Bob Utley

Bob Utley is a contemporary Bible teacher who is best known for his commentary series that covers the Old and New Testaments.

Utley was born in Houston, Texas in 1947.

Utley attended East Texas Baptist University from 1969 to 1972 and graduated with a Bachelors in Religion. He then pursued a Masters in Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary between 1972 and 1975. In 1976 he continued post-graduate studies at Baylor University. His academic studies then went on hiatus until 1987 when he began a Doctorate in Ministry with Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois - which he completed in 1988. In 1991 he once again performed post-graduate studies, this time in Koine Greek and Hermeneutics at Wycliffe Bible Translators Summer Institute of Linguistics. In 1994 he returned to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School for further post-graduate studies which he completed in 1997.

Utley founded International Sunday School Lessons Inc. which would later become Bible Lessons International and has taught for this non-profit from 1976 until the present. In 1980 he was brought on as a teacher for the Seminary Extension of Southern Baptist Convention of Lubbock Baptist Association and near-simultaneously taught for Wayland Baptist University, the latter ending in 1984 and the prior in 1985. From 1986 to 1988 Utley taught the weekly "Life and Work" series on the ACTS network of SBC's Radio/TV Commission and at the same time began teaching for United Christian Ashrams, a retreat ministry for adults begun by E. Stanley Jones. Utley continues to work with United Christian Ashrams. From 1987 to 2003 Utley served on the faculty of East Texas Baptist University's Religion Department teaching Bible Interpretation, Old Testament, and Evangelism. During his tenure at ETBU he was elected "Teacher of the Year" five years, "Favorite Teacher" five years, and "Favorite Professor" two years. After his tenure at ETBU Utley has continued teaching at various colleges and seminaries including Baptist Seminary in Yerevan Armenia, Emmaus Bible Seminary in Cap-Haitien Haiti, and Novi Sad Theological College in Novi Sad Serbia. In 1989 Utley picked up teaching "Verse by Verse" a weekly short wave program on TransWorld Radio in Guam and has continued teaching this to the present.

Bob Utley has been a prolific writer throughout his lifetime. From 1976 to 2008 he has provided the teacher preparation materials for all three of the SBC Sunday School Lesson Series. From 1997 to 2010 Utley has turned out regular biblical commentaries on most books of the Old and New Testaments.

• Paul's First Letters: Galatians and I & II Thessalonians. 1997.
• The First Christian Primer: Matthew. 1997.
• The Gospel According to Paul: Romans. 1998.
• Paul's Prison Epistles: Colossians, Ephesians, Philemon, and Later, Philippians. 1998.
• Hope in Hard Times - The Final Curtain: Revelation. 1999.
• The Beloved Disciple's Memoir and Letters: John and I, II, and III John. 1999.
• The Superiority of the New Covenant: Hebrews. 1999.
• Jesus' Half-Brothers Speak: James and Jude. 2000.
• New Testament Survey (Matthew - Revelation). 2000.
• The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter. 2001.
• How It All Began: Genesis 1-11. 2001.
• Paul's Letters to a Troubled Church: I & II Corinthians. 2002.
• Old Testament Apocalypses: Daniel and Zechariah. 2005.
• The Post-Exilic Period: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. 2005.
• Moses' Summary of God's Laws: Deuteronomy. 2006.
• The Conquest and Settlement of the Promised Land: Joshua. 2006.
• Wisdom Literature: The Mysterious Books of Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. 2007.
• The Post-Exilic Prophets: Obadiah, Joel, Haggai, and Malachi. 2007.
• Ezekiel Commentary. 2008.
• The Patriarchal Period: Genesis 12-50. 2009.
• You Can Understand the Bible: An Introduction to and Application of the Contextual/Textual Method of Biblical Interpretation. 2009.
• Isaiah: The Clearest Old Testament Witness to YHWH's Eternal, Universal, Redemptive Plan—Isaiah 1-39. 2010.
• Computer Bible Study Library on CD and DVD. 2010.