Professional Church Workers Conference 2024

Dr. David L. Adams is the W.G. Ray and Louis J. Rechtzigel Professor of Biblical Studies at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. A faculty member since 2000, he is a professor of Exegetical Theology. He became the first occupant of the Ray-Rechtzigel endowed chair in 2022. His areas of interest and expertise include biblical theology, ancient Near Eastern culture and religion, biblical archaeology and government activity as it relates to religion. As former director of the Concordia Center for Archaeology, Adams was engaged for several years as a member of the excavation staff at Khirbet Qeiyafa in Israel. This area is associated with the place of the battle between David and Goliath. Before coming to Concordia Seminary, Adams served as executive director of the Office of Government Information for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) in Washington, D.C. There he helped monitor legislative, judicial and executive branch activity that could have affected the ministry of the church. A recipient of the Tyndale Fellowship, Adams holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from Cambridge University in Cambridge, England (1997). He earned a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) and Master of Sacred Theology (S.T.M.) from Concordia Seminary (1981, 1983). Adams received his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Concordia Senior College in Fort Wayne, Ind. (1977), and graduated with an Associate of Arts (A.A.) from St. Paul’s College in Concordia, Mo. (1975). Adams is the co-editor of “The Anonymous God “(Concordia Publishing, 2004), a volume of essays on the subject of civil religion and American society. He has prepared study notes and materials on the Psalms and wisdom literature for the “ESV Archaeology Bible” (Crossways, 2018). Among his current projects is a book examining the concept of the presence of God in the Bible in comparison to Israel’s ancient Near Eastern neighbors and its significance for biblical theology. Adams was assistant professor of religion and philosophy at Concordia College in Ann Arbor, Mich., where he taught Hebrew, philosophy, biblical studies and was director of the Pre-Seminary Education Program. He previously served as manager of Microcomputer Services for the LCMS Office of Information Systems. He also has served in the parish ministry as pastor of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Caseyville, Ill., and as vacancy pastor of a number of congregations through the years. His hobbies include reading, playing guitar and scuba diving. Adams and his wife, Lisa, live in St. Louis. Presentation Topics: The Present God: Exploring a Major Biblical Theme For many Christians, the theological value of the Old Testament is limited to messianic prophecies and the comforting assurances of the Psalms. Such a perspective runs the risk of impoverishing our teaching and preaching by failing to recognize the foundational role of the Old Testament for the Christian faith and the rich variety of ways in which its theology is communicated. In this presentation Dr. Adams will explore one major theological motif, the presence of God, and show how it shapes the faith of the Old Testament and the fulfillment of that faith in the person and ministry Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Archaeology: Indiana Jones vs. W.F. Albright