STUDENT HIGHLIGHT Tyler Holloway

Jenny-Lyn de Klerk PH.D., HISTORICAL THEOLOGY | 2020

A recent graduate of Midwestern Seminary’s Ph.D. program, Dr. Jenny-Lyn de Klerk serves at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, as the Puritan Project assistant. Dr. de Klerk also holds a B.A., M.A., and Th.M., along with her Ph.D., and her doctoral work focused on the theology and writings of John Owen and Lucy Hutchinson.

MBTS First, thanks for joining us for this issue’s

Alumni Spotlight and congratulations on your recent graduation! You graduated in December 2020—could you tell us which program you were in and the subject of your dissertation?

JENNY-LYN DEKLERK Thank you! I graduated with a Ph.D. in historical theology and wrote on John Owen’s and Lucy Hutchinson’s theological understandings of loving neighbor, as applied to their involvement in the English civil wars. Most research on the Puritan view of love focuses on loving God, but I found that the Puritans said so much about loving people that deserved to be highlighted and could also be used to speak into some debates concerning their perspectives on things like war and society.

MBTS As you have mentioned, the Puritans

were an important point in your research. This issue of the Midwestern Magazine aims at demonstrating how voices of the past can aid us in the present. How would you suggest reading the Puritans might help Christians today?

JLDK Really in the same ways that reading any other group of Christians in the past can: they can help you develop a sense of spiritual belonging to the invisible church, show you how many of your trials are common to Christians throughout the centuries and how to deal with them, and generally inspire you to keep living a faithful life even if you are tired, bored, or scared. The Puritans, in particular, are remembered for their attempts to apply the Bible to all areas of human life and they were experts in holiness. If you are wanting to grow in these areas, they are a great group to learn from.

MBTS You currently serve with the Puritan

Project at Regent College, which has a close relationship with the late J.I. Packer. Could you briefly reflect on what Packer and his ministry have meant to you personally?

JLDK Well, it sounds a bit over-the-top, but Dr. Packer’s work on the Christian life and the Puritans has really motivated and shaped all of my research since the end of my undergraduate degree when I discovered theology for the first time. I see my writing and ministry as an outworking of studying him and the Puritans over the years. It was an immense privilege to meet him in person. The main thing I will remember for the rest of my life—and think about on most days—is how living the Christian life is so worth it! If Dr. Packer was the embodiment of years of worshipping God, serving the church, and studying Scripture, then all of life—enjoying each day, even getting old and rickety and going through some hard times—can be a joy for the Christian.

MBTS As you have recently finished your

Ph.D., what advice would you give a student who is just beginning the doctoral journey?

JLDK Use your Ph.D. as a means of serving God, not yourself. There are so many ways you can secretly use it to do the latter, like caring more about your personal success than being involved in your local church, valuing the praise of people more than God, or allotting unlimited amounts of time to your work and constantly taking away from time spent with God, your family, or your neighbors. It will not be worth it in the end if you have cherished idolatrous desires the whole way through, but it will be very exciting and satisfying if you do it to serve God!