Bingham views classroom as ‘an environment for mutual edification’

World-class Patristics scholar, noted author, and respected professor. These credentials and his 6-foot, 7-inch frame could make Jeffrey Bingham seem intimidating, but his students give him high marks for his approachability and his engaging lectures in the classroom.

Bingham, research professor of historical theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, also holds the Jesse Hendley Chair of Biblical Theology. Teaching initially was not in his plans; as a youth, Bingham intended to pursue a career in finance.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Bingham lived overseas for the first 17 years of his life. His father worked for an international corporation and moved the family from South America to the Persian Gulf, Thailand, and Africa.

Bingham said his conversion to Christianity was “the fruit of a very long investment in me by my sister Marti.” His sister had come to Christ a few years before he did, he said, adding that “Marti was a faithful evangelist to her little brother” and would regularly remind him of the Gospel and invite him to the Christian gatherings and meetings she attended.

Shortly after his parents moved to Tunis, Tunisia, his family was staying in a hotel because they hadn’t yet found a house, he said. His parents had left to take care of some business, leaving him alone in the hotel room. With no television shows available in English, and having read all the books and comic books he’d brought, Bingham said, “I was reduced to the Bible.”

Bingham said he opened the Bible to the Gospel of Matthew and started reading.

“And then, inexplicably, supernaturally, I was convinced that everything Matthew was saying about the Lord Jesus was true,” he recalled. “And I left the hotel room, went for a walk with my dog, and trusted in Christ for my salvation.”

Bingham said his parents decided to retire to Las Cruces, New Mexico, and it was there at Bethel Bible Fellowship that he “really got my grounding in the Bible, where I got my grounding in theology, and where I began to experience an insatiable hunger for theological thinking.”

Bingham graduated from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces with a degree in business. His plan, he said, was to gain some theological training and make a living in finance and investments but also volunteer in the church.

He began attending Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) and took a class under Craig Blaising, currently senior professor of theology in the School of Theology at Southwestern.

“My first class under him convinced me that I loved theology and theological thinking and the history of theology more than I wanted to be in business working with investments,” Bingham recalled.

He began thinking about full-time ministry but wasn’t sure whether he would serve in a pastorate, as a missionary overseas, or would teach in a college or seminary.

He “didn’t really care” either, he said, adding that upon reading Scripture, “it seemed clear to me that it wasn’t really ultimate what kind of ministry you were doing as long as you were faithful to teaching truth and loving others. And so you could do that in a pastoral ministry; you could do that as an evangelist or as a missionary; you could do that as a teacher in a classroom.”

Bingham earned his Master of Theology degree at DTS, then pastored a church in West Texas before returning to DTS to pursue his Doctor of Philosophy in theological studies. He met his wife, Pamela, his first year back at the Dallas seminary and they married a short time later. They were attending different churches when they met, he said, but “decided to start our marriage together by attending a brand-new church for both of us.”

They joined First Baptist Church of Dallas and have been members ever since. Bingham also teaches a Sunday School class at the church.

Bingham taught at DTS for many years before taking an administrative and teaching role at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. While at Wheaton, he was contacted about the position of dean of the School of Theology at Southwestern Seminary.

“And it wasn’t a difficult choice to say yes,” he noted.

Bingham’s teaching philosophy is that the classroom is “an environment for mutual edification.” As the teacher, he said, his purpose is to edify the students by presenting them with “crucial, theological, biblically derived theology, which is also informed by the history of Christianity,” and to train and equip them for their own ministry, whatever it might be.

Bingham said he finds that as he interacts with students, they end up edifying him with their questions and discussions.

“So the classroom ends up being a place where the Spirit of God is doing His work,” he said. “And that work is the work of mutual edification of the body of Christ, as believers bless each other with the gifts that they themselves have received from the Spirit, whether it’s teaching, or whether it’s blessing others in some way.”

Coleman Ford, assistant professor of humanities at Texas Baptist College, was Bingham’s student at DTS.

“It was not uncommon to see a jaw drop in class as Dr. Bingham unpacked church history and explored Christian theology,” he said. “For me, he made church history come alive, helping me to see Christianity as a living tradition filled with saints who loved the church and loved the Scriptures.”

Ford said he still refers to his notes from classes with Bingham, adding, “I would not be where I am today without his academic ministry. And now to say I am a colleague of Dr. Bingham is something I could never have believed possible. I continue to benefit from his influence, his teaching, his writing, and his ministry to the students and colleagues of the SWBTS community.”

Gabriel Ward said he was “introduced to [Bingham’s] captivating lecture style” in his first theology class at Southwestern Seminary. Ward earned his Master of Divinity degree at Southwestern and currently is pursuing his Doctor of Philosophy in systematic theology.

“I have never seen such masterful use of illustrations as I have with Dr. Bingham,” Ward said. “He likes to tell stories, and his use of humor in the classroom makes it nearly impossible to allow your mind to drift off, even for a three-hour-long class on a Monday afternoon.”

Ward noted that Bingham’s focus is not on stories and illustrations, however.

“He takes his job seriously, and the conviction he teaches with in the classroom shows the eagerness he has for his students to grow as disciples of Christ,” Ward said.

Ethan “Sully” Sowers was pursuing a different course of study until he had a class under Bingham. That class, and talking with Bingham one-on-one, led Sowers to change his degree plan to the Master of Divinity in the School of Theology.

“I think I just wanted more academic rigor,” he said. “I really wanted to be pushed in my academic studies of the Bible and Christian studies.”

Sowers said Bingham “speaks with authority when it comes to the Scriptures,” but also gives his personal opinion, making it clear which is which.

“I have heard it said he’s one of the top minds in evangelical thought,” Sowers said.

Outside the classroom, Bingham meets with a group of students through an online Faculty Mentorship Group, and also meets with students in person or via Zoom to discuss their questions or talk about theological issues.

In his spare time, Bingham said he only has “one really serious hobby, and that’s fishing.” He prefers saltwater fishing, “but if I can’t get to the coast, then freshwater fishing is a satisfactory alternative and substitute.”

As for the biggest fish he’s ever caught, Bingham said it “probably would have been a marlin.”