• Get to know biblical studies professor Brian Doak!⁠ ⁠ Q: What inspired you to teach?⁠ A: Well, basically it was as simple as this: I had professors that I adored, and I wanted to be like them and help other people learn and feel the way that I learned and felt.⁠ ⁠ Q: What is your favorite class to teach and why? ⁠ A: Hmmm, that is like picking a favorite child (which, now that I bring it up, is not hard at all depending on the day!). For this purpose, I will say it is my course on The Book of Job and the Problem of Evil. As for why, it is a perfect collision of several factors: (1) The material itself is so rich. Just sit down and read the whole book of Job sometime in one sitting. (2) Because of the material and the way students react to it, I tend to get into an unhinged ranting and raving mood for this class, and I become more vulnerable with my own fears, doubts, and faith. (3) The problem of evil and suffering touches everyone's life so deeply – so everyone has skin in the game, at all times. I was teaching this course, in fact, in the spring of 2020 when the pandemic started to get real. I'm proud to say that we were all over the prospect of the virus very early on, before it was even a major headline, and already talking about the implications for theology, for God's involvement in nature, and so on. It was ... amazing, in a very weird way. ⁠ ⁠ Q: What is your biggest hope for George Fox students?⁠ A: I hope they grow up. Like, I don't mean that in a derogatory sense; I mean it in the best possible way. We all need to make a transition to adulthood, in our thinking, our relationships, and our faith. That's what college can help students do, at its best.⁠ ⁠ Q: What’s one fun fact about you that most people don’t know? ⁠ A: For a very brief period of time I was an art major in college. I gave it up, because I was (and am) an impatient and quite mediocre artist, but I still maintain a secret Instagram page where I post things. ⁠
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    Get to know biblical studies professor Brian Doak!⁠ ⁠ Q: What inspired you to teach?⁠ A: Well, basically it was as simple as this: I had professors that I adored, and I wanted to be like them and help other people learn and feel the way that I learned and felt.⁠ ⁠ Q: What is your favorite class to teach and why? ⁠ A: Hmmm, that is like picking a favorite child (which, now that I bring it up, is not hard at all depending on the day!). For this purpose, I will say it is my course on The Book of Job and the Problem of Evil. As for why, it is a perfect collision of several factors: (1) The material itself is so rich. Just sit down and read the whole book of Job sometime in one sitting. (2) Because of the material and the way students react to it, I tend to get into an unhinged ranting and raving mood for this class, and I become more vulnerable with my own fears, doubts, and faith. (3) The problem of evil and suffering touches everyone's life so deeply – so everyone has skin in the game, at all times. I was teaching this course, in fact, in the spring of 2020 when the pandemic started to get real. I'm proud to say that we were all over the prospect of the virus very early on, before it was even a major headline, and already talking about the implications for theology, for God's involvement in nature, and so on. It was ... amazing, in a very weird way. ⁠ ⁠ Q: What is your biggest hope for George Fox students?⁠ A: I hope they grow up. Like, I don't mean that in a derogatory sense; I mean it in the best possible way. We all need to make a transition to adulthood, in our thinking, our relationships, and our faith. That's what college can help students do, at its best.⁠ ⁠ Q: What’s one fun fact about you that most people don’t know? ⁠ A: For a very brief period of time I was an art major in college. I gave it up, because I was (and am) an impatient and quite mediocre artist, but I still maintain a secret Instagram page where I post things. ⁠