Skip to content

Faculty & Staff

About the Program
REQUEST INFO
Request here
APPLY NOW
Apply here
Contact MNU
Main Campus

2030 E College Way

Olathe, KS 66062-1899

913-782-3750

Santa Fe Commons Site

13563 South Mur-len Rd.

Olathe, KS 66062-1899

913-971-3800

View Map
Office Hours

Most University offices are open from 8:00am – 5:00pm, Monday – Friday

Dean Flemming

Dean

Flemming

Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Missions
  • PhD: New Testament Exegesis, 1988, University of Aberdeen
  • M.Div.: 1979, Nazarene Theological Seminary
  • BA: 1975, MidAmerica Nazarene University
  • Gobal Missionary, Church of the Nazarene 1987-2011
  • Ordained Elder, Church of the Nazarene, 1982
deflemming@mnu.edu
Download CV
My deepest desire is to know Christ intimately, and, through the power of the Holy Spirit, become more like him. And I long for my students, as well, to develop a passion to know Jesus and to let that relationship transform their lives.”
Philippians 3:10-11: ‘I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power or his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.’
  • Smith-Wynkoop Book Award, Wesleyan Theological Society 2012 for Philippians: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition
  • Christianity Today Book Award, Missions/Global Affairs Category 2006 for Contextualization in the New Testament: Patterns for Theology and Mission
    Contextualization in the New Testament named in Fifteen Outstanding Books of 2005 for Missions Studies by International Bulletin of Missionary Research, 2006
  • Centennial Heritage Award, Church of the Nazarene, 2008
  • Member of the Study Group on Contextual Evangelical Theology of the Theological Commission, World Evangelical Alliance, 2008
  • Distinguished Alumni Award, Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities, 1998
  • Alumnus of the Year, MidAmerica Nazarene University, 1997
  • Distinguished Service Award, Nazarene Missions International, 1997
  • American Bible Society Biblical Studies Award, Nazarene Theological Seminary, 1979
  • American Heritage Award, MidAmerica Nazarene University, 1975
  • Phi Delta Lambda Honor Society, 1975
  • Co-Valedictorian, MidAmerica Nazarene University, 1975; Nazarene Theological Seminary, 1979
  • Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, 1973, 1974

Books:

  • Self-Giving Love: The Book of Philippians. Transformative Word. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021.
  • Why Mission? Nashville: Abingdon, 2015.
  • Recovering the Full Mission of God: A Biblical Perspective on Being, Doing, and Telling. Downers Grove, IL, InterVarsity Academic, 2013.
  • Philippians: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. New Beacon Bible Commentaries. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill, 2009.
  • Contextualization in the New Testament: Patterns for Theology and Mission. Downers Grove, IL/Leicester, UK: InterVarsity Press/Apollos, 2005.

Book Chapters:

  • “Following the Lamb Wherever He Goes: Missional Ecclesiology in Revelation 7 and 14:1-5.” In Cruciform Scripture: Cross, Participation, and Mission, ed. Christopher W. Skinner, Nijay K. Gupta, Andy Johnson, Drew J. Strait. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021, 260-78.
  • “Divine Judgment and the Missio Dei in the Book of Revelation.” In Listening Again to the Text: New Testament Studies in Honor of George Lyons. Edited by Richard P. Thompson. Claremont, CA: Claremont Press, 2020, 171-91.
  • “The Book of Revelation.” In Wesley One Volume Commentary. Edited by Kenneth J. Collins and Robert W. Wall. Nashville: Abingdon, 2020, 908-34.
  • “A Missional Reading of Colossians.” In Reading the Bible Missionally. Edited by Michael W. Goheen. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016, 213-37.
  • Paul the Contextualizer. In Local Theology for the Global Church: Principles for an Evangelical Approach to Contextualization. Edited by Matthew Cook, etal. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2010, 1-20.
  • Contextualization in a Wesleyan Spirit: A Case Study of Acts 15. In World Mission in the Wesleyan Spirit. American Society of Missiology Series 44. Edited by Darrell L. Whiteman and Gerald H. Anderson. Nashville: Providence House, 2009, 16-27.
  • On Earth as It Is in Heaven: Holiness and the People of God in Revelation. In Holiness and Ecclesiology in the New Testament. Edited by Kent E. Brower and Andy Johnson. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007, 343-62.

Scholarly Articles:

  • “Locating and Leaving Babylon: A Missional Reading of Revelation 17 and 18 in Light of Ancient and Contemporary Political Contexts.” Missiology 48.2 (April 2020): 112-26.
  • “Missional Hermeneutics.” In Global Wesleyan Encyclopedia of Biblical Theology. Edited by Robert D. Branson. Kansas City: The Foundry, 2020, 279-82.
  • “Review of Philippians and Philemon, by Daniel L. Migliore,” Interpretation 70.4 (2016): 493-94.
  • “A Sent and Sanctified Community: Missional Holiness in the Gospel of John,” Wesleyan Theological Journal (Spring 2015): 133-44.
  • “‘Won Over without a Word’: Holiness and the Church’s Missional Identity in 1 Peter.” Wesleyan Theological Journal 49 (Spring 2014): 50-66.
  • “Living Out the Future: Missional Ecclesiology in the Book of Revelation.” Didache: Faithful Teaching (Jan 2014).
  • Mission, Theology of. In Global Dictionary of Wesleyan Theology. Edited by Al Truesdale. Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 2013, 332-34.
  • Idolatry. In Global Dictionary of Wesleyan Theology. Edited by Al Truesdale. Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 2013, 254-56.
  • Contextualization. In Global Dictionary of Wesleyan Theology. Edited by Al Truesdale. Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 2013, 123-25.
  • Review of Paul’s Letter to the Philippians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, Ben Witherington III. Interpretation 67.1 (2013): 87-88.
  • Review of Philippians: Let Us Rejoice in Being Conformed to Christ, John Paul Heil. Interpretation 66.4 (2012):462-63.
  • Revelation and the Missio Dei: Toward a Missional Reading of the Apocalypse. Journal of Theological Interpretation 6.2 (2012): 161-78.
  • Leaving Left Behind Behind: A Contextual Approach to the Book of Revelation. Conference Journal: John A. Knight Bible and Theology Conference. Mount Vernon, OH: Mount Vernon Nazarene University, 2012.
  • Exploring a Missional Reading of Scripture: Philippians as a Case Study. Evangelical Quarterly 83 (January 2011): 3
  • Major review of Philippians and Philemon: A Commentary, Charles B. Cousar. Interpretation 65.1 (January 2011): 84-86.
  • Biblical Notes on the Letter to the Colossians. Wesley Study Bible. Edited by Joel B. Green and William H. Willimon. Nashville: Abingdon, 2009.
  • Review of Contextualization and Syncretism: Navigating the Cultural Currents, Gailyn Van Rheenen, ed. Evangelical Missions Quarterly (October 2007):526, 528.
  • Paul and the Athenians: Articulating the Gospel in a Pluralistic World. Didache: Faithful Teaching 6/1 (August 2006). Paul and the Athenians: Articulating the Gospel in a Pluralistic World. European Explorations in Christian Holiness. Issue 3 (Autumn 2006): 4-19.
  • The Gospel and Syncretism: Contextualizing the Gospel in Colossians. The Mediator 4 (October, 2002): 51-73.
  • Contextualizing the Gospel in Athens: Paul’s Areopagus Address as a Paradigm for Missionary Communication. Missiology 30 (April 2002): 199-214.
  • Biblical Theological Foundations for a Response to Religious Pluralism. Asbury Theological Journal 52 (Fall 1997): 43-61.
  • Foundations for Responding to Religious Pluralism. Wesleyan Theological Journal 31 (Spring, 1996): 51-75.
  • The Heart of the Heritage: Core Themes of the Wesleyan/Holiness Tradition as Highlighted by the Wesleyan Theological Society 1965-2000. Edited by Barry L. Callen and William C. Kostlevy. Salem, OH: Schmul Pub. Co., 2001, 289-310.
  • The Third Horizon: A Wesleyan Contribution to the Contextualization Debate. Wesleyan Theological Journal 30 (Fall, 1995): 139-163; reprinted in AETEI Journal 9:2 (July-Dec, 1996): 3-30;
  • The Clergy\Laity Dichotomy: A New Testament Exegetical and Theological Analysis. Asia Journal of Theology 8 (October, 1994): 232-250.

Other Publications:

  • Book cover and website endorsements for: Michael W. Goheen, Introducing Christian Mission Today: Scripture, History and Issues, IVP Academic, 2014; Lee Beech, The Church in Exile: Living in Hope after Christendom, IVP Academic, 2015; Michael Gorman, Embodying the Gospel: Paul, Participation and Mission, Eerdmans, 2015; Jackson Wu, One Gospel for All Nations: A Practical Approach to Biblical Contextualization, William Carey Library, 2015; Jason Halig, We Are Catholic: Catholic, Catholicity, and Catholization, Wipf and Stock, 2016; Michael W. Goheen, The Church and Its Vocation: Lesslie Newbigin’s Missionary Ecclesiology, Baker, 2018; David A. deSilva, An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods and Ministry Formation, 2nd ed., IVP Academic, 2018; Rob A. Fringer, Paul’s Corporate Christology; An Evaluation of Paul’s Christophanic References in Their Epistolary Contexts, Pickwick, 2019; Jackson Wu, Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes: Honor and Shame in Paul’s Message and Mission, IVP Academic, 2019. Tom Steffan and William Bjoraker, The Return of Oral Hermeneutics: As Good Today as It Was for the Hebrew Bible and First-Century Christianity, Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2020. R Randolph Richards and Richard James, Misreading Scripture with Individualistic Eyes: Patronage, Honor, and Shame in the Biblical World. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2020.
  • Judge’s endorsement for Vince L. Bantu, A Multitude of All Peoples: Engaging Christianity’s Global Identity, 2021 Book Awards, Missions/Global Church Category, Christianity Today (Jan-Feb 2021).
  • “Revelation 7:9-17.” Lectionary Commentary. A Plain Account (October 27, 2020).
  • Commentary on Philippians, Illustrated Bible Life 42.3 (Spring 2019): 5-7, 9-11, 13-15.
  • “The Grace of Dying Well,” Holiness Today (November/December 2016): 16-19.
  • Mission Essentials: The Story of Cross-Cultural Mission in the Book of Acts. Engage Magazine (March 14, 2012).
  • The Marriage of Telling and Living the Good News. Adult Faith Connections Leader. WordAction Publishing (Summer 2010): 4.
  • The Problem of the Galatian Churches. Illustrated Bible Life (June-August, 2007): 34-35.
  • How Do We Make Church Work Today? Holiness Today (May/June, 2007): 12-13.
  • Singing the Gospel in a New Key. Holiness Today (May/June, 2006): 26-27.
  • II. Accept No Substitutes. Holiness Today (February, 2004): 34-35.
  • The Face of Faithfulness. Holiness Today (September, 2003): 35.
  • T is for Transformation. World Mission (September, 1997): 2-3.
  • Free Society, Christians, and Persecution. Illustrated Bible Life (Sept-Nov 1995): 28-30.
  • The Challenge of Religious Pluralism. World Mission (October/November 1992, January/ February 1993).
  • “Mission in Times of Upheaval,” Presentation to the Global Field Strategy Coordinators, Church of the Nazarene,” June 23, 2020.
  • “Recovering the Full Mission of God.” Workshop for the M19 Conference of the Church of the Nazarene, February 2019.
  • “The Diaspora and the Mission of God.” Presentation to the Leadership Conference of the Church of the Nazarene, February 2019.
  • “Babylon Left Behind: Reading Revelation 17 and 18 Missionally in Light of Ancient and Contemporary Political Contexts,” Forum on Missional Hermeneutics, Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Denver, CO, November 2018.
  • “Living Out the Future: Missional Ecclesiology in the Book of Revelation,” Plenary Speaker, Annual
  • “Theological Conversation” event, Church of the Nazarene, Lisbon, Portugal, May 2018.
  • “Divine Judgment and the Missio Dei in the Book of Revelation,” paper presented at the annual meeting of the Institute for Biblical Research/Society of Biblical Literature, Boston, MA, November 2017.
  • “Approaching Scripture through the Mission of God,” Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries Quadrennial Convention workshop, Indianapolis, Indiana, June 2017, with Ron Benefiel and Brad Kelle.
  • “Following the Lamb Wherever He Goes: John’s Vision of the Church in Revelation 7:1-17 and 14:1-5,” Annual Meeting of the Wesleyan Theological Society, Wilmore, KY, March 2017.
  • Panel member for online webinar, “Ecclesiology, Scripture, and the Mission of God,” Center for Pastoral Leadership, Nazarene Theological Seminary, with live Facebook interactive session, January, 2017.
  • Session Moderator, USA/Canada Theology Conference, Nazarene Theological Seminary, September 2016.
  • “The New Jerusalem and the Mission of God’s People: Reflections on Revelation,” PALCON 2016, MidAmerica Nazarene University, June 22, 2016.
  • “Rethinking the Rapture.” Presentation at the Annual 7 x 7 Challenge, MidAmerica Nazarene University, April 5, 2016.
  • “Why Mission?” Poster Presentation at the Annual Faculty Exhibition, MidAmerica Nazarene University, April 2016.
  • “A Sent and Sanctified Community: Missional Holiness in the Gospel of John,” 50thAnniversary Meeting of the Wesleyan Theological Society, Mount Vernon, Ohio, March 2015.
  • ‘Won Over without a Word’: Holiness and the Church’s Missional Identity in 1 Peter.” Poster Presentation at the Faculty Poster Session, MNU, April 2015.
  • “Radically Different—Fully Engaged: The Church as the Embodiment of the Gospel in Its Local Context,” John A. Knight Theology Conference, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, April, 2014
  • Author Interview, Leader’s Edge, Missio Nexus, February 2014.
  • “Living Out the Future: Missional Ecclesiology in the Book of Revelation.” Resource Paper for the Global Theology Conference, Church of the Nazarene, Johannesburg, South Africa, March, 2014.
  • “Radically Different—Fully Engaged: The Church as the Embodiment of the Gospel in Its Local Context,” John A. Knight Theology Conference, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, April, 2014
  • “Living Out the Future: Missional Ecclesiology in the Book of Revelation.” Resource paper for the Global Theology Conference, Church of the Nazarene, Nairobi, Kenya, 2014.
  • Won Over Without a Word: Holiness and the Church’s Missional Identity in 1 Peter. Annual Meeting of the Wesleyan Theological Society. Seattle Pacific University. March, 2013.
  • Mission and the Life of Holiness: New Testament Perspectives. Nielson Holiness Lectures (four lectures), Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary, Manila, Philippines, January 15-17, 2013.
  • A Contextual Approach to the Book of Revelation. John A. Knight Bible and Theology Conference. Mount Vernon Nazarene University, February, 2012.
  • Annual Meeting of the Wesleyan Theological Society. Southern Methodist University, March 2011.
  • Revelation and the Missio Dei: Toward a Missional Reading of the Apocalypse.
  • Faculty Development Lecture and follow up session on Contextualization in the New Testament. MidAmerica Nazarene University, 2010.
    Toward a Missional Reading of Scripture. Annual Meeting of the Wesleyan Theological Society. Azusa Pacific University, 2010.
  • A Case Study in Contextualization: Learning from Colossians. Paper submitted to the Consultation on Global Evangelical Contextualization. Theological Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance. Oxford, U.K., 2008.
  • Being the Church: A Biblical Perspective. Annual Leadership Conference. European Nazarene College. Busingen, Germany, 2008.
  • Paul and the Athenians Articulating the Gospel in a Pluralistic World. Eurasia Regional Theology Conference. European Nazarene College. Busingen, Germany, 2005.
  • Paul and the Athenians Biblical Resources for Contemporary Contextual Evangelism. Annual Leadership Conference. European Nazarene College. Busingen, Germany, 2004.
  • Sanctification in 1 Thessalonians, Annual Leadership Conference. European Nazarene College. Busingen, Germany, 2003.
  • Theology of Mission and Missional Theologizing: A Paradigm from Paul. Global Theology Conference of the Church of the Nazarene. Guatemala City, Guatemala, 2001.
  • Contextualizing the Gospel for (Neo) Pagans: Learning from Paul’s Evangelistic Ministry. Nazarene Theological College. Brisbane, Australia, 2000.
  • Rightly Dividing the Word. Biblical Interpretation Lectureship. Nazarene Theological College. Brisbane, Australia, 1995.
  • Response to Walter Kaiser, Jr. Unity and Growth of Salvation. Annual Lectureship, Asia Pacific Theological Seminary. Baguio, Philippines, 1995.
  • The Third Horizon: A Wesleyan Contribution to the Contextualization Debate. Wesleyan Theological Society Annual Meeting, 1994.
  • A Global Christian Education. Visiting Scholar Lecture. Mid-America Nazarene University, 1992.
  • The Challenge of Religious Pluralism: A Biblical Perspective. Theology Conference of the Wesleyan Church and the Church of the Nazarene, 1992.
  • Church Leadership and Ordination: A New Testament Perspective. Philippine Association of Bible Colleges and Theological Schools Annual Meeting, 1989.
  • Weekly mentoring group of MNU students
  • Global Studies Committee
  • Community Chapel speaker, 2013, 2015
  • Taught an MNU Europe class in Busingen, Germany and Rome, Italy, 2013
  • Pioneer Devotionals—Gospel of Luke, Week 5, Luke 6:12-45, Fall 2016
  • Faculty search committees, Department of Christian Ministry and Formation