Faculty Profile: Dr. Caleb Friedeman

Dr. Caleb T. Friedeman recently joined Ohio Christian University’s Religion Department as Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies. A disciple of Jesus Christ with a passion to serve the Church as a pastor-theologian, Friedeman brings to the department the heart of a pastor and the mind of a scholar.

Friedeman holds a B.A. in Ancient Languages from Asbury University, an M.A. in Biblical Literature from Wesley Biblical Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Biblical Theology (New Testament) from Wheaton College. His doctoral dissertation focused on the Christology of Luke chapters 1 and 2 and its relationship to the rest of Luke and Acts.

“In the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel,” Friedeman explains, “characters in the narrative such as Gabriel, Elizabeth, and Zechariah call Jesus ‘Messiah,’ ‘Son of God,’ and ‘Lord.’ These features have put Luke 1–2 center stage in discussions of Lucan Christology, particularly the question of whether Luke presents Jesus as God. However, they also create a tension within the narrative, because in the body of the Gospel no one seems to know these things about Jesus—they have to be discovered. While some scholars explain this discontinuity by saying that the traditions in Luke 1–2 are much later than the rest of the gospel, I argue that Luke presents these chapters as a Christological mystery that the rest of his narrative unveils.”

Friedeman has been active in scholarship. He is editor of Listen, Understand, Obey: Essays on Hebrews in Honor of Gareth Lee Cockerill (Pickwick, 2017), a volume to which he also contributed an essay. He has written articles for Lexham Bible Dictionary and contributed to Discovering the Septuagint: A Guided Reader by Karen Jobes (Kregel, 2016). A number of his popular-level articles appear on Seedbed.com, and he has been featured in Seedbed’s Seven Minute Seminary series. He is currently editing a substantial reference volume and plans to publish his dissertation soon.

Friedeman has a deep love for the church and is an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene, having served as Associate Pastor at DaySpring Community Church of the Nazarene (Clinton, MS) and Associate Pastor of Christian Education at Trinity Church of the Nazarene (Naperville, IL). 

Of many talents, Friedeman sings and plays acoustic and electric guitars and piano. He was a featured tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah and in 2013 sang a lead role in Les Misérables. Friedeman was a competitive powerlifter in high school and still hits the gym several times per week to stay in shape.

“At OCU,” says Friedeman, “I want to shape the hearts and minds of students to prepare them to be witnesses for Christ both here and around the world.” Dr. Friedeman is currently teaching Acts, Hermeneutics of the New Testament, and Christianity, Culture, and Worldview, and is starting a discipleship group to create a space for mentoring students outside the classroom.