Jacksonville College Faculty Receive Honors at Regional Academic Conference
Jacksonville College is pleased to announce that Dr. Matt Pitts, Professor and Chair of the Biblical Studies & Philosophy Department, and Jonathan Attebery, Adjunct Instructor in the department, were recently recognized for their scholarly achievements at the Southwest Regional Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society. The conference was held March 27–28 at the Houston campus of Dallas Theological Seminary. Both faculty members presented original research and received awards in the Ben Arbour Memorial Student Paper Competition.
Dr. Pitts, a current Ph.D. student, presented a paper titled “John Gill (1697–1771) on the Beatific Vision.” His research seeks to build on the work of Crawford Gribben and Barry Howson who both wrote articles on Gill’s eschatology but neglected to examine Gill’s position on the beatific vision. This article attempts to address this gap in the scholarship by demonstrating that John Gill writes about the beatific vision as a perfect eternal vision of God in Christ that will be both corporeal and intellectual and will transform the saints. For this work, Dr. Pitts was awarded first place in the competition.
Mr. Atteberry, also a current Ph.D. student, presented a paper titled “A Collocation Analysis of ἀποστέλλω and πέμπω with Special Attention to John’s Gospel.” His research discusses the use of one pair of synonyms in John’s Gospel: ἀποστέλλω and πέμπω. It argues that in Hellenistic Greek, ἀποστέλλω and πέμπω do not differ semantically but exhibit propensities for different contexts. The paper reports a collocation analysis of ἀποστέλλω and πέμπω in a corpus comprising relevant literature to the New Testament. Mr. Attebery’s work earned him the runner-up designation in the competition.
Jacksonville College congratulates Dr. Pitts and Mr. Attebery on these accomplishments. Their work exemplifies the institution’s commitment to academic rigor and meaningful scholarship, which directly enriches the classroom experience for students.
In addition to his teaching and research, Dr. Pitts serves as Program Director for Jacksonville College’s newly implemented Bachelor of Science in Christian Ministry degree. This four-year program is currently enrolling students for Fall 2026. For more information, please contact Dr. Pitts at mpitts@jacksonvillecollege.edu or visit www.jacksonvillecollege.edu/bachelor/.
Jacksonville College is a Jesus-centered, private college located in Jacksonville, Texas, dedicated to preparing students for lives of learning, work, and service. To learn more, visit www.jacksonvillecollege.edu.
