About Us

OUR STORY

In the Fall of 2020, a group of students assembled to begin a doctoral program with Evangelical Seminary (Myerstown, PA). To the Seminary, we were “Cohort 3.” But as we journeyed together, over these past few years, there developed a deep appreciation among us for the insight, intellect, passion, and voice each fellow member brought to the group. When formal coursework ended, the group acknowledged a special internal connection and the desire to continue working together was widely shared. This kindred interest, we found, was also shared among many fellow students in other cohorts at ETS ... and even with our peers beyond. The Third Cohort is the fruit of these associations.

We are a group of Christian scholars, committed to the church ... and to one another. It is from these commitments, our passion for relating academically informed content and research to the daily spiritual lives, questions, and conversations, of our fellow believers is born.

Members of The Cohort are diverse, representing broad swaths of the Christian tradition, and broad approaches to the field of theology (and sometimes to the interpretation of orthodoxy). We are a monolith only in respect to our commitment to Jesus Christ, the church, and one another.

Our opinions and views vary. We believe that healthy dialogue, even that which embraces considerable (but always considerate) disagreement, makes us stronger in our primary commitments.

OUR CORE PRINCIPLES

We are Christian scholars, committed to knowing and loving God more through the disciplines of research, writing, and conversation.
We are members of Christ’s body, the church. We seek to bless and encourage the church through our work. As such, we believe our work should be relatable to the life of the church, and accessible to all within it.
We are members of Christ’s body within this cohort. While we represent a variety of viewpoints and positions, we strive honor and respect each other in our words and actions, and model healthy dialogue to and with those who engage with our work.
We take seriously Christ’s call that our “Yes” means yes, and our “No” means no. We strive to be academically rigorous in what we produce, pursuing high standards of reliability, accountability, and honesty in our use of sources and the work of others.