Disciples of all nations
From college students to pastors to octogenarians, Bethel professor Juan Hernández teaches with a passion for language, scripture and critical thinking.
By Annessa Ihde | Freelance Writer
Juan Hernández paces in front of a screen, face half-illuminated by blue light from the projector. A microphone sits comfortably in his hand. Light from the west-facing windows filters into the Atrium room and bounces off the red brick wall. Hernández is dressed to fit the part of Professor– chin-high turtleneck, black jacket, slightly-tilted rectangular glasses, salt-and-pepper goatee.
At 10:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning, Hernández teaches a class of senior citizens at Calvary Church in Roseville. The “Ambassadors” might look a little different than the college kids he teaches every week — most of the class is more than 65 years old– but that does not mean Hernández changes his content. And it definitely does not mean he changes his jokes.
“All my puns are intended. Strategic and targeted,” Hernández said.
Seven years after Dave Johnson first invited Hernández to teach at the Ambassadors weekly class, Hernández has become a part of their community, even attending funerals for several of the Ambassador members.
“He has become a part of our world for more than just the hour a week we share together on Sunday morning,” Johnson said.
Alice Stock has been attending the Ambassadors class for more than 20 years. She appreciates Hernández’s fresh perspective on Revelation, his willingness to stick around after class and his openness to questions.
“His lively sense of humor quickly puts everyone at ease even as we all are amazed at the breadth of his academic knowledge and experience,” Stock said.
Johnson and Stock along with the rest of their peers have shown their appreciation for Hernández by supporting the Spanish seminars he offers to local pastors. The Ambassadors have offered prayer and financial support.
The story of the seminars reveals a real craving for knowledge and opportunity within the Hispanic community.
When Hernández first stumbled upon the opportunity to lead the seminars in 2016, he intended to give just one lecture about New Testament Greek. But when 140 men, women and children showed up to Bethel on a Saturday morning to learn about the Bible, he realized the community wanted more than just one lecture.
Out of that first seminar, a Greek class for Spanish speakers was developed. And then an introduction to the Bible course for native Spanish speakers as well as Spanish majors. In the first class, ages ranged from 17 to 84.
When Bethel’s administration offered to give paper certificates for course completion, Hernández fought for full accreditation of the courses. He wanted these classes to be an opportunity for nontraditional students who have had limited access to higher education.
“The stereotypes that I have encountered as a Hispanic have been about how Hispanics are not academic,” Hernández said. “These people already speak two languages. They’re in this country negotiating two cultures.
Hernández has now taught a total of 21 seminars, three per year for the past seven years.
“We’ve never had to cancel. And I had not planned to do it more than one time,” Hernández said. “It was very gradual. It’s grassroots.”
As a 15-year-old, Hernández would memorize a verse a day Monday through Friday and fast every Saturday. He had the entire book of Ephesians memorized. He filled an entire briefcase with cassettes of his favorite sermons.
“I look back now, and what really fascinated me clearly were words, phrases, narratives, and oral performance” — Juan Hernández, Professor of Biblical Studies
“I look back now, and what really fascinated me clearly were words, phrases, narratives, and oral performance,” Hernández said.
Despite his early love for reading, Hernández had a strict boundary when it came to what he calls the life of the mind: nothing secular. He couldn’t think critically about anything outside of Scripture.
It wasn’t until he went to Emory for his PhD that he realized there was more to learning than memorization. Emory was a place where conversation was an art. His classmates asked hard questions and joked about the books they read. Hernández felt like they were speaking a foreign language.
By that point, Hernández knew English, Spanish, Greek, Aramaic, Latin, French and German.
“I was functionally illiterate when it came to non biblical stuff. I had atrophied.” — Juan Hernández, professor of Biblical studies
“I was functionally illiterate when it came to non-biblical stuff,” Hernández said. “I had atrophied.”
When it came time for his comprehensive exams — the ultimate test of critical thinking and scholarship — Hernández failed.
So what did he do? He learned the language of critical thinking.
After he failed his exams, Hernández threw himself into the world of logic. He read The Elements of Reasoning by Ronald Munson and Andrew Black two times all the way through. He memorized every single logical category in the book. He still has the flashcards. They are tucked away in an office drawer, a physical reminder of the freedom that follows failure.
“It relieved me of the need to know everything. And that freed me.” — Juan Hernández, professor of Biblical studies
“It relieved me of the need to know everything,” Hernández said. “And that freed me.”
Now, Hernández is one of the world’s leading Revelation scholars and a respected, well-loved teacher.
Hernández could spend hours talking about the families he’s met, students he’s mentored, and friends he’s made throughout his nearly two decades of teaching at Bethel, but one story that captures just how impactful his teaching has been is the story of Felix Juaréz.
Felix’s wife, Maureen Juaréz, was a nursing professor at Bethel. All three of their children attended Bethel. Felix Juaréz started attending the seminars and loved them. When Hernández offered Introducción a la Biblia, Juaréz was one of several students more than 70 years old who signed up for the class.
Juaréz recently passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Hernández translated at his funeral.
When times are tough– like when he had to turn down a position at Yale University– Hernández diagrams Greek sentences or translates dense biblical commentaries from German. His home library consists of more than 1,500 books, which he keeps track of in a 43-page Microsoft Word document meticulously organized by page number.
“I’m utterly fascinated by the capacity to draw someone in and create a word experience we partake of together,” Hernández said. “It takes you out of yourself.”
