SWU graduate publishes commentary
Dr. Gareth Lee Cockerill, a Southern Wesleyan University graduate and ordained Wesleyan minister, received an honor unique among Biblical scholars.
Cockerill’s commentary on Hebrews now occupies the position in a celebrated commentary series which for decades was filled by a classic work by renowned scholar F. F. Bruce.
Cockerill’s work, The Epistle to the Hebrews, is a new volume in the New International Commentary on the New Testament series, published by William B. Eerdmans and currently available online through Wesleyan Publishing House. It will become available in book form at the General Conference of The Wesleyan Church, Lexington, Ky., June 1-6.
“F. F. Bruce was one of evangelicalism’s most distinguished scholars, and to be tapped to write the commentary which takes the place of his in the series is a high honor for this SWU alumnus,” said Dr. Robert Black, professor of religion at Southern Wesleyan.
Bruce was general editor of The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Until his death in 1990, he wrote more than 40 bestselling commentaries and books. He was Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester in England. During his distinguished career, he wrote more than forty bestselling commentaries and books.
Cockerill graduated from Southern Wesleyan in 1965 with a degree in history. Since 1984, he has been on the faculty of Wesley Biblical Seminary in Jackson, Miss. He also served with his wife Rosa for nine years as a missionary in Sierra Leone. Additionally, Cockerill contributed to several books and published articles as well as book reviews in publications dealing with Biblical research, interpretation and missiology. He also preaches and teaches in various churches and camps.