Master of Divinity Program

Old Testament

Miles Van Pelt

The curriculum for the Old Testament is designed to equip students with the tools necessary for a lifetime of studying, preaching, and teaching, the Word of God. We begin by teaching students Hebrew as the necessary first step. From the original language, we move to Hebrew exegesis where the student learns how to understand all of the different parts of a text. From Hebrew exegesis, we move into Old Testament biblical theology where students begin to discover how all the “parts” fit together into a unified whole. We cannot emphasize enough, however, the significance of the original languages in a curriculum designed for the training of pastors. In the words of Martin Luther (1524), “Let us be sure of this, we will not long preserve the gospel without the languages. The languages are the sheath in which this sword of the Spirit is contained; they are casket in which this jewel is enshrined; they are the vessel in which this wine is held; they are the larder in which this food is stored; and, as the gospel itself points out, they are baskets in which are kept these loaves and fishes and fragments. If through our neglect we let the languages go (which God Forbid!), we shall … lose the gospel.”