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In this episode of 12-Minute Convos with Jesus Believers, Engel Jones connects with theologian, author, and retired professor Dr. J. Richard Middleton, joining the show from Rochester, New York. Dr. Middleton shares his rich childhood growing up in Jamaica as the oldest of four siblings. He reflects on his father a devoted Christian who served in the police force and eventually rose to become Jamaica’s Commissioner of Police in the 1970s under Prime Minister Michael Manley. He vulnerably details the precise starting point of his faith: the day his father sat him down on a big rock in their backyard to tell him about Jesus, leading to his salvation at age 11.
Dr. Middleton also opens up about his mother’s unique background she was originally Jewish but converted alongside his father at a tent meeting led by a Welsh evangelist. He shares how, as a shy, introverted teenager trying to make sense of a chaotic world, he began standing on the streets of New Kingston at age 17 to engage in deep, respectful dialogues with Rastafarians. This unique experience birthed his passion for theology, which he pursued not as an elite, "ivory tower" academic exercise, but as an existential quest to weave a "web of meaning".
Now, having formally retired from academic teaching two years ago, Dr. Middleton is stepping into a prolific writing season, including submitting a new manuscript and preparing a rewrite of his landmark co-authored book, The Transforming Vision. If you are seeking a deeper, more robust faith that welcomes hard questions, Dr. Middleton's passionate reminder that studying God is not a bottomless pit of dry rules, but an experience of infinite joy, will powerfully anchor your soul!
Guest's Bio
Dr. J. Richard Middleton is Professor Emeritus of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis at Northeastern Seminary and Roberts Wesleyan University, in Rochester, NY.
He holds a PhD from the Free University, Amsterdam (in a joint-degree program with the Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto); an MA in Philosophy from the University of Guelph, Canada; and a BTh from the Jamaica Theological Seminary, Kingston, Jamaica.
A native of Jamaica, he immigrated to Canada for graduate studies and moved to the USA for a teaching position at Colgate Rochester Divinity School. He is past president of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (2019–2021) and past president of the Canadian-American Theological Association (2011–2014). He is currently a Fellow of Every Voice for Kingdom Diversity and a Scholar with Global Scholars Canada.
Middleton’s research area is Old Testament theology with a focus on creation, suffering, and the ethics of power. His vision is to help Christians and interested others gain insight into the empowering worldview of the Scriptures.
Dr. Middleton is the author of Abraham’s Silence: The Binding of Isaac, the Suffering of Job, and How to Talk Back to God (Baker Academic, 2021); A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology (Baker Academic, 2014); and The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1 (Brazos, 2005).
He co-authored (with Brian Walsh) The Transforming Vision: Shaping a Christian World View (IVP Academic, 1984) and Truth is Stranger than It Used to Be: Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age (IVP Academic, 1995).
He is currently working on two new books, one (with Eerdmans) on the power dynamics between prophet and king in 1 Samuel and the other (with Baker Academic) on the biblical worldview for our troubled times.
Middleton has co-edited (with Garnett Roper) A Kairos Moment for Caribbean Theology: Ecumenical Voices in Dialogue (Pickwick, 2013) and (with Douglas Cullum) Orthodoxy and Orthopraxis: Essays in Tribute to Paul Livermore (Pickwick, 2020).
He has published articles and book chapters on the doctrine of creation; lament prayer and the problem of suffering; the dynamics of human and divine power in the books of Genesis, Samuel, and Job; and the relationship of biblical faith to contemporary science. His books have been published in Korean, French, Indonesian, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Richard is married to Marcia, his teenage sweetheart (they met at church in Jamaica); because of their mixed cultural heritage, they regard themselves as “Jamericadians.” They have two sons, Andrew (who lives and works in Abu Dhabi as a sales representative for a tech company) and Kevin (a physician assistant in western New York state).
For more details, see Middleton’s bio on the Global Scholars Canada website: https://www.globalscholarscanada.ca/gsc-scholars/richard-middleton/