2nd Global Smyrna Meeting on the Seven Cities of Revelation

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. 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.

Long is the author of Jesus the Bridegroom (Pickwick, 2012) and he has contributed several articles and book reviews for theological journals. He currently serves as editor of the Journal of Grace Theology. He has served as an interim pastor in Michigan and California and currently serves as teaching pastor at Rush Creek Bible Church, Byron Center, Michigan. He regularly leads trips to Israel for Grace and has done so since 2005.

He routinely blogs at Reading Acts (https://readingacts.com/), and many of his papers are available at Academia.edu (https://gbcol.academia.edu/PhillipLong)

Married to Lori since 1984, he has two daughters, Amy and Caroline.

Dr. Stutzman’s curiosity for the world and commitment to sharing the good news of Jesus began as a teen-ager in British Columbia where his parents were missionaries among Native Americans. Service in Israel, long-term mission assignments in Germany and Australia, a BA from EMU, and MAR from EMS, and a PhD in Religion and Culture from The Catholic University of America, provide the experiential and educational foundation for Dr. Stutzman’s passion for taking students into the world to learn from Jesus and his early followers.

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.

Dr. Jeffrey Weima is Professor of New Testament at Calvin Theological Seminary, where he has taught for 31 years. He is a sought-after speaker who is able to communicate well the truths of the Bible in an interesting, contemporary and practical manner. Jeff has published six books thus far: Neglected Endings: The Significance of the Pauline Letter Closings (Sheffield 1994); An Annotated Bibliography of 1 and 2 Thessalonians (Brill 1998); two commentaries on 1 & 2 Thessalonians--one brief (Zondervan 2002) and the other extensive (710 pages; Baker 2014); and Paul the Ancient Letter Writer: An Introduction to Epistolary Analysis (Baker 2016). His sixth book, The Sermons to the Seven Churches of Revelation: A Commentary & Guide (Baker 2021) won the "NT Commentary of the Year" award. Jeff is also the author of numerous scholarly articles, academic essays and book reviews. He is an active member of several academic societies, lectures in countries all over the world, leads biblical study tours to Greece, Turkey, Israel/Jordan, and Italy, conducts intensive preaching seminars for pastors, and preaches/speaks widely in churches in both the USA and Canada. Jeff and his wife, Bernice, have been married for 39 years. They have four children and nine very cute grandkids.

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.

Sharon L. Baker Putt is Professor of Theology and Religion at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, PA. She earned a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Southern Methodist University and is the author of Razing Hell, Executing God, and A Non-Violent Theology of Love: Peacefully Confessing the Apostles’ Creed. She has traveled with extensively throughout Europe and the Middle-east, and has significant experience traveling abroad with students on cross-cultural trips. Her disciplines are world religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christian theology, specifically in the areas of divine non-violence, atonement, and interfaith theologies.

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. James K. Hoffmeier is Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern History and Archeology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He was born in Egypt and lived there until age sixteen, and returns often for research, excavation, and teaching ministry. He served as Professor of Archaeology and Old Testament at Wheaton College and was chair of Wheaton’s Department of Biblical, Theological, Religious and Archaeological Studies. From 1996 to 1999 he was also director of the Wheaton Archaeology Program.

He was an archaeological editor for the English Standard Version Study Bible, and his books include Israel in Egypt: Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition (Oxford University Press, 1997), Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition (Oxford University Press, 2005), and The Archaeology of the Bible (Oxford: Lion, 2008).

He directed excavations at Tell el-Borg, Sinai, from 1998-2008, and has appeared in and served as a consultant for television programs on the Discovery, History, Learning, and National Geographic Channels. Dr. Hoffmeier teaches and lectures regularly across the USA and internationally.

Associate Professor; Editor, Trinity Journal at Trinity International University

Dr. Harris has been Associate Professor of New Testament since 2013; prior to that she was Assistant Professor from 2010-2013, and adjunct faculty from 2001-2010. Her current research interests include the Epistle to the Hebrews; the Book of Revelation; Greek grammar and syntax; linguistics; hermeneutics; biblical theology; Second Temple Literature (particularly apocalyptic literature); archaeology; and historical backgrounds of the New Testament. She is writing the volume on Hebrews in the Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testaments series (Broadman & Holman, 2017) and is currently working on several projects related to the Book of Revelation. She was also a contributor to the NIV Study Bible (Zondervan, 2015). She has been the editor and book review editor of the Trinity Journal since 2010.

She has taught extensively at retreats, conferences, and adult Sunday school classes, and also teaches Bible and theology classes in various overseas contexts. Prior to coming to Trinity, Dr. Harris was the managing editor of the Hoover Digest, a quarterly academic journal covering public policy, economics, and foreign affairs, published by the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. She coordinated a program, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, that brought young diplomats from former Soviet-satellite countries to Stanford for four-month study programs (1990-1995). As an undergraduate, she double-majored in International Relations and French Studies. Prior to coming to Trinity, she was also extensively involved in ministry.

Bernard Bell is Pastor of Biblical Studies at Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino in California. He has degrees in Geography (MA, Cambridge), Land Surveying (MSc, University College London) and Biblical Studies (MCS, Regent College, Vancouver). Prior to entering the ministry he worked at CERN (Geneva) and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (Stanford, California). He has led ten tours for his church to Israel, Greece and Turkey, all but the first with his wife Susan.

He was born in Ankara in 1966. After primary school he moved to Izmir with his family where he finished High School and University. He graduated from the Tourism and Management Department. After much experience with well-known tourism companies and five star hotels, he received his tour guide license from the government and began guiding tour groups in 1989.

Since 1999, he has been working with TUTKU Educational Travel as vice president and tour guide.

He prepares customized tour programs and he personally guides some TUTKU groups. He also enjoys taking the pictures for TUTKU brochures & websites.