September 30, 2019
Wheaton College welcomes Dr. Esau McCaulley, who is serving the College as an Assistant Professor of New Testament in the Biblical and Theological Studies program.
Name: Esau McCaulley
Education:
Ph.D., University of St Andrews, New Testament, 2017
M.A., Nashotah House Theological Seminary, Sacred Theology, 2012
M.Div., Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, 2005
B.A., The University of the South, History, 2002
What was your favorite class in college? Why?
I will choose two. The first is a class on African American fiction because the books were amazing and the other was a class on African American history. Both professors made the class come alive through great lectures.
Before Wheaton, what were you doing?
I taught New Testament at Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, NY. Before that I was in graduate school. Before that I did a host of jobs including high teacher, youth minister, college minister, assistant pastor, and pastor (on three different continents)!
What big question are you trying to answer through your work?
I am not sure there is one question that I am pursuing. I am enthralled by the Scriptures and often find myself thinking that whatever text that I am reading is the most important thing in the world. I am more concerned with formation of students. I would say that as a result of my teaching and scholarship, I want students to have confidence that the texts of the Old and New Testaments can and should serve as reliable, authoritative guides for faith and practice and that the Scriptures deserve to be read, studied, and lived in community. Second, I want to create in them a theological imagination in which a high view of Scripture and a commitment to holiness of life exists alongside a desire to contend for most vulnerable among us as a part of our Christian witness.
What’s one interesting or intriguing thing that you have learned recently?
I have learned that I truly have wonderful colleagues here at Wheaton, and the students are great as well!
Do you get butterflies the night before the first day of school?
I am not sure that I would say that I am filled with butterflies, but I do get a bit anxious now and again.
What would you have liked to tell the freshman version of yourself about going to college?
God can do infinitely more than you can ask or imagine. Trust him. All will be well.
When you’re not teaching or researching, what do you like to do?
I like to spend time with my wonderful wife (Mandy) and our four amazing if rowdy children (Luke, Clare, Peter, and Miriam). I also enjoy a good work of fiction preferably sci-fi or fantasy.
Read more about the Biblical and Theological Studies program here.