Antioch Seminar on Paul & Peter

Dr. Mark Wilson is the founder and director of the Asia Minor Research Center in Antalya, Turkey, a country in which he and his wife Dindy have lived since 2004. He received a D.Litt. et Phil. from the University of South Africa (Pretoria) where he serves as a Research Fellow in Biblical Archaeology. He is a Visiting Professor of Early Christianity at Regent University and also Professor Extraordinary Discipline Group Old & New Testament at Stellenbosch University. Mark regularly leads study trips for the Biblical Archaeology Society to Turkey, Cyprus, and Greece. He also blogs periodically for Bible History Daily. He is the author and editor of numerous books, articles, and reviews including Biblical Turkey: A Guide to the Jewish and Christian Sites of Asia Minor. His particular research interest is the ancient Jewish communities, Roman roads, and Biblical routes in Turkey. Mark has been married to Dindy for thirty-nine years; they have four adult children, four grandsons and four granddaughters.

Dr. David A. deSilva, PhD is Trustees’ Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek and an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. He is the author of over twenty-five books, including Day of Atonement: A Novel of the Maccabean Revolt (Kregel, 2015), The Jewish Teachers of Jesus, James, and Jude: What Earliest Christianity Learned from the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (Oxford, 2012), Seeing Things John’s Way: The Rhetoric of Revelation(Westminster John Knox, 2009), An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation (InterVaristy, 2004), Introducing the Apocrypha (Baker Academic, 2002), Honor, Patronage, Kinship & Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture (InterVarsity, 2000), and Perseverance in Gratitude: A Socio-rhetorical Commentary on the Letter “to the Hebrews” (Eerdmans, 2000). He was involved in several major Bible translation projects, serving as the Apocrypha Editor for the Common English Bible and working on the revision of the Apocrypha for the English Standard Version. He has also created several video resources and Mobile Ed courses for Faithlife, including “The Apocrypha: Witness Between the Testaments” (BI 291), “The Cultural World of the New Testament” (NT 201), and “Interpreting the Epistle to the Hebrews” (NT TBA).

Dr. Ronald Herms joined Fresno Pacific University (FPU), drawn by its educational and spiritual mission. FPU Provost Stephen Varvis highlighted Herms’ deep theological expertise and extensive experience in Christian higher education as valuable assets for the university community. Herms aims to position the School of Humanities, Religion and Social Sciences (HRSS) as FPU's "centering voice," emphasizing that these disciplines foster essential values like beauty, faith, compassion, and historical perspective.

Previously, the Canadian-born scholar served at Northwest University as an associate professor, department chair, and graduate program director. Herms holds degrees from Vanguard College, Northwest University, Regent College, and a Ph.D. from Durham University. He and his wife, Kathy, have four children.

EDUCATION: Ph.D., Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (2007), M.Div., Mid-America Seminary in Memphis (2002), B.A., Clear Creek Baptist Bible College, (1998)

TEACHING SPECIALIZATIONS: New Testament, The Apocalypse of John

Jason Borges (Ph.D. Durham University) is an American scholar who has lived in Turkey with his family since 2017. He lived in Cappadocia for four years, and since 2021 he has lived in Antalya, where he works at the Asia Minor Research Center doing biblical research and training. Borges regularly leads study tours to biblical sites in Turkey. He often trains Turkish tour guides on Turkey’s biblical and Christian history. He has published books and articles related to the background and history of early Christianity. Borges is a member of SBL, ETS, and EABS. His research interests include honor-shame values, ancient travel, and the social history of early Christianity. His websites include www.CappadociaHistory.com and www.BiblicalTurkey.org. 

Bible scholar Ben Witherington is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and on the doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University in Scotland. A graduate of UNC, Chapel Hill, he went on to receive the M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Durham in England. He is now considered one of the top evangelical scholars in the world, and is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies. Witherington has also taught at Ashland Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University, Duke Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell. A popular lecturer, Witherington has presented seminars for churches, colleges and biblical meetings not only in the United States but also in England, Estonia, Russia, Europe, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia. He has also led tours to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt.

Douglas Jacoby is a Bible teacher who has served as a minister on church staff for 20 years, in London, Birmingham, Sydney, Stockholm, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and Washington DC, Douglas. Since 2003 he has worked as a freelance teacher and consultant.

Douglas has engaged in a number of public debates (Islam, atheism, theology, Judaism). He also serves an adjunct professor of theology at Lincoln Christian University and professor of theology in the Rocky Mountain School of Theology and Ministry. With degrees from Drew, Harvard, and Duke, Douglas has written 35 books, recorded nearly 900 podcasts, and spoken in over 100 universities, and in over 500 cities, in 126 nations around the world. Douglas has led 25 tours to the biblical world. The Jacobys have three adult children. Douglas and his wife, Vicki, reside in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Dr. Fairchild received his Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from Drew University. He also completed Ph.D. coursework at Union Theological Seminary (NY) and Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. Fairchild has twice received research grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 1992, he collaborated with 11 other scholars at Yeshiva University exploring the Greek encounter with Judaism during the Hellenistic Period. In 2002, he joined 20 other scholars at the University of Chicago to investigate societal transformations and the legitimization of power in the early Islamic states.

Fairchild’s recent discovery of two previously unknown ancient synagogues in Turkey (including the world’s oldest known synagogue) was published in the Biblical Archaeology Review in 2012. Research at this ancient synagogue was also published in the Journal of Ancient Judaism in 2014. The Biblical Archaeology Review also published Fairchild’s research on St. Paul’s first mission from Perga to Antioch (2013) and another article on the biblical city of Laodicea (2017). Fairchild’s book on Christian Origins in Ephesus and Asia Minor (originally published in 2015) has been expanded and a second edition is currently available with Hendrickson Publishers (2017).

Dr. Fairchild is currently the Program Director for the Ephesus Meeting, an academic conference at the ancient site of Ephesus in Turkey. He annually travels to Turkey, Greece, Israel, Egypt and Jordan for research and to conduct study tours.