Tom’s early career as an engineer explains his interest in inventions and his attempts to solve problems. His birthplace, Liverpool, explains his support for the football club of the same name.
Leaving his employment as a scientific instrument maker in his early twenties to train for Christian service, Tom moved to Glasgow to study at the Bible Training Institute in Glasgow (now the International Christian College). He then went to London Bible College (now London School of Theology) to study for a London University BD. After graduation, Tom was called to be the founding pastor of a church in Hertfordshire, where he ministered for 18 years. At the conclusion of this ministry he began to teach at WEST, commuting between Hertfordshire and Bridgend for a further 18 years. During this time, he led a church plant in another Hertfordshire town – both churches continue to witness to the gospel. With his wife, Barbara, he left Hertfordshire to live in Bridgend in 2007.
Tom’s academic interests were sparked when, early in his first pastorate, he began preaching through Romans. He noted problems acknowledged by the main commentators were, to his own mind, unsatisfactorily resolved. This intrigued him and led him to delve into them. A long period of research followed, culminating in a doctoral thesis on Paul’s OT background. Tom believes this context resolves the difficulties that he and others have encountered, not only in Paul’s letters but also in the rest of the New Testament.
His PhD was awarded by the University of Wales and he has gone on to publish several books: Contours of Pauline Theology and Romans The Divine Marriage, and a shorter practical book on prayer called Talking It Over. He has written reviews for Christian newspapers and theological journals, and has had articles published in a range of journals. He is presently writing a book on New Testament Christology.
Tom has been a guest lecturer in many institutions around the world and is an internationally recognised authority on Pauline Studies.
His research interests are Pauline Studies and the Four Gospels, and he is particularly interested to hear from potential PhD students who want to study in the area of the New Exodus promises of the Old Testament and their influence on New Testament theology.
Role
Director of Biblical Studies, MTh Programme Leader, Senior Lecturer in New Testament
Qualifications
DipTheol, University of Cambridge; BD, University of London; PhD, University of Wales
Modules taught
TH6802 Pauline Studies
TH7803 The Practice of Modern Hermeneutics
TH7805 Scriptural Studies in Christology and Soteriology.
Research supervision
Research Director of Studies, University of Wales, Trinity-St David’s.
Successful supervision of numerous MTh, MPhil and PhD (14) students.
Education
BD, London University, 1971.
PhD in Pauline Studies, University of Wales, 1996. Thesis title: The Paschal-New Exodus Motif in Paul’s letter to the Romans with Special Reference to its Christological Significance.
Employment
1993-present. Full time lecturer in New Testament studies, Wales Evangelical School of Theology, Bridgend, Wales
1997-2006. Part time Founding Pastor-teaching elder, Christchurch Baldock
1991-1993. Part time lecturer in New Testament studies, Wales Evangelical School of Theology, Bridgend, Wales
1991-1993. Part time teacher of religious education/maths/ IT, Samuel Whitbread Community College, Shefford, Bedfordshire, England
1971-1973. Part time and 1973-1990 Full time: Founding Pastor, Grange Baptist Church, Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England
1971-1973. Full time teacher of religious education/maths/ technical studies/ general studies/ IT at Sir Fredric Osborn Comprehensive School, Welwyn Garden City,Hertfordshire, England. 1972: awarded teacher status by the department of education
1959-1964. Apprentice Scientific Maker, Elliotts (Liverpool) Ltd, Liverpool.
Miscellaneous
Papers delivered to the Tyndale Fellowship Conference Cambridge 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 and the guest lecturer of the Tyndale lecture in biblical theology 2009.
Visiting lecturer to various conferences colleges and universities in South Korea, Nepal, Russia, Poland, New Zealand, Singapore & USA
Internal examiner for the University of Wales.
External examiner for PhD Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Publications
“Firstborn and the Passover” Foundations, 10, (1983) 21-44.
“The servant of the Lord: a study in its New Testament significance”, Foundations, 19 (1987) 1-11
Contours of Pauline Theology, Christian Focus, Fearn, Scotland, 2004 (http://www.tomholland.org.uk)
“Firstborn and the Colossian Hymn” THJ (Singapore) Vol 12 (2004) 22-53
“Individualism and the People of God”, Evangel 23:3 (2005)
“A Case of Mistaken Identity: The Harlot and the Church (1 Corinthians 5-6)”, ATI 1:1 (2008) 56-69
“Romans: The Divine Marriage, A Biblical Theological Commentary”, Wipf & Stock, 2011. (www.romansthedivinemarriage.com)
In preparation: “Paul, Law and Spirit”.
Contact
Email address: tomholland@west.org.uk