Steve Prost: A Military Chaplain Undertakes a PhD at TEDS

Steve Prost’s journey has taken him around the world in service…and most recently, it’s landed him in the classrooms at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS), where he is working towards a PhD in Theological Studies.

Steve got serious about his faith in college. He sensed a call to ministry early in his walk with the Lord, and he served the church faithfully as a deacon while working full-time as a lawyer in the Army. “I was a prosecutor, a defense attorney…eventually, I did federal prosecutions and worked in a firm,” he says.

As he helped people navigate the legal system, he often felt that his work as a lawyer parallelled that of a pastor. “Being a lawyer involves a lot of counseling, advising, and analyzing the legal code to work for justice and help people. There’s a sense in which pastoring is counseling, advising, and interpreting Scripture, God’s Word, to work for the good and help people.”

After serving as a lawyer for eight years in the Army, he went to seminary and then returned to active duty, this time as a chaplain. He worked in that position for two decades.

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“I was thrown into the fire,” Steve says. “About one year out of seminary, I was ministering all over Iraq.” On combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, he often met with high-profile Muslim leaders and would help coordinate relations between them and others.

He loved his work as a military chaplain. “You have a dual role as a religious leader and a spiritual leader for everybody, and you do what you can…You care for everyone, regardless of their backgrounds.” He shared how he felt privileged to hear people’s stories and most profound struggles. “There’s a wonderful thing about work as a chaplain. Pastors tend to be based in churches, but a chaplain goes to the front lines. There’s no place off-limits for ministry.”

In time, he took on a staff role as an advisor to the Command, where he was responsible for advising on religion, morals, ethics, and morale. In his final four years of service, he worked at the Pentagon, writing policy for the chaplaincy, working on suicide prevention policies, and working for religious freedom.

Because he sensed a continued call to serve the Church after he retired from military service, Steve decided to further his education, beginning a PhD at TEDS. He is passionate about considering how theology practically relates to the needs and concerns in the pews. “For example, I teach Sunday school, and I preach, so, in general, the things that I wrestle with in some of the late nights working academic papers come up in practical questions that people have in my congregation.”

He has thoroughly enjoyed his time at TEDS, saying, “The most memorable moments are just the friendships and interactive discussions with professors and classmates.” He particularly enjoyed his classes on systematic theology. “I’ve taken all the classes by Dr. Vanhoozer. His classes and approaches have really helped me grow in my understanding of how to do theology biblically. I have such an appreciation for him!”

Steve is currently working on his dissertation, studying what he calls the “fearsomeness of God.” He explains, “It is always a challenge and a danger to disconnect understanding biblical truths intellectually from embodying those by the Spirit through knowledge of Christ—knowing and living those truths experientially.” He is researching how understanding the fearsomeness of God affects our love for Him and our appreciation of His greatness and glory. He suggests that this is something we see in particular in the Psalms. “God’s fearsomeness is a delightful thing; it’s not a negative thing,” he says. “I think that’s what the Bible presses, and I think it could use more emphasis and support and academic theology around it.”

Overall, Steve has found doing a PhD to be deeply rewarding—and humbling. “You learn how much you don’t know. I am so blessed and thankful that I am able to do this because I continue to grow. It pushes me to better understand the biblical content that describes Jesus Christ so that I can know Jesus better and make him known better.” Although he initially had friends who questioned his decision to undertake PhD studies after retirement, he says, “I am so happy that I decided to do this because it helps me stay disciplined.”

To the donors of TEDS, Steve says, “When I look at other comparable PhD programs, I think TEDS has a unique and critical role. TEDS stands firmly upon the authoritative Word of God, and it needs resources to continue to lead in the role of academic excellence for the broad evangelical community. At TEDS, there are world-class, top-notch professors committed to the authority inerrancy of God’s Word, with an extremely high level of support and interaction compared to comparable academic programs.”

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