys’ lecture “The Bible and Winston Churchill” was recorded in Belin Chapel.

2015

• Dr. Anton Koekemoer – “Science and Faith”
• Dr. William Edgar – “Heaven in a Nightclub”

Permissions were not granted to video the lectures in 2015.

2014

• Dr. Doug Petrovich, with degrees in theology as well as Syro-Palestinian archaeology, Dr. Petrovich is a specialist in the fields of biblical history and the biblical languages and is experienced in Egyptian hieroglyphics and archaeology. -“Israel in Egypt”.   Permission not granted to video.

• Dr. Bryant Wood – “Khirbet el-Maqatir: A Border Fortress in the Highlands of Canaan and a Proposed New Location for the Ai of Joshua 7-8.”Dr. Wood is Director of Research with the Associates for Biblical Research, consulting editor of Bible and Spade, and ceramic typoligist of the excavations at Khirbet el-Maqtir.  He is author of The Sociology of Pottery in Ancient Palestine: The Ceramic Industry and the Diffusion of Ceramic Style in the Bronze and Iron Ages.
• Dr. Eugene Merrill – “Ai and Old Testament Chronology: Who Cares?” (pdf version) Dr. Merrill is distinguished Professor of Old Testament Interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the author of over 10 books.  He was an associate editor of the New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, a translator of the New King James Version, and the New Living Translation, as well as an editor of the Holman Christian Standard Bible. He is a square supervisor at Khirbet el-Maqatir.
• Dr. Scott Stripling– “Ritual Purity at Khirbet el-Maqatir’s First Century Village and the First Jewish Revolt Against Rome.”  Dr. Stripling is Chair of Humanities and Foreign Languages at Wharton County Junior College, is Director of the Khirbet el-Maqatir excavation, and has supervised excavations at Tall el-Hammam in Jordan and the Temple Mount Salvage Operation in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Trowel and the Truth.
• Dr. Leen Ritmeyer– “Does the Byzantine Church at Maqatir reflect the sacred architecture of the Temple in Jerusalem?” Dr. Ritmeyer is founder of Ritmeyer Archaeological Design, which offers “consultancy on archaeological background and illustration to groups as diverse as Hollywood movie companies, National Geographic, the ESV Study Bible and the new GLO Bible study computer program.” Ritmeyer is architect for the Khirbet el-Maqatir excavation and the premier archaeological architect for Jerusalem and numerous other archaeological sites.

2013

2011-2012

• Gerald Bray-“Translating the Bible from William Tyndale to King James”
  Gerald Bray is research professor of  Divinity History and Doctrine at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. An ordained minister in the Church of England, Dr. Bray is the author of many scholarly articles and books, including three volumes in the Ancient Christian Commentary Series and the just released first volume in the Reformation Commentary Series, on Galatians and Ephesians. His Biblical Interpretation: Past and Present is an excellent treatment of the history of Biblical interpretation. HisTranslating the Bible from William Tyndale to King James, published by The Latimer Trust, provides the theological and historical ancestry of the King James Bible.
• Leonard Greenspoon-“Jewish Origins of the King James Version and its Legacy within Judaism”
  Leonard Greenspoon holds the Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization and Professor of Classical & Near Eastern Studies and of Theology at Creighton University.  Interested in translations of the Bible since his graduate days at Harvard, Dr. Greenspoon has edited or authored numerous books and articles dealing with aspects of translations of the Bible, on topics ranging from the earliest translation of the Bible, the Septuagint, to versions of the Bible composed as recently as last year. Recognized internationally as an expert on the history of Jewish Bible translations, and he has been involved as editor or consultant in two Bible translation projects. He is presently completing a book on Jewish Bible translations for the American Bible Society. In addition to his work on Bible translation.
• Donald Brake-“A Royal Monument of English Literature: The King James Version, 1611-2011”
  Donald Brake is Dean Emeritus, Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Portland, Oregon. Dr. Brake served as a missionary in Ethiopia, President of Jerusalem University College (formerly the Institute of Holy Land Studies), and pastor before becoming Dean at Multnomah. Dr. Brake has avidly collected rare Bibles and manuscripts for over thirty years, amassing one of the most complete private collections of rare English Bibles and Greek New Testaments in America. While Dr. Brake’s collection now resides at Houston Christian University and is exhibited at the Dunham Bible Museum, it can also be viewed in beautiful illustrations in Dr. Brake’s A Visual History of the English Bible and A Visual History of the King James Bible.
• David Jeffrey – “The Power of a Common Text: the KJV and Biblical Authority”
  David Jeffrey has been Distinguished Professor of Literature and Humanities at Baylor University since 2000. He is also Professor Emeritus of English Literature at the University of Ottowa, and has been Guest Professor at Peking University (Beijing) since 1996 and Honorary Professor at the University of International Business and Economics (Beijing) since 2005. Among his numerous awards and honors is the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Conference on Christianity and Literature, awarded in 2003. He has written and edited numerous books. Most pertinent to the subject of this conference are A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature (1992), People of the Book: Christian Identity and Literary Culture (1996),Houses of the Interpreter: Reading Scripture, Reading Culture (2003), The Bible and the University (2007), The King James Bible and the World it Made (2011). He contributed the article ―”Habitual Music – The King James Bible and English Literature” to the American Bible Society’s KJV Study Edition.
• Timothy Larsen– “A People of One Book: The KJV and the Victorians”
  Timothy Larsen is Carolyn and Fred McManis Professor of Christian Thought at Wheaton College. A Fellow of the Royal Society and has been a Visiting Fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge. Dr. Larsen’s research and writing tends to explore theological and intellectual ideas as they were appropriated and wrestled with in specific cultural, social, and historical contexts. Dr. Larsen is the author or editor of over a dozen books, including Crisis of Doubt: Honest Faith in Nineteenth-Century England. Most recently, in time for the KJV’s 400th anniversary, he has published A People of One Book: The Bible and the Victorians, exploring the Bible’s dominant presence in Victorian England.
• Leland Ryken–“Legacy of the King James Bible”
  Leland Ryken is professor of English at Wheaton College and the author of numerous books on the Bible as Literature and Christian perspectives on literature. Among his works are Worldly Saints, ESV Literary Study Bible, The Word of God in English: Criteria for Excellence in Bible Translation, Milton and Scriptural Tradition, The Apocalyptic Vision in Paradise Lost, and The Legacy of the King James Bible.
• Liana Lupas – “Through all the Earth: the King James Bible in America” Liana Lupas is curator of the rare Bible collection of the American Bible Society at the Museum of the Bible in Art (MOBIA). Lupas was Professor of Classics at the University of Romania before she and her husband came to the United States as refugees from communist Romania. Among Lupas’ publications is The Translators to the Reader, an annotated edition of the original preface of the 1611 King James Version, edited along with Erroll Rhodes.
• Robert Sloan – “The Hallelujah Chorus: A Theological Reading of Scripture”
  Robert Sloan is the third President of Houston Christian University, coming to Houston in 2006. Before coming to HCU, Sloan was a faculty member in Baylor’s Department of Religion, the founding dean of the George W. Truett Theological Seminary, and President of Baylor University. Both at Baylor and HCU, Sloan has focused on combining excellence of academic scholarship with a distinctive Christian mission.

• Dr. Peter Williams –“Things Which Ought to be Better Known about the Resurrection of Jesus,” April 2, 2012
  Dr. Williams is the Warden of Tyndale House in Cambridge, England.  Educated at Cambridge University, where he received his MA, MPhil, and PhD in the study of ancient languages related to the Bible, Dr. Williams has been on the faculty of Cambridge University and the University of Aberdeen.  He has written numerous articles and monographs on the Biblical texts and was co-editor of The New Testament in its First Century Setting.

2010-2011

• Dr. John Laing-“The Bible and U.S. Chaplains”PDF
  Dr. Laing is Asst. Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  A member of the Army since 1986, Laing has been U.S. Chaplain since 1997.  Dr. Laing’s book In Jesus’ Name: Evangelicals and Military Chaplaincy was published in 2010, while he was on a tour of duty in Iraq.
• Astronaut Jeff Williams–“The Work of His Hands”
  Jeff Williams holds a BS from West Point, MS and AE degrees from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a MA degree from the Naval War College.  Williams became an astronaut in 1996.  He has logged over 362 days in space on three space flights, the last two for stretches of nearly six months each. Williams, a member of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Houston, reflects on scenes of earth from his Space Shuttle flights, addressing themes of the goodness of divine Providence, God’s care for His creation, and His wisdom in ordering the universe.

2009-2010

• Dr. Daniel Dreisbach-“How the English Bible Shaped American Culture”
  Daniel Dreisbach is Professor in the Department of Justice, Lawn and Society at the American University in Washington, D.C.  He has authored or edited five books and numerous articles on American constitutional law and history, First Amendment law, church-state relations, and criminal procedure.
• Dr. Thomas D. Rossin-“Johann Sebastian Bach: His Bible and His Music”
  Thomas Rossin is a composer, church musician, and the founder and conductor of the choral group Exultate. His choral compositions have been published by Concordia Publishing House and Kjos Music Press. Rossin’s Doctoral dissertation topic from the University of Minnesota was an analysis of the marginal notations made by J.S. Bach in his personal Bible.
• Dr. Ronald White-“The Bible and Lincoln”
  Ronald C. White, Jr. is the author of Lincoln’s Greatest Speech a Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle bestseller, and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and The Eloquent President: a Portrait of Lincoln through His Words, a Los Angeles Times bestseller, and a Book-of-the-Month Club and a History Book Club selection. He is a Fellow at the Huntington Library, Visiting Professor of History at UCLA, and Professor Emeritus of American Religious History at San Francisco Theological Seminary. White’s A. Lincoln was a best-selling biography during the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth.
• Dr. Leland Ryken-“The Bible as a Literary Classic”
  Leland Ryken is professor of English at Wheaton College and the author of numerous books on the Bible as Literature and Christian perspectives on literature. Among his works are Worldly Saints, ESV Literary Study Bible, The Word of God in English: Criteria for Excellence in Bible Translation, Milton and Scriptural Tradition, The Apocalyptic Vision in Paradise Lost, and The Legacy of the King James Bible.
• Dr. David Lyle Jeffrey – “The Bible and Higher Education”
  David Jeffrey has been Distinguished Professor of Literature and Humanities at Baylor University since 2000. He is also Professor Emeritus of English Literature at the University of Ottowa, and has been Guest Professor at Peking University (Beijing) since 1996 and Honorary Professor at the University of International Business and Economics (Beijing) since 2005. Among his numerous awards and honors is the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Conference on Christianity and Literature, awarded in 2003. He has written and edited numerous books. Most pertinent to the subject of this conference are A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature (1992), People of the Book: Christian Identity and Literary Culture (1996), Houses of the Interpreter: Reading Scripture, Reading Culture (2003), The Bible and the University (2007),

2008-2009

• Dr. Charles Ryrie-“A Sampler of the Production, Teaching, and Marketing of the English Bible from Wycliffe through the King James Version”
  Dr. Ryrie is professor emeritus of Dallas Theological Seminary and the author of numerous books, includingThe Ryrie Study Bible. For many years Ryrie has been a collector of rare Bibles and manuscripts.  His Bible collection was the basis of SMU’s Bridwell Library’s major exhibit “Formatting the Word.” In 2004, Ryrie, along with David Price, published Let it Go Among our People: An Illustrated History of the English Bible from John Wycliffe to the King James Version.
• Dr. Naseeb Shaheen – “Biblical References in Shakespeare”
  Naseeb Shaheen was an internationally known authority on Shakespeare, having published five books on biblical references in Shakespeare and Spenser.  His last volume, Biblical References in Shakespeare’s Plays (880 pages), is probably the most quoted Shakespeare book in print. Dr.  Shaheen taught Shakespeare, Literature of the English Renaissance, and The Bible as Literature at the University of Memphis. He died a few months after this lecture.
• Dr. Donald Brake –  “Greek Texts Used in Bible Translations”
  Donald Brake is Dean Emeritus, Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Portland, Oregon. Dr. Brake served as a missionary in Ethiopia, President of Jerusalem University College (formerly the Institute of Holy Land Studies), and pastor before becoming Dean at Multnomah. Dr. Brake has avidly collected rare Bibles and manuscripts for over thirty years, amassing one of the most complete private collections of rare English Bibles and Greek New Testaments in America. While Dr. Brake’s collection now resides at Houston Christian University and is exhibited at the Dunham Bible Museum, it can also be viewed in beautiful illustrations in Dr. Brake’s A Visual History of the English Bible.