Heilsgeschichte

Welcome to Heilsgeschichte.com, a biblioblog run by Drew J. Strait. This blog is primarily an opportunity for me to network with fellow students and scholars; however, I welcome visits from friends and family who are curious about what exactly Bible-nerds do with their time. In case you are curious, Heilsgeschichte is German for "salvation history" and evokes a strand of scholarship committed to uncovering and understanding God's salvation rooted in history.

What is a biblioblog? Biblioblogs are dynamic networking tools for students and scholars of the Bible. In my own experience, biblioblogs have augmented my graduate education and allowed me a window into the robust world of cutting-edge biblical scholarship. For a complete listing of biblioblogs, click here.

Who is Drew? At this point, you have probably gathered that I am a graduate student and, yes, I have a Goldendoodle named "Mollie." She is far fluffier and prettier than myself—-we spend many hours walking and reading together. Mollie and I also live with my beautiful wife Dana, a Ph.D. candidate in Music Cognition at Northwestern University. For insight into Dana’s research in Music and Neuroscience, see her NPR interview here and an article about her research on abcnews.com here. We are a true family of students living in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago—-even Mollie is an expert in Squirrel anatomy from ventures at our local park.

My own studies have led me to three institutions thus far. I first studied theology as an undergrad at Whitworth University (2004), followed by two years of teaching theology and working with Haitian refugees in Barahona, Dominican Republic. We thereafter moved to Chicago, where I recently completed an M.A. in New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School with a thesis titled, "Luke's Sermon on the Plain and the Restoration of Israel: Luke 6:12-20 as Prolegommenon." I am now continuing my studies at the University of Chicago, where I undertake coursework to prepare for a Ph.D. in New Testament. My studies focus on Luke-Acts, Second Temple Judaism, Eschatology, and the History of Biblical Interpretation, among many other exciting topics. These topics are in constant conversation with my passion for the church. Consequently, I am an interim pastor at an urban Mennonite congregation called Living Water Community Church. It is within this context that I invest my ideas in an evolving community that seeks to transcend ethnicity and live out the politics of Jesus.