As an Assistant Professor, my main roles are to teach courses in New Testament (e.g.,
Survey of the Bible, Life and Letters of Paul) and to advise Christian Studies students.
Biography
Dr. Justin Allison grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. Teaching, spiritual care, and scholarship form
Dr. Allison’s sense of vocation as a professor.
Before coming to Ouachita, the Allisons lived in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada (2019-2023).
There Dr. Allison was a professor of New Testament and coordinator of the Christian
Formation and Counselling program at Prairie College, a vibrant Christian college
on the prairies. After moving back home to Arkansas in 2023, Dr. Allison served as
a Chaplain Resident at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock before moving
to Arkadelphia to join the Pruet faculty in the summer of 2024. Since 2022, Dr. Allison
has offered spiritual direction, having graduated from the Selah program offered by
Leadership Transformations Inc.
Author of Saving One Another: Philodemus and Paul on Moral Formation in Community
(Brill, 2020), his research interests focus especially on Paul and ancient greco-roman
philosophy. Other interests include theological interpretation of scripture and Christian
spirituality. Dr. Allison is an Ecclesial Theologian Fellow of the Center for Pastor
Theologians, and a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Evangelical
Theological Society.
Justin and Andrea have been married since 2010, and have three young daughters. Andrea
and Justin both grew up in Southern Baptist churches, but have been enriched by involvement
in other denominations as well (Congregational, Anglican, Christian and Missionary
Alliance).
Q&A
Why did you come to Ouachita?
The features of Ouachita that attract me are the integration of the love of God and
love of learning, a vibrant campus culture, and eager students. Ouachita is also part
of my family story: three generations of my family have attended OBU, beginning with
my grandparents.
Why did you decide to become a professor?
It all started with a love of history, theology, languages, and close reading of scripture
and other ancient texts. Then I discovered the joy of reading with others as a student
and teacher, and things snowballed from there.
Why is your subject an important one in our world?
Learning to read and interpret the New Testament well does not just give you skills,
it forms you for life. This learning process cultivates virtues of self-awareness,
other-awareness, empathy, humility, honesty, perseverance, and attention to detail.
Our world needs these. Even more, for Christians especially, cultivating these virtues
is just one facet of a transforming encounter with God that takes place in reading
scripture.
What do you want future students to know about your degree program?
Christian Studies courses are for everyone. You don’t have to be called to be a Christian
minister or a missionary to take a course on Paul, or to learn ancient Greek (yes
you can!).
What do you like to do in your free time?
- Be with my girls (currently: catching frogs, drawing, Bluey, Nintendo Switch, exploring)
- Be with Andrea (esp. watching sci-fi)
- Be outside attending to nature
- Read natural history books
- Dwarf Fortress
- Pray
What has been a meaningful Bible verse or passage for you?
“Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are
tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For
we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in
part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.
Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians
13:8-12)
Publications
Books:
- 2020 – Saving One Another: Philodemus and Paul on Moral Formation in Community. Ancient
Philosophy & Religion 3. Brill.
Journal Articles:
- 2022 – “The Formation of Love in 1 Corinthians 12–14.” Bulletin of Ecclesial Theology
9.2 (2022)
- 2017 – “Philodemus, Friend of the Many, or Friend of the Δεκτικοί?” The Society for
Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter 18.2 (2017:17–26).
Book Chapters:
- 2019 – “Therapy Session: Paul and Philodemus on Therapy for the Weak” in Paul and
the Giants of Philosophy. Edited by J. Dodson and D. Briones. IVP Academic.
Book Reviews:
- 2017 – Review of Edward Allen Jones III et al., Ecclesia and Ethics: Moral Formation
and the Church (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2016) in Reviews in Religion and Theology
24.2 (2017): 312–314.
- 2016 – Review of Colin D. Miller, The Practice of the Body of Christ: Human Agency
in Pauline Theology after MacIntyre (PTMS 200; Eugene: Pickwick, 2014), in Reviews
in Religion and Theology 23.4 (2016): 562–564.
Non-Academic Publications:
- 2023 – “Advent: Season of Longing.” The Connection, 7 Dec. 2023.
- 2019 – “The Paradox of Hope.” Servant 104, Spring 2019.
Academic Editing:
- 2023 – John L. Moles, “Matthew the Mathete: Sphragis, Authority, Mathesis, Succession,
and Gospel Truth” in The Collected Papers of J. L. Moles. Volume 1. Brill.
- 2020 – Journal of Theological Interpretation 14 (no. 1, 2020): Edited essays for special
issue of JTI arising from the conference “Closing the Gap” at Durham University in
2018.
- 2015 – David W. Chapman and Eckhard J. Schnabel. The Trial and Crucifixion of Jesus:
Texts and Commentary. Mohr Siebeck. Proofreading and referencing.
