About
Frank G. Carver
1928 – 2019
Frank G. Carver was born May 27, 1928, on a cattle ranch near Crookston, Nebraska, and attended a one-room country school. He taught biblical theology and Greek at Pasadena College — later Point Loma Nazarene University — for thirty-five years (1961–1996), served on the translation team of the New American Standard Bible, wrote commentaries on 2 Corinthians for two generations of the Beacon Bible Commentary, and presided over the Wesleyan Theological Society. He was ordained an Elder in the Church of the Nazarene in 1955, and for decades co-taught the 'Come and Go' Sunday School class at San Diego First Church of the Nazarene. In his later years his study turned to the Christian contemplative tradition — John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila — asking what the Wesleyan quest for holiness could learn from the 'darkness of God.'
The Years
A life in outline
-
1928
Born May 27 on a cattle ranch near Crookston, Nebraska; attends a one-room country school, then high school in Crookston and Valentine.
-
1949
Marries Betty Joan Ireland of Port Huron, Michigan, on March 31. Betty taught elementary school until her retirement in 1992.
-
1950
B.A., Taylor University, Upland, Indiana. Returns to work the ranch each summer through seminary.
-
1954
B.D., Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City. Pastors in Rulo and Kimball, Nebraska — and, during recovery from an auto accident, Methodist churches in Kilgore, Cody, Kennard, and Elk City.
-
1955
Ordained an Elder in the Church of the Nazarene on the Nebraska District.
-
1958
M.Th., Princeton Theological Seminary, with a thesis collating a Greek manuscript of the Gospels. Pastors in Edison, New Jersey.
-
1959
Pastors in Edinburgh, Scotland — and for a few months a Baptist church across the Firth of Forth.
-
1961
Joins the faculty of Pasadena College (later Point Loma Nazarene University) and the editorial board of the Lockman Foundation, serving on the translation team of the New American Standard Bible.
-
1964
Ph.D., New College, University of Edinburgh: 'The Concept of Koinonia in the New Testament, Its Basis, Background, and Development.'
-
1961–1996
Thirty-five years as Professor of Biblical Literature and Theology: eighteen years as department chair, and Director of Graduate Studies in Religion from 1981.
-
1968
Writes the II Corinthians commentary for the Beacon Bible Commentary, Volume VIII.
-
1973
Publishes 'Peter the Rock-Man' (revised in 1983–87 as 'The Cross and the Spirit: Peter and the Way of the Holy').
-
1976–77
Delivers the Wiley Lectures at Point Loma ('How Great a Love: Some Themes from I John') and the Earle Lectures at Nazarene Theological Seminary.
-
1986–87
President of the Wesleyan Theological Society. His presidential address, 'The Quest for the Holy: The Darkness of God,' marks his deepening engagement with the contemplative tradition.
-
1996
Retires from Point Loma; publishes 'When Jesus Said Goodbye: John's Witness to the Holy Spirit.' Teaches at European Nazarene College in retirement.
-
2009
Publishes '2 Corinthians: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition' in the New Beacon Bible Commentary — a lifetime with Paul's most personal letter, distilled in his eighties.
-
mid-1970s onward
Co-teaches the 'Come and Go' adult Sunday School class at San Diego First Church of the Nazarene for more than four decades: Job, the Lord's Prayer, Ezra–Nehemiah, 2 Corinthians, Isaiah, Romans, James.
Frank and Betty Carver raised two children — Mark and Carol — and welcomed eight grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
About this archive
When Frank Carver died, his files remained: books, lectures, more than a thousand Bible studies, sermons, articles, and devotional writings, each catalogued under his own filing system. His son Mark gathered them so that this work could keep serving the church. This site is, in Mark's words, a love letter to his dad's life — made freely available to any pastor or student who can use it.