Interview With David Toshio Tsumura Of Japan Bible Seminary -- By: Anonymous

Journal: Southeastern Theological Review
Volume: STR 10:2 (Fall 2019)
Article: Interview With David Toshio Tsumura Of Japan Bible Seminary
Author: Anonymous


Interview With David Toshio Tsumura Of Japan Bible Seminary

Professor David Toshio Tsumura [DTT] is one of the world’s leading experts on Ancient Near Eastern cosmology. He has published a range of academic works on Hebrew and Ugaritic poetry, Semitic linguistics, the books of Samuel, and Gen 1–11. With more than forty years of experience at Japan Bible Seminary (Tokyo), he is an accomplished teacher with a heart for the church in Japan.

Would you please narrate for us your journey into academics? What began your interest in biblical studies and the Ancient Near East? What (and who) were some of your most important early influences?

My mother started going to church when I was in kindergarten. It was one started by a British faith mission, the Japan Evangelistic Band. I went regularly after that and was baptized at the age of fourteen. I attended Hitotsubashi University, one of the top universities in Japan, and majored in economics. My father ran a small factory and had great expectations that I, his only son, would be active in the business world. However, during college the Lord put the burden in my heart to study the Bible deeply and use my knowledge to train ministers in Japan, where the theological education was still a new area. My father in particular opposed my decision as a foolish choice rejecting a promising future, but I persisted.

One pastor encouraged me to go into the specialized study of the Bible, but some were concerned that too much academic pursuit might make me stray from a spiritual life. Therefore, how to balance academic life and spiritual life has always been a major concern of mine. During my college days I was exposed to a number of intellectual Christian students. So, I wanted to study the Bible in its original language, and in my junior year began studying Greek and read Plato’s Kriton. After graduating from college, I entered Asbury Theological Seminary in the US, and my knowledge of classical Greek helped me in studying Koine Greek (NT & LXX). I studied Hebrew and Aramaic as well as the Ionian Greek of Herodotus independently. At Asbury Dr. Dennis F. Kinlaw, a pupil of Dr. Cyrus H. Gordon, ignited my interest in the study of the Old Testament in the Ancient Near Eastern context. I chose the topic of my graduation thesis—“creation and chaos” in Gen 1:2—influenced by his class,

and it has remained my life-long pursuit.1

Would you tell us about your spiritual and church background? In what ways do you see this aspect of your life intersecting with your vocation as a biblical scholar?

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