Speaker Details

Dr. John Bergsma

An Scripture scholar with special interest in the Old Testament and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Dr. John Bergsma has been an Associate Professor of Theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville since 2004.

Received into the Catholic Church in 2001, Dr. Bergsma is a former Protestant pastor who holds the Master of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees from Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He went on to receive his Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame, defending his dissertation, “The Jubilee from Leviticus to Qumran” in 2004 with High Honors.

A Senior Fellow at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology since 2003, Dr. Bergsma reads eight modern and ancient languages, including Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Aramaic. His publications include one book, The Jubilee from Leviticus to Qumran (Brill Academic, 2007) and over twenty essays, articles, and entries on the Dead Sea Scrolls, Salvation History, Gnosticism, Sexuality in the Old Testament, the Jubilee Year, and many other topics in Biblical Theology.  Dr. Bergsma speaks frequently on a wide variety of biblical topics both on and off campus.  Many of his talks and presentations are available on CD or DVD.

A popular teacher, Dr. Bergsma’s classes are eagerly sought out by students who appreciate how he breaks open the Scriptures with a knowledge and love of God’s word.  One graduate student commented, “Dr. Bergsma is one of the most passionate professors I have ever had. His knowledge, passion, and love for the Holy Scriptures pours forth in each class.” Another student remarked that with Bergsma as his teacher, “Even the book of Numbers became fun to study!”

Dr. Bergsma resides in Steubenville with his wife, Dawn, and their seven children.

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