Dr. Thomas received the B.A. degree from Lee College in 1976, his M.A. from the Church of God School of Theology in 1977, the M.Div. from Ashland Theological Seminary in 1978, a Th.M. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1979 and a Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield in 1990. Thomas has been a member of the full-time faculty of the Church of God Theological Seminary since 1982.
As a New Testament scholar, Dr. Thomas' work has been published in several leading international journals: New Testament Studies, Novum Testamentum, Zeitschriftfur die neutestamentliche Wis.renschaft, and Journal for the Study or the New Testament. He has authored a major study entitled Footwashing in John 13 and the Johannine Community, published a collection of his essays, Ministry and Theology: Studies for the Church and Its Leaders, and has recently completed a significant monograph on healing entitled The Devil, Disease, and Deliverance: Origins of Illness in New Testament Thought.
Dr. Thomas serves as editor of the Journal of Pentecostal Theology and Supplement Series, and serves as General Editor of the Pentecostal Commentary Series. In 1992, Ashland Theological Seminary named him Alumnus of the Year. From 1997 to 1998, Dr. Thomas served as the President of the Society for Pentecostal Studies.
Thomas had written or co-written over two hundred scientific articles at that point, but he was eager to try the informal essay, loosely modeled on the essays of Montaigne.
These are essays not about Thomas as a person but about his topics, generally based in science, and the friendly but reserved voice of common sense and gentle humor permeates his readable style and economical use of language.
Thomas takes special delight in mistakes and ignorance, suspecting that the secret of life, especially in evolution, is related to blunder and imperfection.