Steve Runge   

BIBLICAL SCHOLAR + LINGUIST

The summer after my first year of seminary was transformational for my development as a scholar. I spent eight weeks in southern Ethiopia teaching local pastors and students what I had learned. I quickly realized that the academic questions we wrestled with in class were more a distraction than an aid to everyday exegesis. What’s more, there were few viable pathways for these believers to gain enough competency in the Biblical languages to create culturally relevant commentaries and exegetical resources to bypass the West.

God used my frustration about this situation to instill a passion for developing practical, cross-linguistic tools that give pastors and teachers access to insights from Greek and Hebrew study without requiring advanced degrees in these fields. I learned that North American believers faced the very same challenges, despite access to advanced training. The focus on grammar and translation as the outcome generally fails to equip readers to interpret the Biblical writers’ grammatical, syntactic, and pragmatic choices as signposts to guide their processing of the text.

This vision motivated me through 14 years of framing and siding houses to fund my part-time graduate study during this same period. I earned a Master’s in Theological Studies (MTS) in Biblical Languages (Hebrew Bible) from the Associated Canadian Theological Schools (ACTS) Seminaries at Trinity Western University in British Columbia, Canada, and a Doctor of Literature (D.Litt) in Biblical Languages (Hebrew Bible) from the Department of Ancient Studies at Stellenbosch University in South Africa under Prof. Christo Van der Merwe. My experience as a tradesman has shaped my practical approach to problem-solving as a scholar. One might say that I’ve traded my skills in building one type of framework for another.

The day after I submitted my dissertation for defense I joined Faithlife/Logos Bible Software as a Scholar-in-Residence, where I helped create exegetical tools, books, and databases designed to democratize access to insight from Greek and Hebrew.

After nearly 15 years at Faithlife/Logos Bible Software, I started Everyday Exegesis to focus on training and equipping at an accessible level. Although I have delivered lectures at leading theological schools in the U.K. and U.S., my passion remains focused on helping Christians gain greater confidence in their teaching while also saving time in their preparation. This passion also extends to anyone wanting to further their own personal Bible study. The cross-linguistic nature of the Everyday Exegesis materials means that they can be localized for use by translators and church leaders working in languages other than English.

I am a follower of Jesus, husband to Kristi, and dad to Ruth, Abby, and Jonah. Creating and presenting content at Everyday Exegesis is a chance for me to pass on what I've learned in a more accessible way than my day job in publications. I serve as Scholar-In-Residence at Clear Bible, Inc. (formerly Global Bible Initiative), a research lab developing resources and training to support Bible translation efforts in the majority world, especially people without much background in biblical languages.

You can connect with Steve through our Contact Us page. 

 Jason Peters 

 PASTOR +  ADJUNCT PROFESSOR

I was introduced to Dr. Runge’s Discourse Grammar while in my 7th course toward a master’s in New Testament Greek. I had read and largely understood the usual suspects that a person would read in a traditional graduate school program — and I still had questions, mainly exegetical ones that I couldn’t find answers to.

I read chapter one of the book and while it was eye-opening, I was really overwhelmed. Then, I read chapter two and my view of New Testament exegesis immediately began to shift. Steve’s brilliant chapter on what connectives are actually doing in the text answered many questions I and my classmates were discussing. As I read the remaining chapters, more and more questions were being answered and formed. I honestly believe his expertise through writing, media, or personal interaction will benefit every single person who is serious about exegesis and exposition of the text.

I share Steve’s vision and passion for providing practical resources for folks in ministry. I’ve benefited tremendously in learning from Steve about cognitive linguistics (poetics, pragmatics, discourse processing), discourse analysis, homiletical strategies based on discourse genre, and how to incorporate discourse features into preaching and teaching — all without sounding intimidating or arrogant. This has had dramatic improvement both in my confidence in getting to the author’s communicative intent and in how I actually preach and teach the text.

My role at Everyday Exegesis is being the voice in Steve’s ear about the practical challenges Christian workers face every day in their study and presentation action of Scripture. This input is critical to making Everyday Exegesis a go-to place to learn what you won’t learn anywhere else — how to actually implement and understand integrative exegesis. We would love to add your voice to this mix to help us better understand what tools and resources to develop.

Personally, I am a follower of Jesus, husband to Maggie, and dad to Clark, Marigrace, and Faith, all of whom I love very much.

Professionally, I am a full-time pastor at Oak Hill Bible Church in
Austin, TX, and an adjunct professor in New Testament Greek at Grace School of Theology in The Woodlands, TX.

Connect with Jason via email.

  Kristi Runge   

MANAGING EDITOR

As a pastor’s daughter, I remember studying different versions of the Bible — NASB, Ryrie Study Bible, ESV, The Message — and everything in between. As a lover of language’s nuances, I’d often reflect on how just one changed word in a verse or passage could alter my whole perspective on what I perceived as the meaning. It left me pondering. I knew that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, but I still wondered, “What is the true meaning and intent here? What does God really want me to know?” Beyond this, I wanted to understand the framework, the bigger picture. What was happening culturally and historically to make the Biblical writers phrase things the way they did for the intended spiritual message?

I continued to channel this journalistic and spiritual curiosity first at The Master’s University, then at The University of Texas in Austin where I earned a degree in Journalism and Public Relations. Like Steve, I bring an integrative and holistic approach to my work, which I’ve applied to a career ranging from public relations executive, to classical music festival administrative director, to managing editor and content creator at AOL/Huffington Post and LaLaPow (Austin-based digital media agency). I’m also well-versed in creating successful social media strategies for businesses, and am currently incubating a new project to help churches take the mystery out of social media and leverage it to stay connected with their congregations beyond the Sunday service.

Like Steve, it is my hope that whatever your reasons for wanting to dig deeper into the text, you can do so with greater confidence and efficiency. I am not a Bible scholar or teacher (though I married one!), but I’d like to think that I represent many of us who truly want to dig in and understand His Word so that we can more meaningfully apply it to our daily lives.

To that end — and with more of a layperson’s perspective — I am happy to put my professional skill set to work and partner with Steve to create meaningful content and generally help hold down the fort in our little corner of the Internet here. Apart from this, I suppose you could say that I am a gratefully imperfect Christian, an even more imperfect wife, an embarrassingly doting mom, and a bona fide word nerd.

Connect with Kristi via email.