Faculty Profiles

Dr. Carroll is half-Guatemalan and was raised bilingual and bicultural. In his youth, he spent many summers in Guatemala and later taught at El Seminario Teológico Centroamericano in Guatemala City for thirteen years. The realities of Central America sparked Dr. Carroll's fascination with the Old Testament. The relevance of the biblical text for the challenges of poverty, war, and politics in those developing countries led him to a passionate focus on Old Testament social ethics and the social sciences.

In addition, his studies in English literature and literary theory have generated an ongoing engagement with literary approaches to the Old Testament and critical studies. Experiences in this country and abroad have led him to a deep appreciation for the unique contributions that ethnic minorities, women, and the global church make to the interpretation of the Old Testament. Before coming to Wheaton, Dr. Carroll taught Old Testament at Denver Seminary for many years and founded a Spanish-language lay training program there. At Wheaton, he hopes to model a commitment to connecting careful biblical scholarship with the mission of the church as it engages today’s complex realities. Dr. Carroll has been involved in Latino/a churches and teaching on the Bible and immigration for many years. His research focuses on the prophetic literature and Old Testament social ethics. He has recently published a major commentary on the book of Amos and a book on the prophetic voice for today. Two collaborative books will appear in the fall of 2024: Reading the Bible Latinamente: Latino/a Interpretation for the Life of the Church and The State of Old Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research. In addition to working on a volume on Old Testament ethics, he also is the senior editor of a new Old Testament commentary series, The Bible in God’s World (Wipf & Stock).

University of Sheffield
Ph.D., Old Testament, 1990

Dallas Theological Seminary
Th.M., Old Testament, 1980

Rice University
B.A., English Literature, 1975

• Minority and Majority World Approaches 
• Old Testament Studies, in particular the prophetic literature and narrative approaches
• Old Testament Social Ethics

Immigration and Christian Faith: A Biblical Approach

Annual Theology lecture at William Jessup University, 2021

• Literary-theological approaches to Old Testament texts, in particular the prophetic literature
• Theological foundations and themes in Old Testament social ethics
• Old Testament theology and exegesis from ethnic minority (especially Latino/a) and Majority World perspectives
• Biblical-theological approaches to ancient and contemporary migration and diaspora
• Themes in Old Testament biblical theology, including the mission of God, theodicy, history, and worship

• BITH 448 Marginal Voices in Old Testament Study
• BITH 635 Hebrew Exegesis (1 & 2 Samuel, Amos)
• BITH 638 Old Testament Theology
• BITH 882 Old Testament Social Ethics

• The State of Old Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research
• Reading the Bible Latinamente: Latino/a Interpretation for the Life of the Church
• The Lord Roars: Recovering the Prophetic Voice for Today
• Global Migration and Christian Faith: Implications for Identity and Mission
• Amos, New International Commentary on the Old Testament
• The Bible and Borders: Hearing God's Word on Immigration
• Wrestling with the Violence of God: Soundings in the Old Testament (Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplement)
• Immigrant Neighbors among Us: Immigration across Theological Traditions
• Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible
• Family in the Bible: Exploring Customs, Culture, and Context
• Character Ethics and the Old Testament: Moral Dimensions of Scripture
• Global Voices: Reading the Bible in the Majority World
• Theory and Practice in Old Testament Ethics: The Contribution of John Rogerson (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)
• Amos--The Prophet and His Oracles: Research on the Book of Amos