Rev. Dr. Blake Franze (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) serves as Assistant Professor of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary. In this role, his core teaching focus is on Acts & Paul’s letters, as well as NT Greek. Previously, Dr. Franze taught as an Adjunct Professor of NT here at Westminster while completing his PhD.
Dr. Franze’s primary research area is in Pauline theology. His dissertation was titled, “The Grace of Reward: A Study in Pauline Charitology.” In it, he argues that Paul configures the eschatological rewards promised to Israel (e.g., Gen 15:1, Ps 62:12) as granted in God’s undeserved gift of Christ. He is continuing research in that area, as well as in Second Temple Jewish conceptions of divine grace. Current projects also include a commentary on 2 Corinthians and studies in the history of interpretation of that letter. Dr. Franze’s academic interests also include the Second Temple Jewish interpretation of the Old Testament, the application of linguistics for biblical exegesis (see his article on metaphor theory), and the soteriology of the Apostolic Fathers. He is currently supervising and open to supervising PhD/ThM projects in these and related areas. Dr. Franze is an active member of both ETS and SBL. He is ordained in the PCA and his family attends Christ the King Presbyterian Church (Conshohocken, PA).
Education
- PhD in NT, Westminster Theological Seminary, 2025
- MDiv, Westminster Theological Seminary, 2021
- BA in Biblical Studies and Philosophy, University of Northwestern—St. Paul, 2016
Courses
- Greek 1 (NT 001)
- Greek 2 (NT 002)
- Greek 3 (NT 003)
- NT Interpretation: Acts & the Pauline Epistles (NT 223)
- Greece Study Tour elective
- Readings in Second Temple Judaism (NT 791)
- Readings in New Testament Introduction and Theology (NT 921)
- Inner-Biblical Interpretation (NT 941)