Faculty Profile

Study & Teaching Interests

  • The book of Hebrews
  • The doctrine of Revelation
  • Hermeneutics and cross-cultural interpretation
  • The relationship between the Old and New Testaments
  • Christianity and Islam

Dr. Gareth Cockerill, Ph.D.

Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology
601-366-8880, ext. 114 | Email

Education

  • B.A., Southern Wesleyan University
  • M.Div., Asbury Theological Seminary
  • Th.M., Union Theological Seminary
  • Ph.D., Union Theological Seminary

Biography

Dr. Gareth Lee Cockerill has been Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Wesley Biblical Seminary since 1984. He is an ordained minister of the Wesleyan Church who served with his wife Rosa for nine years as a missionary in Sierra Leone, West Africa, where they were engaged in evangelism, teaching, administration, and medical ministries.

Professor Cockerill has written Hebrews - A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition (Wesleyan Publishing House, 1999). He is one of the contributors to Four Views on the Warning Passages in Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2006) and his essay “Melchizedek without Speculation: Hebrews 7:1-25 and Genesis 14:17-24” apeared in A Crowd of Witnesses: The Theology of Hebrews in its Ancient Context, (LNTS, T&T Clark, 2008). He wrote Guidebook for Pilgrims to the Heavenly City (William Carey Library, 2002) for use in discipling Muslim background believers. He also published “Guidebook for Pilgrims to the Heavenly City, Building Bridges or Syncretism: A Test Case,” in Contextualization and Syncretism: Navigating Cultural Currents, (EMS #13, William Carey Library, 2006). Dr. Cockerill has contributed chapters to several popular-level books. He is currently completing a commentary on Hebrews to be published by Eerdman's in the New International Commentary on the New Testament series.

Dr. Cockerill has also published articles or book reviews in Tyndale Bulletin, Bulletin for Biblical Research, Journal of Biblical Literature, The Evangelical Quarterly, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Interpretation, and Missiology. He has read papers at national meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the Evangelical Missiological Society.

In addition to scholarly articles and research, Professor Cockerill preaches and teaches in churches and camps. The Cockerills have three adult daughters, two sons-in-law, and two grandchildren.