I have been professor of Old Testament at Northern Baptist Seminary since 1988. Before coming to Northern Baptist, I served as Professor of Old Testament at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri where I taught from 1983-88.
Born in Brazil, I came to the USA in 1963. I am a graduate of California Baptist College, Riverside, California (B. A., 1968), Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Mill Valley, California (M.Div., 1971), The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky (Ph. D. 1983), and has did additional graduate work at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California (1971-1973).
While attending college I pastored churches in Pomona and San Juan Capistrano in Southern California. While I worked on my M.Div., I served as a missionary with the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention with Brazilians and Portuguese who lived in San Francisco. I also served as the speaker for the Portuguese Baptist Hour, a weekly radio program in Portuguese.
After graduating from the seminary, I pastored a Spanish-speaking church in San Jose. In addition to the pastorate in California, I have also pastored in Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois.
In 2000, I served as Vice-President of The National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion (NABPR), and in 2001 served as their President.
I authored Paso a Paso por el Antiguo Testamento, “1 and 2 Chronicles,” published in the Mercer Commentary on the Bible, and “Deuteronomio,” published in the Comentario Biblico Mundo Hispano, Perspective on the Old Testament and Hebrew, and “1 and 2 Kings,” published in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible.
In addition, I have published more than 150 articles and book reviews in English, Spanish, and Russian. My works have been published in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, The Mercer Dictionary of the Bible, The Holman Bible Dictionary, Jewish Bible Quarterly, Perspective in Religious Studies, Biblical Illustrator, Old Testament Abstracts, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, The Journal of Biblical Literature, and Biblical Archaeologist. At the present I am completing a commentary on 1 and 2 Chronicles to be published as part of the New International Biblical Commentary series and several articles to appear in the new Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible.
I live in Illinois with my wife of more than thirty years, Donna, and have three grown sons, JR, Chris and James.
