Peter Vogt

Academics Faculty

Peter Vogt

Email: p-vogt@bethel.edu

Job Titles

Highlight

As the Dean of Bethel Seminary today, Peter is passionate about striving to be a radically counter-cultural follower of Jesus and helping others grow in their capacity in this area as well. His responsibilities include casting a vision for robust online education, partnership with local churches and denominations, identifying ways of serving alumni and local pastors, maintaining all aspects of accreditation for degree programs, representing the seminary to internal and external partners, and supervising faculty.

Started at Bethel

2001-2014 as Professor, 2019 as Dean

Education

  • University of Gloucestershire - Ph.D. , 2003
  • Bethel Seminary - M.Div., 1997
  • American University - B.A., Foreign Affairs, 1989

Biography

Dr. Vogt has close ties to Bethel Seminary, graduating in 1997 with an M.Div. and returning in 2001 to serve as a full-time faculty member in Old Testament. In between, he earned a Ph.D. in Old Testament at the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham, England, writing his dissertation on Deuteronomy. During his Bethel tenure, he moved from being assistant professor to tenured full professor between 2001 and 2014, publishing two books and numerous papers in that time, as well as developed a hermeneutics curriculum incorporating speech-act theory. He also chaired influential seminary committees, and served as the seminary's interim vice president and dean. In 2014, Vogt was called to a senior pastorate at Trinity Baptist Church, a Converge church more than 140 years old in Maplewood, Minnesota. As pastor of this established church in a changing neighborhood, Vogt led a process of surveying local community needs and responding in a strategic way, including a name change to LifePoint Church. 

As the Dean of Bethel Seminary today, Peter is passionate about striving to be a radically counter-cultural follower of Jesus and helping others grow in their capacity in this area as well. His responsibilities include casting a vision for robust online education, partnership with local churches and denominations, identifying ways of serving alumni and local pastors, maintaining all aspects of accreditation for degree programs, representing the seminary to internal and external partners, and supervising faculty. 

Courses Taught

  • BT510 - Hermeneutics
  • GS780 - Senior Integrative Seminar
  • OT501 - Genesis - Ruth (English and Hebrew)
  • OT502 - 1 Samuel - Song of Songs (English and Hebrew)
  • OT514 - The Old Testament & The Interpreter
  • OT516 - Old Testament Survey
  • OT518 - Old Testament Exegetical Explorations
  • OT541 - Beginning Hebrew 
  • OT542 - Intermediate Hebrew 
  • OT601 - Exposition of Genesis
  • OT603 - Exposition of Deuteronomy 
  • OT716 - Old Testament Theology 

Awards

  • 2014 Faculty Excellence Award, Bethel Seminary
  • 2005 Faculty Excellence Award, Bethel Seminary
  • 1997 Bethel Theological Seminary Faculty Award: the highest student honor, awarded to the graduating Master of Divinity student with the most outstanding cumulative academic record.
  • Dr. Karl J. Karlson and Dr. Karl E. Karlson Memorial Scholarship for Postgraduate Studies: awarded to graduating student with greatest potential for doctoral studies
  • National Hebrew Honor Society (Eta Beta Rho)
  • Listed in Who's Who Among American College and University Students, 1996
  • U.S. Navy Achievement Medal
  • Honor Graduate, The George Washington University Naval Reserve Officer's Training Corps Unit, Washington, DC
  • Dean's List, The American University, Washington, DC

Publications

2017 - "Deuteronomy: A History of Interpretation and Evangelical Responses," in Sepher Torath Mosheh: Studies in the Composition and Interpretation of Deuteronomy, ed. Daniel I. Block and Richard Schultz.  Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.

2015 - "The Faith Commitment of a Moabite," Devotions on the Hebrew Bible: 54 Reflections to Inspire and Instruct, ed. Lee M. Fields and Milton Eng.  Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

2013 - "'These Are the Words Moses Spoke': Implied Audience and a Case for a Pre-Monarchic Dating of Deuteronomy," in For Our Good Always: Essays on Deuteronomy's Message and Influence, ed. J. DeRouchie, K. Turner, and J. Gile.  Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

2012 - "Centralisation and Decentralisation in Deuteronomy: Sacrifice, Worship, and the Deuteronomic Vision," in Interpreting Deuteronomy, ed. D. Firth and P. Johnston.  Downers Grove: InterVarsity.

2011 - "The Passover in Exodus and Deuteronomy: An Introductory Examination."  In A God of Faithfulness: Essays in Honour of J. Gordon McConville on His 60th Birthday, ed. Jamie Grant, Alison Lo, and Gordon Wenham.  London: T&T Clark.

2009 - Interpreting the Pentateuch: An Exegetical Handbook.  Grand Rapids: Kregel.

2009 - "Letters to Gretchen: What Good Are Biblical Languages in Real Life Ministry?"  Heart & Mind (Spring 2009): 22-24, 26 (with Jeannine K. Brown).

2008 - "Social Justice and the Vision of Deuteronomy," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 51,1 (2008): 35-44.

2006 - Deuteronomic Theology and the Significance of Torah: A Reappraisal.  Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.

2006 -  "A Biblical Perspective on Homosexuality," Heart & Mind (Spring 2006): 29-38 (with Mark L. Strauss).

2002 - Review of The Elders of the City: A Study of the Elders-Laws in Deuteronomy, by T.M. Willis, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 45,4 (2002): 689-90.

1999 - Review of Choose Life! Theology and Ethics in Deuteronomy by J.G. Millar, Deuteronomy: The God Who Keeps Promises, by P.A. Barker, Themelios 25 (1999): 76-77.

1997 - (With Herbert V. Klem and Robert V. Rakestraw) "Global Christian Theology: An Annotated Bibliography with Emphasis on Non-White Theologians," Bethel Theological Seminary, St. Paul, MN, electronic document available at: http://www.bethel.edu/seminary_academics/gensem/pvogt/GlobalTheology.htm

Presentations

2019 - "Stories and Standards: The Worst and Best of Biblical Sexuality" NAE Talk, National Association of Evangelicals, St. Paul, MN, October 16, 2019.

2015 -  "Deuteronomy: A History of Interpretation and Evangelical Responses," Debating Deuteronomy: A Colloquium on the Torah of Moses. Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL, September 24-26, 2015.

2011-  "The Construct of the 'Implied Author' and the Date of Deuteronomy: Deuteronomy 2:1-23 as a Test Case" Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 17, 2011.

2011 -  "Centralisation and Decentralisation in Deuteronomy: Sacrifice, Worship, and the Deuteronomic Vision" Tyndale Fellowship Old Testament Study Group, Cambridge, United Kingdom, July 6, 2011.

2008 - "Communicative Language Learning for Biblical Hebrew" (with members of the COHELET project) National Association of Professors of Hebrew Annual Meeting, Boston, November 23, 2008.

2007 - "The Passover in Exodus and Deuteronomy: An Introductory Examination" Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting, San Diego, November 15, 2007.

2007 - "Hebrew and Greek Acquisition in a Digital Age" (with Jeannine K. Brown) Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting, November 16, 2007.

2006 - "'Love Thy Neighbor': The Church's Response to Homosexuality," Bethel Seminar, BGC/Bethel University Fire & Reign Conference, Saint Paul, MN, June 28, 2006.

2005 - "Social Justice and the Vision of Deuteronomy," Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, November 16, 2005.

2004 - "A Re-Appraisal of Profane Slaughter in Deuteronomy 12,," Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, November 19, 2004

2004 - "Deuteronomy's Vision and the Christian Church," Bethel Seminar, Baptist General Conference Annual Meeting, Fresno, CA, June 28, 2004

2002 - "'There Shall Be No Poor Among You': Deuteronomy's Vision and the Christian Church," Presentation Address, Bethel Theological Seminary, March 28, 2002

2000 - "Deuteronomy as Torah," Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN,  November 16, 2000

2000 - "The Theology of Deuteronomy: Centralization or Supremacy?" Post-Graduate Research Seminar, School of Theology and Religious Studies, Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education, Cheltenham, England, January 24, 2000.

Professional Organizations, Committees, and Boards

  • Evangelical Theological Society
  • Society of Biblical Literature
  • Tyndale Fellowship
  • Fellow, Institute for Biblical Research

Hobbies and Interests

When he's not at Bethel, he enjoys being with his wife and 5 kids and, if he had any spare time, playing the hammered dulcimer, reading, and watching movies.