Jonathan Worthington, PhD, Durham University, is the author of Creation in Paul and Philo and serves as Vice President of Theological Education with Training Leaders International

Jonathan wrote a critical, yet gracious, review of Jackson’s book (Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes) and they’ve been friends ever since. This is part 1 of our interview discussion with Jonathan Worthington.

Worthington says, “Motivation is about kind as well as level. It’s about quality as well as quantity.” Growing up with a father studying psychology, Jonathan wants to understand what motivates students to study theological education with excellence and purpose. He asks several questions in this regard:

How do we motivate students to study?

How can we look at intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as related to theological education?

As he dug into the motivation of studying theological education, he discovered 3 different levels of extrinsic motivation.

1. Reward and punishment
2. Borrowing a sense of obligation
3. Seeing the importance

Worthington walks us through why these work and potential negatives to studying theology this way.

Articles Mentioned in the Conversation

• Would Paul be Considered a Bad Missionary Today?
• Put on Trifocals. God is More than Sovereign
• The Bible Story on a Kid’s Napkin
• How We Missed the Honor-Shame Focus in Scripture

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