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Jon C. Laansma
Associate Professor of Ancient Languages & New Testament
On faculty since 2003

Phone: (630) 752-5769
Jon.C.Laansma@wheaton.edu
Education

Ph.D., New Testament, University of Aberdeen, 1995

M.Div., Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary, 1989

B.R.E., Grand Rapids Baptist College, 1984
 
Professional and Personal Interests
Knowledge of the original languages is neither a necessary nor a sufficient cause of good biblical interpretation, but it is a very important contributory cause. There are a great many who do not know any Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic who are better interpreters than many who do. Those without the languages may possess the all important skills and virtues of reading and understanding, of historical investigation, and of integrative reflection. They may engage in humble dialogue with the tradition and with their contemporaries to an extent that their linguistic limitations are more than compensated for. Too often those who have studied one or more of the biblical languages possess only a narrow band of technical skills applied artlessly and without hermeneutical wisdom to isolated texts. Through arrogance or naiveté they may imagine that knowledge of the languages is the key to unlock the meaning of the text. They work much mischief. Comparing the best of the former with the worst of the latter, this general point cannot be denied. It remains true, however, that any reader at all would be immeasurably better equipped with the knowledge of the original languages than without. Where the opportunity to learn the languages is denied there is hope. But where the opportunity is spurned there can be only blame. "In so far as we love the Gospel, to that extent let us study the ancient tongues." Yet Martin Luther, to whom that line has been attributed, certainly had no narrow view of the reading of Scripture. On a piece of paper found near him at the time of his death Luther had written, "No one can understand Virgil's Georgics unless he has been a farmer for five years. No one can understand Cicero's letters unless he has busied himself in the affairs of a great empire for twenty-five years. No one can presume to have indulged in Holy Scriptures sufficiently unless he were in charge of all the churches for one hundred years with the prophets Elijah and Elisha, John the Baptist, Christ, and the Apostles. Do not seize hold of this divine Aeneid, but adore its tracks with humility. We are beggars, this is true." Indeed, for many of us who have found so much enjoyment in the exegesis of the Scriptures in the original languages our interest was not first of all linguistic but antecedently one of love for our Savior and his holy Word. This has been and remains fundamentally an act of worship.

I hail from Grand Rapids, Michigan, the seventh child of nine. The privilege of spending my life in the Scriptures has been shared since 1984 with my wife Lisa, and since 1995 with our daughter. Lisa and I lived in Aberdeen, Scotland, from 1990 to 1994. Since 1996 Wheaton has been home. Beyond family, I particularly enjoy reading, traveling, the outdoors, and Big Ten football. In my younger days I enjoyed skiing and hunting. Alas,no longer. We fellowship at College Church in Wheaton where I co-teach a Greek Exegesis Sunday School class. During the spring of 2004 I accompanied several pastors and educators from College Church on a trip to Kenya and Uganda for the purposes of learning and providing training. Since that trip I have been working along with others at the church toward a larger strategy for future ventures of this nature. Before joining the faculty of Wheaton College I spent seven memorable years teaching at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.


Courses Taught
  • Greek Grammar I & II (GREK 101-102)
  • Exegesis of Hebrews (BITH/GREK 451)
  • Exegesis of the Pastoral Epistles (BITH/GREK 451)
  • Exegesis of 2 Corinthians (BITH 646)
  • Advanced Koine Reading (GREK 334)
  • New Testament Criticism (BITH 452)
  • New Testament Literature (BITH 213)

Membership in Professional Societies

  • Society of Biblical Literature
  • Institute of Biblical Research
  • Evangelical Theological Society

Research
Dr. Laansma's research interests are biblical Greek and New Testament exegesis, Hebrews, the Pastoral Epistles, the Old Testament in the New Testament, New Testament history and theology, and recent discussions in linguistics and hermeneutics as they bear on these fields.

Publications and Presentations
2 Timothy and Titus, NLT Commentary Series (Tyndale House Publishers), forthcoming.

“Hebrews,” in the Dictionary of the Theological Interpretation of Scripture (Baker), forthcoming.

“Pastoral Epistles” in the New Living Translation Study Bible (Tyndale House Publishers), forthcoming.

“Review of ‘Encountering the Book of Hebrews,’ by Don Hagner,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 46/2 (2003), 353-355.

“Rest (Work),” in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, eds. Desmond Alexander and Brian Rosner (InterVarsity Press, 2000), 727-732.

“Mysticism,” in Dictionary of New Testament Backgrounds, eds. Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter (InterVarsity Press, 2000), 725-737.

“Peace,” in Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments, eds. Ralph Martin and Peter H. Davids (InterVarsity Press, 1997), 893-900.

“Lord’s Day,” in Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments, eds. Ralph Martin and Peter H. Davids (InterVarsity Press, 1997), 679-686.

‘I Will Give You Rest’ The Rest Motif in the New Testament with Special Reference to Mt 11 and Heb 3-4, WUNT 2/98 (J.C.B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck]), 1997.