Exploring Theological English: Student Textbook

What hinders or slows down your understanding when you read theological publications written in English? Perhaps the theological writing deals with concepts that are only somewhat familiar to you or ideas that you have not previously thought about. Perhaps theologians use new vocabulary or assign specialized meanings to common everyday vocabulary. Perhaps they use complicated, academic grammar and sentence structures that are unfamiliar to you.

Exploring Theological English is an ESL/EFL textbook designed for high-intermediate to advanced learners of English, whether studying at an academic institution or independently. It is written from a traditional orthodox, or evangelical, view of Christianity: the selection of theological topics is similar to that found in traditional books on Christian doctrine. Students can work through this textbook chapter by chapter, or they may choose to skip some chapters. Each chapter has five or six major sections presenting new information and/or practice exercises to help the student acquire key reading skills, a broad general vocabulary as well as an expanding academic vocabulary, skill in figuring out complex grammatical structures, and familiarity with the important concepts and terminology used in theological writing.

Cheri L. Pierson has a Doctorate in Education from Northern Illinois University, USA, and is an associate professor at Wheaton Graduate School. She specializes in teacher education, methodology and English for specific purposes. She is the author of several books including Dictionary of Theological Terms in Simplified English: Student Workbook and Exploring Theological English.

Lonna Dickerson (PhD, Second Language Acquisition) is an experienced professor of TESOL and is currently the director of the Institute for Cross-Cultural Training at Wheaton College, USA.

Florence Scott (MA Theology and Church History, Graduate Certificate in TESOL) lectures on theological topics in the US and abroad. She has published various theological articles as well as working with the English for Bibles and Theology programs in several countries.