Jim West (biblical scholar)
Jim West (born August 29, 1960) is an American scholar of biblical studies and a Baptist pastor. He teaches theology part-time at Ming Hua School of Theology in Hong Kong and is a scholar at Quartz Hill School of Theology. He earned a Doctor of Theology from Andersonville Theological Seminary in Camilla, Georgia, an unaccredited school. He pastors Petros Baptist Church in Tennessee.
West was one of the first to blog about biblical studies, sharing trends, new archaeological findings, and cultural commentary. Since 2010 he has written at Zwinglius Redivivus, after earlier blogs such as Jim West and First Baptist Church of Petros, among others.
He helped the Society of Biblical Literature decide in 2009 to grant bibliobloggers affiliate status and helped start biblioblogging sessions at the annual meeting, with the first held in Atlanta in November 2010. He is no longer on that steering committee.
As a Baptist pastor, West has spoken out on church issues. He has opposed Lent for Baptists, called Nigerian Chrislam a result of political correctness, and argued against homeschooling, advocating for public schools within the Southern Baptist Convention.
Regarding the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife in 2012, he cautioned that a papyrus fragment is not proof by itself and that more context is needed to draw conclusions.
His main areas of study are Zwingli, the Reformation, and biblical archaeology. He has published several books.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:51 (CET).