Ashland University’s seminary faculty took a customized approach to my specific lifelong learning interests while working towards my MA in Biblical Studies. They always encouraged me to take specialized electives. I was privileged to study all of the following in English translation during this program: the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Jewish Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphal Literature and the major extant classical rhetorical handbooks such as Aristotle’s Art of Rhetoric and Pseudo-Cicero’s Rhetorica ad Herennium. I was also privileged to take an Introduction to Archaeology course prior to a three-week study tour of Israel in association with Jerusalem University College. In fact, the professor of that course personally tutored me on how to barter with the major antiquities dealer in Israel, and I ended up purchasing oil lamps and jugs from six different historical periods while there. Moreover, my study of Biblical Hebrew ushered me into the rich Jewish heritage and essence of the Messianic way of life, and for that reason alone I shall forever be indebted to Ashland Theological Seminary (ATS). This led to a wondrous transformation in my life from a fishbowl-like Christian perspective to an oceanic-like Messianic worldview and way of life. I am so thankful for the stellar education I received at ATS, as it prepared me well for the subsequent graduate studies I was strongly encouraged to pursue. During the course of my degree program, I was also introduced to the Society of Biblical Literature and warmly welcomed into the world of critical scholarly dialogue. What a wondrous entry into the field of Biblical Studies Ashland University gave me!
