Education: B.A., Double Major: Preaching and Biblical Studies, Johnson University; M.Div., Concentration in Old Testament, Emmanuel School of Religion; M.A., Near Eastern Studies, Johns Hopkins University; Ph.D., Near Eastern Studies (Hebrew Bible and Northwest Semitics), Johns Hopkins University
Ministry Experience: Past ministry roles include: summer staff at Oil Belt Christian Service Camp, Flora, IL; pastoral ministry intern, Toledo Christian Church, Toledo, IL; regular guest preacher and teacher at various churches in Illinois and Tennessee; interim worship coordinator at Grandview Christian Church in Johnson City, TN; elder, Sunday school teacher, and education team leader at First Christian Church in Baltimore, MD; lay preacher, adult education committee member, lay ministry class instructor, and “Scholar in Residence” at Church of the Ascension in Knoxville, TN.
Prof. Bean has been teaching for Emmanuel since 2015 and began a full-time role in 2019. Bean teaches classes in Old Testament, Hebrew, archaeology, and the history of biblical interpretation for the MDiv, MAR, MACM, and DMin programs. Previously, Bean taught for Loyola University of Maryland and Johnson University. Bean loves teaching classes in biblical studies and especially values leading students on the full journey of engaging the sacred texts of the Old Testament: their interaction with the vibrant ancient Near Eastern context, their individual contributions to the canonical witness of Scripture, and the history of their interpretation from early Christianity and Judaism through modernity. Bean also enjoys the journey of guiding students through the challenge of learning Biblical Hebrew and beginning to grapple with the texts of the Bible in their original languages. He guides his teaching efforts towards the cultivation of student aptitudes in informed and responsible reading of Scripture and in biblically-inspired moral discernment in life.
Bean’s academic work focuses on the comparative study of the religion of ancient Israel and the broader ancient Near East, as well as on the epigraphic and philological study of Northwest Semitic texts. Bean has peer-reviewed articles published in Levant and forthcoming with SBL Press, as well as assorted articles in major reference works, including the Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical and Post-biblical Antiquity. His dissertation analyzes the use of various divine names in the Old Testament within the context of complexities and ambiguities in the identification of deities in Israel’s neighboring religions in antiquity.
Bean’s hobby interests include all things outdoors, especially hiking in the southern Appalachian mountains and dabbling in nature photography and amateur ecological studies. He is passionate about (re)connecting people of faith with science and nature, and has completed a certificate in Southern Appalachian Naturalist Studies from the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont and the University of Tennessee.