Dean Timmer Completes Doctorate
After many years of diligent study our dean, Mr. Daniel Timmer, has completed his doctorate in Old Testament studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. Before going to Trinity Dr. Timmer earned his master’s degree in biblical studies from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was especially through courses taken with Dr. Gerald Bilkes at Puritan and Drs. Richard Averbeck, Kevin Vanhoozer and D.A. Carson at Trinity that Dr. Timmer learned to integrate his faith with a close study of the biblical text.
His doctoral thesis focused primarily on theological themes in the book of Exodus, and has equipped him to teach more broadly in the fields of Old and New Testament. Dr. Timmer’s study has enabled him to appreciate the way that Scripture’s diversity functions within, and even contributes to, its overall unity, and this emphasis appears in his courses. Dr. Timmer is also very concerned to come to the text with as much interpretative “appetite” as possible, seeking to reform interpretative ideas and conclusions in light of what the text itself says rather than what the interpreter thinks it says. He remarks that all too often students and theologians alike simply fit Scripture into their own theological categories rather than making their ideas conform to Scripture. Since Scripture points so clearly to Christ, it must not, says Dr. Timmer, be twisted for our own goals.
Dr. Timmer’s being here in Québec was not, unlike his doctorate, a long-planned and patiently pursued endeavor. At first only here to learn French, Dr. Timmer quickly realized the clear need for an engaged, relevant, and deeply Christian interaction with Québecois society. Encouraged by the faculty, Dr. Timmer now has taken a leading role at Farel and continues to learn and write about the Old and New Testaments.
