Iain Provan served as the Marshall Sheppard Professor of Biblical Studies at Regent College from 1997 to his retirement at the end of 2022. He was named Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Regent's 54th Convocation ceremony, held on May 6, 2024.

Born and educated in the UK, Dr. Provan holds a PhD from Cambridge, and prior to Regent his academic teaching career took him to King’s College London, the University of Wales, and the University of Edinburgh, where he was a senior lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament Studies. Dr. Provan has written numerous essays and articles, and numerous books. The latter include commentaries on Lamentations, 1 and 2 Kings, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs, as well as Seriously Dangerous Religion (2014), A Biblical History of Israel (2015, co-authored with Phil Long and Tremper Longman), Discovering Genesis (2016), The Reformation and the Right Reading of Scripture (2017), and Seeking What Is Right: The Old Testament and the Good Life (2020). 

Dr. Provan is an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland, a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge, and the recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship. He and his wife, Lynette, have four children and three grandchildren. He is also a qualified Provincial B Licence soccer coach (BC) and ARA rowing coach (UK).

Areas of Expertise

• Old Testament Narrative Literature, especially the Books of Genesis & Kings
• The Books of Lamentations, Song of Songs, & Ecclesiastes
• Old Testament Theology & Ethics
• The Bible, Hermeneutics, & Culture

Media & Publications

• Seeking What is Right: The Old Testament and the Good Life – Video
• The Reformation and the Right Reading of Scripture – Book
• Did Luther Nail It? – Article
• Against the Grain: Selected Essays – Book
• Old Testament Foundations – Summer Video
• Seriously Dangerous Religion: What the Old Testament Really Says and Why It Matters – Book
• Convenient Myths: The Axial Age, Dark Green Religion, and the World that Never Was – Book
• A Biblical History of Israel (with Phil Long and Tremper Longman) – Book
• 1 & 2 Kings – Book
• Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs – Book
• A Duty to Care, a Duty to Critique – Article
• The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative, 1648-2013: How Did We Get Here and What Are We to Do? – Article
• Tenants in God's Land: Earth-Keeping and People-Keeping in the Old Testament – Book