Experience AIIAS,
Change Your World
A study of the Pentateuch as a whole, including the analysis and exposition of selected passages from all five books of the Pentateuch, focusing particularly upon their message and significance for the Christian church. Special emphasis may be placed upon biblical teachings such as creation, redemption, law, sanctuary, and eschatology.
3 to 5 hours/weekday for approximately 2 months
Upon completion of this course, the students will be able to:
Week 1: Genesis 1–3: The Creation and the Fall,” introduction to the course, and getting to know each other.
Week 2: Critical Scholarship, Debates, and Perspectives.
Week 3: Is Torah Law?
Week 4: Genesis 6–9: Noah and the Flood.
Week 5: Genesis 12–22: The Abraham narrative.
Week 6: The Reuse of Torah in Torah and Beyond.
Week 7: Genesis 37–48: The Joseph narrative.
Week 8: “The publication of Rethinking the Composition of the Pentateuch: An overview”
KENNETH BERGLAND, PhD
Dr. Kenneth Bergland completed his MA in the history of ideas at the University of Oslo, where he wrote his thesis on the concept of “the other” in German and French philosophies of the 20th century. He also served as a Visiting Graduate Student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 2010 to 2011.
In his PhD dissertation from Andrews University, published as Reading as a Disclosure of the Thoughts of the Heart (Harrassowitz, 2019), he wrote on the reuse of the Torah in the Prophets. He argues that this reuse is characterized by a close and simultaneously expansionistic reading. He is one of the leaders of the international research project “Exploring the Composition of the Pentateuch,” and is one of the co-editors of its publications.
For more than a decade, Dr. Bergland served as a pastor in Norway, with responsibilities that included local church ministry, youth evangelistic training, ministry among work among immigrants and students, and rural ministry. He joined the AIIAS faculty in 2022. A governing question for him in life has been, “How should we then live?” His research interests are inner-biblical literary reuse, the Torah, eschatology, culturally sensitive biblical hermeneutics, divine revelation and hiddenness, ethics and philosophy of life, and the history of ideas in biblical perspectives.
Outside of academia, Dr. Bergland enjoys running and hiking and has a deep passion for photography. His wife, Marianne, and daughter Åsne, remind him where life is first and foremost meant to be lived.
DINDO PAGLINAWAN, PhD Candidate
Dindo Paglinawan is an alumnus of the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) and is currently pursuing a PhD in New Testament Studies. With a deep passion for Scripture, his academic interests center on biblical theology, hermeneutics, and the study of biblical languages, reflecting his commitment to careful interpretation and faithful scholarship. Through his studies and research, he seeks to contribute meaningfully to the understanding and teaching of the New Testament within the church and the broader academic community.
He is married to Jenevah Talose Paglinawan, the AIIAS School Nurse, whose ministry of compassionate care beautifully complements his academic calling. Together, they are blessed with three wonderful children—Chesed Mayin, Ekhad Qedem, and Nika Thlipsis—who bring great joy and inspiration to their family life.
