About the Conference The Bible is the best-selling book of all time and its influence on Western culture beyond compare. But how did this group of ancient books written and then copied over millennia become the Bible we now know? The Text & Canon Institute’s inaugural conference was held in 2020 and provided an opportunity to learn from internationally known speakers about how the Bible has been copied, collected, and confessed as God’s sacred words. Watch Conference Videos Plenary Speakers Daniel B. WallaceDr. Dan Wallace is the Executive Director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM) and Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He is a past president of the Evangelical Theological Society, a consultant for several Bible translations, and the author of numerous journal articles and books including Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics. Peter J. GentryDr. Peter Gentry is Donald L. Williams Professor of Old Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of many articles and books including Kingdom through Covenant and How to Read and Understand the Biblical Prophets. He is currently editing Ecclesiastes and Proverbs for the Göttingen Septuagint Series and is giving leadership to the Hexapla Institute. Stephen DempsterDr. Stephen Dempster is Professor of Religious Studies at Crandall University in New Brunswick Canada where he has taught Old Testament and Hebrew Language for twenty-seven years. He is the author of Dominion and Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible and is currently writing commentaries on Genesis, Micah, and Jeremiah. He is passionate about trying to connect Scripture with life in our postmodern world. Breakout Speakers Jeff CateDr. Jeff Cate is Professor of New Testament at California Baptist University and has taught at Moi University in Kenya and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. He has published numerous articles and presented widely on the textual history of the New Testament. Darian LockettDr. Darian Locket is Associate Professor of New Testament at Talbot School of Theology and the author of numerous books including An Introduction to the Catholic Epistles and Letters from the Pillar Apostles: The Formation of the Catholic Epistles as a Canonical Collection. Anthony FergusonDr. Anthony Ferguson is an adjunct faculty member at Gateway Seminary and California Baptist University. He completed his PhD on the Dead Sea Scrolls under the supervision of Russell Fuller at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Timothy N. MitchellTim Mitchell is a PhD student at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. He has published a number of articles and his current research focuses on writing and book culture in early Christianity as well as the textual history of the Gospel of Mark.