Dr. J. Richard Middleton: Weaving an "Existential Web of Meaning" in a Chaotic World

Dr. J. Richard Middleton is Professor Emeritus of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis at Northeastern Seminary and Roberts Wesleyan University, in Rochester, NY.He holds a PhD from the Free University, Amsterdam (in a joint-degree program with the Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto); an MA in Philosophy from the University of Guelph, Canada; and a BTh from the Jamaica Theological Seminary, Kingston, Jamaica.A native of Jamaica, he immigrated to Canada for graduate studies and moved to the USA for a teaching position at Colgate Rochester Divinity School. He is past president of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (2019–2021) and past president of the Canadian-American Theological Association (2011–2014). He is currently a Fellow of Every Voice for Kingdom Diversity and a Scholar with Global Scholars Canada.Middleton’s research area is Old Testament theology with a focus on creation, suffering, and the ethics of power. His vision is to help Christians and interested others gain insight into the empowering worldview of the Scriptures.Dr. Middleton is the author of Abraham’s Silence: The Binding of Isaac, the Suffering of Job, and How to Talk Back to God (Baker Academic, 2021); A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology (Baker Academic, 2014); and The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1 (Brazos, 2005).He co-authored (with Brian Walsh) The Transforming Vision: Shaping a Christian World View (IVP Academic, 1984) and Truth is Stranger than It Used to Be: Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age (IVP Academic, 1995).He is currently working on two new books, one (with Eerdmans) on the power dynamics between prophet and king in 1 Samuel and the other (with Baker Academic) on the biblical worldview for our troubled times.Middleton has co-edited (with Garnett Roper) A Kairos Moment for Caribbean Theology: Ecumenical Voices in Dialogue (Pickwick, 2013) and (with Douglas Cullum) Orthodoxy and Orthopraxis: Essays in Tribute to Paul Livermore (Pickwick, 2020).He has published articles and book chapters on the doctrine of creation; lament prayer and the problem of suffering; the dynamics of human and divine power in the books of Genesis, Samuel, and Job; and the relationship of biblical faith to contemporary science. His books have been published in Korean, French, Indonesian, Spanish, and Portuguese.Richard is married to Marcia, his teenage sweetheart (they met at church in Jamaica); because of their mixed cultural heritage, they regard themselves as “Jamericadians.” They have two sons, Andrew (who lives and works in Abu Dhabi as a sales representative for a tech company) and Kevin (a physician assistant in western New York state).For more details, see Middleton’s bio on the Global Scholars Canada website: https://www.globalscholarscanada.ca/gsc-scholars/richard-middleton/