UPDATE: HBU President Robert B. Sloan, Jr. and Interim Provost Cynthia Simpson are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Craig Evans as Dean of the School of Christian Thought. Dr. Evans will begin serving in this position effective January 1, 2016.

President Sloan said, “Craig Evans will provide outstanding leadership as the new Dean of our School of Christian Thought. His own record of scholarship will serve as an example to us all, and his faithfulness will be an inspiration as well. We look forward to seeing enrollments grow in both undergraduate and graduate programs as Dr. Evans’s leadership brings increased visibility to the school.”

We are grateful to Dr. Ben Blackwell for his past leadership as Interim Dean of the School of Christian Thought. Dr. Blackwell will continue in his role as Director of the Master of Theological Studies program.

Dr. Evans is one of the foremost scholars alive today in the study of the historical Jesus, focusing especially on his death and resurrection. Evans has lectured at several prominent universities and seminaries around the world, including Cambridge, Durham, and Oxford in the United Kingdom, Princeton and Yale in the United States, and Hebrew University and Ben Gurion University in Israel. Uniquely skilled to communicate biblical scholarship through the media, Dr. Evans has reaffirmed the uniqueness and supremacy of Jesus Christ to millions of people in 284 television. Dr. Evans has published more than 70 books and over 500 journal articles and reviews. Dr. Evans’s books have been translated into several languages and reach around the globe. His academic and popular books include Fabricating Jesus (IVP Books, 2008), From Jesus to the Church: The First Christian Generation (Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), Jesus, The Final Days: What Really Happened (Westminster John Knox Press, 2009) co-authored with N. T. Wright, and Matthew (Cambridge University Press, 2012). His latest book is God Speaks: What He Says, What He Means (Worthy Publishing, 2015). God Speaks addresses the Biblical illiteracy that is so prevalent in our culture. Many people, both in the church and outside it, simply don’t know what is in the Bible. Dr. Evans lays it out in an easy to understand way while defending the reliability and integrity of the Bible—why its message should be trusted.

 

Craig invited to meet Pope Francis, at the Vatican, Rome, Italy

HBU President Robert B. Sloan Jr. remarked,“It is exciting to me to see the fruition of Houston Baptist University’s Ten Pillars vision as it continues to attract the finest faculty in the world. For most of my academic life I have read, admired, and benefited from the scholarship of Craig Evans. In recent years he has become a dear friend, and now it is a great pleasure to bring Professor Evans and his wife, Ginny, to Houston and to have him as a colleague at HBU. I envision the many ways our University will utilize Dr. Evans’s remarkable scholarship, years of study, archaeological excavation in Israel, and vast international contacts to extend his reach, mentorship, and biblical fidelity to students across the nation and beyond.”

Looking forward to his work at HBU, Dr. Evans expects to be able to play a major role in the future development of online programs. He brings significant expertise and experience to our faculty that will boost many programs in the graduate school. He will be extensively involved in the Christian Thinkers Society. He also hopes, through connections he has in Israel, to develop opportunities for students to study Hebrew and archaeology in the Holy Land.

Interviewed by Stone Phillips, for Dateline NBC’s “The Last Days of Jesus” Craig and Ginny with Mark Burnett and Roma Downey at the premier of THE BIBLE series Filming a series of segments for “Day of Discovery” with the Institute for Biblical Research In Nazareth filming the BBC documentary, “The Miracles of Jesus” Craig and Ginny once again visiting Kando’s Antiquities Shop in Behlehem