Joining Biola University’s staff after studying at Oxford University is Assistant Professor Jeffrey Volkmer. Volkmer is currently writing his dissertation to obtain his Ph.D from Oxford, and has also attended the University of Hawaii and Dallas Theological Seminary.
As part of the Biblical and Theological Studies Department, he is currently teaching Old Testament History and Literature, Old Testament Theology, and Themes in the Pentateuch.
Volkmer was born and raised in Rochester, NY and eventually moved around the world to Hawaii, Dallas, the United Kingdom and Southern California.
“I loved the UK a lot but I missed Costco and Target a lot, and I missed Chipotle. I was really looking forward to coming back and getting some really good Mexican food,” said Volkmer.
“It was great moving back. We had a lot of family and friends already down here so it was really an easy transition for us,” said Volkmer, who added that Biola faculty and students have been more than welcoming.
He recently celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary with his wife, Jessica. The couple have two children, Grace, 8, and John, 5.
While in Oxford, Volkmer enjoyed the family aspect of exploring a new country.
One of their Friday night traditions in England was to buy Palestinian food and watch a movie together.
“I would put on all my rain stuff and go out at night and get us all ka-bobs, and then we would rent a movie and watch it together as a family,” said Volkmer.
Volkmer family traditions have changed slightly since coming to Southern California. He says they now watch PBS’ “Nature” as a family on Sunday nights. Nature itself also plays a part in one of his favorite hobbies.
“I’m really big into road cycling,” revealed Volkmer, who said some of his most intense spiritual experiences have been while riding his bike in the English countryside or riding up a mountain at sunrise.
“I really feel the presence of God in some of those situations,” said Volkmer.
Volkmer has felt God leading him into the academic world and away from his original intention of becoming a pastor.
“I went to seminary in order to go back to Hawaii to plant a church,” he said of his original career plan.
“When I was in seminary, I took my first Hebrew class and I just fell in love with the Hebrew language. Nothing made the New Testament make sense more than the Old Testament did,” Volkmer explained as his reason for studying Old Testament text criticism.
His studies focused on the formation of the Old Testament and its passing down through the generations.
“We as evangelical Christians say that we follow the Bible, but I think a necessary question is, ‘What is the Bible?’ And that’s the question that I really like.”
One of the professor’s main interests is integrating faith and technology. He feels social networks such as Facebook and Twitter provide ample opportunity for students to share Christ and to learn how others view the world from differing worldviews.
“I think that the Internet gives us unprecedented levels of access to places that have been closed before,” Volkmer said.
Included in these new places are articles and commentaries online that can help Christians more fully interact with their faith, according to Volkmer including Bible.org, where Volkmer himself has several published articles
Volkmer served as a pastor last year before joining Biola’s staff.
“I felt God calling me more toward an academic route instead of a pastoral route. At the same time, I feel like my pastoral heart has never died.”
