Education

Palm Beach Atlantic University, B.A.
Dallas Theological Seminary, Th.M.
University of Edinburgh, Ph.D.
Queen’s University, Belfast, PGCHET

About Dr. Cole

Prior to joining the faculty of RTS Orlando in 2021, Dr. Cole taught for five years at a Presbyterian seminary in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Now he serves as Associate Professor of New Testament at RTS and teaches core classes on Biblical Greek and New Testament.
Dr. Cole developed a passion for biblical languages and theology during his undergraduate years, and has since been engaged in academic study of the Bible, its origins, and its meaning. His research interests include textual criticism, manuscripts, New Testament exegesis in general, and Paul’s letters in particular. His doctoral thesis focused on aspects of early Christian book culture, and it was published by Brill.
As an ordained minister with years of experience as a pastor, Dr. Cole is particularly concerned that his students learn to apply their knowledge and skills in biblical studies to contemporary ministry situations. He lives in Oviedo with his wife, Kayla, and their three daughters.

Publications

BOOK

  • Numerals in Early Greek New Testament: Text-Critical, Scribal, and Theological Studies, New Testament Tools, Studies, and Documents 53. Leiden: Brill, 2017.

SELECT ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS

  • “The Date of Codex Sinaiticus: Revisiting Milne and Skeat’s Numerical Argument.” Journal of Theological Studies (forthcoming).
  • “The Chester Beatty Old Testament Papyri and the Communal Reading of Christian Scripture.” TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism 24 (2019), 1–19.
  • “Myths about Copyists: The Scribes Who Copied our Earliest Manuscripts.” Pages 132–151 in Myths and Mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism. Edited by Elijah Hixson and Peter J. Gurry. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Academic, 2019.
  • “P45 and the Problem of the Seventy(-two): A Case for the Longer Reading in Luke 10.1–17.” New Testament Studies 63.2 (2017), 203–221.
  • “Coincidence of Numerical Abbreviations in the Western Paulines: Implications for Textual Relatedness.” Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete 62.2 (2016), 350–360.
  • “An Unseen Paleographical Problem with Milne and Skeat’s Dictation Theory of Codex Sinaiticus.” Journal of Biblical Literature 135.1 (2016), 103–107.
  • with Elijah Hixson, “A Majuscule Lectionary Manuscript of John’s Gospel at the University of Edinburgh.” Expository Times 127.6 (2016), 261–268.
  • “Evaluating Scribal Freedom and Fidelity: Number-Writing Techniques in Codex Washingtonianus.” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 52 (2015), 225–238.