Mentors and Areas of Interest

You are strongly encouraged to be in communication with your preferred mentor or mentors regarding your proposed research topic prior to submitting your application. Email the program administrator at bts.phd@wheaton.edu, and they will put you in touch with the relevant mentor(s).

Areas of Study

Applicants to the degree will choose a specific mentor and a corresponding area of dissertation interest. Students will choose one of the following concentrations:

• Biblical Theology (Old or New Testament emphasis)
• Systematic (and/or Historical) Theology

Students interested in systematic/historical theology or in Old Testament/New Testament should preference a particular mentor but also indicate whether or not this preference is exclusive. Since topic areas for supervision can overlap, willingness to work with one or more of the other mentors might increase a student's chances for admission. We seek to construct the best overall cohort of students depending on our applicant pool, and the number(s) of new students anticipated by a mentor can sometimes shift throughout the year as previous students complete the program. However, certain topics for study or interests in our program are naturally mentor-specific. 

Additional faculty are available to teach doctoral seminars, serve as resources, and act as secondary readers for dissertations.

Biblical Theology, Old Testament Emphasis

Dr. M. Daniel Carroll R. (Rodas)
Scripture Press Ministries Professor of Biblical Studies and Pedagogy
(No longer admitting new students)

• Theological foundations and themes in OT social ethics

• OT theology and exegesis from ethnic minority (especially Latino/a) and Majority World perspectives

• Literary-theological approaches to OT historical narratives and to the Book of the Twelve.

• Biblical-theological approaches to ancient and contemporary migration and diaspora

• Themes in OT biblical theology, including the mission of God, theodicy, history, and worship 

Dr. Richard Schultz
Blanchard Professor of Old Testament
(No longer admitting new students)

• Wisdom Theology or Wisdom Ethics

• Theological Themes in Isaiah

• Theological Themes in the Prophetic Corpus--especially covenant, eschatology, messianic expectation, nationalism and universalism, and social ethics

• Inner-Biblical Exegetical or OT Intertextual Approaches and Biblical Theology

• Canonical Approaches and Biblical Theology

• Theological Themes in OT Narrative Texts

Dr. Andrew Abernethy
Professor of Old Testament
(Accepting applicants for Fall 2025)

• Isaiah, Psalms, and the Prophets

• Theological/Canonical Interpretation

• Literary-thematic approaches to the Old Testament

• Old Testament theology

• Integration of ancient context, literary analysis, and reception

Biblical Theology, New Testament Emphasis

Rev. Dr. Amy Peeler
Kenneth T. Wessner Professor of Biblical Studies
(Accepting applicants for Fall 2025)

• Epistle to the Hebrews

• Mary in the NT

• Gender in the NT

• Select topics in the Synoptic Gospels, especially Mark

Dr. Esau McCaulley
The Jonathan Blanchard Associate Professor of New Testament and Public Theology
(Accepting applicants for Fall 2025)

• Topics in Pauline Theology and Exegesis (Particularly the letters of Galatians, Philemon, Colossians, and Ephesians)

• African American Biblical Interpretation and Theology (and other contextually informed Exegesis)

• New Testament Ethics (especially topics related to the Roman military and it's policing powers, slavery, and justice)

• Intertextuality

• Luke/Acts

Systematic/Historical Theology Emphasis

Dr. Marc Cortez
Professor of Theology
(Accepting applicants for Fall 2025)

• Theological Anthropology (esp. the image of God, the body/soul relationship, human sexuality, race/culture, and theologies of disability)
  
  
• The Doctrine of Creation (the God/world relation, the Spirit in creation, creatio ex nihilo, ecological theology)
  
  
• Global and Contextual Theology (the nature of culture, the impact of cultural context on theology, particular expressions of contextual theology)
  
  
• Historical Theology (esp. patristic theology, Jonathan Edwards, and Karl Barth)

Dr. Daniel Treier
Ph.D. Program Director, Gunther H. Knoedler Professor of Theology
(Accepting applicants for Fall 2025)

• Theological ethics and theology of culture (especially engaging figures like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jacques Ellul, and/or Oliver O’Donovan)

• Christology, Trinity, and soteriology (especially engaging Pauline studies dogmatically)

• Prolegomena and theological interpretation of Scripture (especially engaging figures like Kevin Vanhoozer and/or John Webster)

• Other topics in evangelical and modern systematic theology (especially engaging figures like Herman Bavinck and/or Katherine Sonderegger)

Additional Faculty Resources

In addition to the mentors listed above, students in the Ph.D. program are able to learn from biblical and theological studies faculty and faculty from related disciplines.