Kaz Hayashi
Email: kah54922@bethel.edu
Job Title
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Associate Professor of Old Testament
Master of Divinity, Bethel Seminary
Highlight
A Japanese Old Testament scholar, archaeologist, minister, and husband and father.
Started at Bethel
2022
Education
- Moody Bible Institute - B.A. Pastoral Studies (Pre-Seminary), 2012
- Trinity Evangelical Divinity School - M.A. Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology, 2017
- Trinity Evangelical Divinity School - M.A. Old Testament and Semitic Languages (completed all requirements except for thesis), 2017
- Baylor University - Ph.D. Religion (Old Testament Emphasis, New Testament Cognate), 2022
Biography
I grew up in Japan in a prefecture called Shizuoka. I came to faith in Jesus when I was 16 years old. I then attended a Christian boarding school in Penang, Malaysia called Dalat International School. Felling a call to full-time vocational ministry, I moved to the U.S. and completed my B.A. in Pastoral Ministry at Moody Bible Institute. It was during my years at Moody that I realized my passion for studying the Old Testament, Hebrew, and, and the cultural world of the Bible.
The desire to specialize in the Old Testament and its backgrounds led me to pursue two master's degrees in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology and Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I then completed my doctorate in Old Testament at Baylor University. During my graduate studies, I also actively participated in archaeological excavations in Israel and Palestine. Currently, I serve as a staff member at Tel Shimron Excavations in Israel (Tel Shimron Excavations - Volunteer Archaeology Digs).
While I serve in academic ministry, my love for the church has never waned. I am an ordained minister in the Baptist General Convention. I have actively served in churches as an interim worship leader and youth pastor, interned as a chaplain at a nursing home, and offered pulpit supplies. I have led children's Sunday school, taught adult Bible studies, volunteered at the church library, and chaired the church's missions leadership committee.
Courses Taught
CSBS 1311 Engaging the Old Testament (University of Mary Hardin-Baylor)
BIC 1314 World Cultures I (Baylor University)
REL 1310 Christian Scriptures (Baylor University)
REL 1350 Christian Heritage (Baylor University)
Awards
Nomination Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award (Baylor University, 2021)
Baylor Libraries Special Collection Teaching Fellowship (Baylor University, 2021)
Glenn O. and Martell B. Hilburn Endowed Graduate Research Scholarship (Baylor University, 2020)
Fundamentals of Data Research Fellowship (Baylor University, 2020)
Lanier Theological Library Young Scholars Program (2020 - canceled due to the pandemic)
Bryce C. Brown Research Fellowship (Baylor University, 2019)
Biblical Archaeology Society Dig Scholarship (2015)
Heritage Excavation Fellowship (American Schools of Oversees Research, 2014)
Publications
Anime, Philosophy, and Religion, Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press, Co-edited by William H. U. Anderson. *Forthcoming.
“A Cylinder Seal with a Spread-Wing Eagle and Two Ruminants from Baylor University’s Mayborn Museum,” Nouvelles Assyriologiques Breves et Utilitaires 2 (2020): 87–90.
Co-authored with Deirdre N. Fulton, “Uniting the World: Achaemenid Empire Lists and the Construction of Royal Ideology,” Pages 112–29 in “An Excellent Fortress for His Armies, a Refuge for the People” Egyptological, Archaeological, and Biblical Studies in Honor of James K. Hoffmeier.” Edited by Richard E. Averbeck & K. Lawson Younger Jr. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns, 2020.
“Holograms and Idols: The Image of God and Artificial Transcendence in the Cultural Phenomenon of the Japanese Vocaloid Hatsune Miku,” Pages 263–83 in Technology and Theology. Series in Philosophy of Religion, Edited by William H. U. Anderson. Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press, 2020.
“Akhenaten (ca. 1352-1336 BCE)” pages 20–25 in The World's Greatest Religious Leaders: How Religious Figures Helped Shape World History, Vol 1. Edited by Scott E. Hendrix and Uchenna Okeja. (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC Clio, 2018)
Presentations
“Where did Jehoiakim Die? The Exile of Jehoiakim in 2 Chronicles 36:6 Versus His Death in 2 Kings 24:6” Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) National Meeting, Nov 19–22nd, 2022. Denver, CO.
“The Shape of Deuteronomy in Chronicles: An Evaluation of Deuteronomy’s terminus ante quem” Institute for Biblical Research (IBR) National Meeting, Nov 18th–21st, 2022. Denver, CO.
“The Promise of Land and the List of its Inhabitants (Gen 15): A Biblical Response to Asian Hate in the 21st Century” Regional Meeting of the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion (NABPR), March 4th–5th, 2022, Irving, TX.
“Making Uzziah Good: The Function of Remembrance of Uzziah by the Prophet Isaiah in 2 Chronicles 26:22” Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) National Meeting, Nov 22nd, 2021. San Antonio, TX.
“The Angel of YHWH Wielding a Sword: The Iconographical Background of 1 Chronicles 21” SBL National Meeting, Dec 9th, 2020, Boston, MA/Online.
“Bull Hunting in the Hebrew Bible in Light of Ancient Near Eastern Iconographical Depictions,” American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) National Conference, Nov 15th, 2020. Boston, MA/Online.
“The Divine Bull Hunt: The Iconographical Background of Bull Slaying in the Hebrew Bible” ASOR Southwest Regional Meeting/Southwest Commission on Religious Studies (SWCRS), Feb 28th–Mar 1st, 2020, Irving, TX.
“The Birth of the Pleasant Gods: A Structural Analysis of Lines 49b-67a of KTU/CAT 1.23 (UT 52)” ASOR National Conference, November 20th–23rd, 2019, San Diego, CA.
“The Living Temple: Reimagining the Solomonic Temple in Ezekiel's Heavenly Visions (Ezek 1; 10)” SBL National Conference, November 23rd–26th, 2019, San Diego, CA.
“The Enticing Cross: The Apotropaic Lure of the Cross During the 2nd–4th Cent. CE” ASOR Southwest Regional Meeting/SWCRS, March 8th–10th, 2019, Irving, TX.
“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Temple: The Notion of twb and rʿ in Nehemiah 1-2 in Light of Persian Era Inscriptions” SBL National Conference, November 17th–21st, 2018, Denver, CO.
“Lions, Cattle and Cherubim as Sacred Boundary Markers on the Solomonic Temple and Ancient Near Eastern Monumental Architecture” ASOR National Conference, November 14th–17th, 2018, Denver, CO.
“Lions and Cattle and Cherubim Oh My!: The Three Creatures Adorning Solomonic Temple’s Bronze Stands” ASOR Southwest Regional Meeting/SWCRS, March 9th–11th, 2018, Irving, TX.
“The Pleasant Gods, Wilderness, and the Cultivated Land: A Rhetorical Analysis of KTU/CAT 1.23 (UT 52),” Central Texas Colloquium on Religion, February 25th, 2017. Austin, TX.
“Stichwörter ‘Catch Words’ and the Redaction-Rhetorical Shaping Between Nah 2:1-3 and Nah 1:2-7” SBL Southwest Regional Meeting/SWCRS, March 10th–12th, 2017. Irving, TX.
“A Rhetorical-Historical Analysis of Genesis 1:27: Revealing the Polemical Function of the Image of God” SBL National Conference. November 19th–22nd, 2016. San Antonio, TX.
Professional Organizations, Committees, and Boards
Assyriologist Research Group, Tyndale House, Cambridge 2021–Pres.
Ugaritic Reading Group, Japan Bible Seminary 2020–Pres.
Institute for Biblical Research 2020–Pres.
American Society of Overseas Research 2015–Pres.
Society of Biblical Literature 2014–Pres.
Hobbies and Interests
Kendo (Japanese sword fighting martial arts).
Watching anime
Playing board games.
Spending time with my wife and three kids.
Areas of expertise
History and archaeology of Israel Historical books of the Old Testament (Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra/Nehemiah) Iconographical exegesis Japanese approaches to biblical studies
Research interests
Books of Chronicles and Ezra/Nehemiah. Concept of time in the Old Testament and the ancient Near East. Biblical rhetoric and literary techniques. Imageries in the Old Testament. Biblical stories in Japanese anime and popular culture.
Teaching specialty
Pentateuch (especially Genesis) Psalms Historical Books of the Old Testament Geography of Israel History, archaeology, and geography of the Old Testament Hebrew Grammar Hebrew Exegesis
Quote
大志を抱けキリストに！