Biography of Ben Holdsworth

Dr. Holdsworth teaches Christian Beliefs, Christian Ethics, Greek 1 & 2, Christian Health and Bioethics, Pauline Epistles (Romans), and New Testament Epistles.

Dr. Holdsworth graduated with a BA in Theology from Columbia Union College in 1980, with minors in Education, Social Studies, and History. In 1987, he completed an MBA at Florida Institute of Technology, and in 2003 earned an MA in New Testament Studies at Newbold College (UK); his Masters thesis focused on the book of Ephesians. He completed his PhD at Durham University (Northern UK) in 2009. His graduate research concentrated on the book of Romans within its first-century context. A copy of his dissertation is posted at http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/214

Dr. Holdsworth serves on a number of Union's committee's and is part of Union's student and spiritual mentoring and leadership development programs. He is also a member of the College View SDA Church.

During College, Dr. Holdsworth spent a year as a student missionary, teaching conversational English and Bible. His teaching career continued at Orlando Junior Academy and Forest Lake Academy, in Orlando, Florida. Upon completing his MBA, he worked for Florida Hospital and Adventist Health System for 11 years, eventually becoming director of Corporate Planning. This was followed by two years of consulting with Lant-Holdsworth Associates in Change Management and Organizational Behavior. Regardless of his occupation, his passion to teach the Bible continued by facilitating adult Sabbath School classes at Markham Woods and Florida Hospital Churches in Orlando, Florida, and at Newbold College and Durham, UK. From 1998 to 2001 Dr. Holdsworth pastored two churches — Plant City and Carrollwood, in Tampa, Florida. He is an ordained minister.

November, 1996: Seventh-Day Adventist Adult Sabbath School Quarterly, Lessons for November 16-22, 1997

January, 2003: M.A. Dissertation: Stealing Social Language: Determining Potential Destinations for Ephesians Based on A Socio-Cultural and Semantic Reading of Ephesians 1 to 3 in Context of the Greco-Roman World (Available from Newbold College)

Autumn, 2004: Andrews University Seminary Studies: The Other Intercessor: The Holy Spirit as Familia-Petitioner in the Father’s ‘Imperial’ Household in Romans 8.26-27

July, 2009: PhD Thesis Submitted to University of Durham, UK. The thesis is entitled, Reading Romans in Rome: A Reception of Romans in the Roman Context of Ethnicity and Faith, available at http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/214

July, 2010: Reading Romans in Rome: An Introduction, A Submission for Spectrum Magazine Online for the July 3, 2010 Sabbath School Lesson Commentary

July, 2010: Reading Romans in Rome: The Law and Justification, A Submission for Spectrum Magazine Online for July 31, 2010.

November, 1993: Sabbath in the Old and New Testament and its Application to Celebration Health, (Position paper, presented, unpublished)

April, 1997: Downtown Community Outreach Focus Groups and Results for Florida Hospital Seventh-Day Adventist Church

May, 2000: Standard Operating Procedures for the Regional Relief Center warehouse management manual for the Florida Conference and State of Florida Division of Emergency Management

October, 2000: Paper Presentation: The Enigma of Four Women in Matthew 1, Newbold College, UK

July, 2003: Paper Presentation: “Paul and Sosthenes in Acts 18” at International Society of Biblical Literature at Cambridge, UK

Autumn, 2004: Andrews University Seminary Studies: The Other Intercessor: The Holy Spirit as Familia-Petitioner in the Father’s ‘Imperial’ Household in Romans 8.26-27

September, 2005: Paper Presentation: “Economic Disruption: A Catalyst for Violence Among Communities of Faith in Roman Palestine,” British New Testament Society, University of Cambridge, UK.

November, 2005: Paper Presentation: “Economic Disruption: A Catalyst for Violence Among Communities of Faith in Roman Palestine,” Newbold College, Bracknell, UK

November, 2005: Paper Presentation: “Economic Disruption: A Catalyst for Violence Among Communities of Faith in Roman Palestine,” Adventist Society of Religious Studies, Philadelphia, PA

November, 2007: Thesis Chapter Presentation: University of Durham, NT Seminar.

Dr. Holdsworth has continued interest in Romans and its initial audience reception, the interaction of Judeans and Egyptians in Rome, and the semantics of faith, piety, and other words in the Pauline epistles primarily borrowed from non-Judean culture. Other topics of interest include the interaction of climate, economics, healthcare, agriculture, geo-politics, religion and cultural change.

The Epistle of Romans and other Pauline Epistles

Acts and the Early Christian Church

The social background of the New Testament and the Greco-Roman world

The other occupant of the Holdsworth home is a rescue cat - Blizzard. He thinks he owns us!

The Holdsworths enjoy walking, music, international food, and travel (not camping). They have nostalgic memories of 8 years in England. They are new to the Midwest and Union College, but have experienced how both are great places to live and work.

Dr. Holdsworth’s wife, Ani, is of Armenian descent and was born and raised in Cyprus, with a short stint in Lebanon. She studied at Newbold College and graduated from Columbia Union College in 1980 with degrees in Communications and Commercial Art. She is a Freelance Graphic Designer.