He earned a B.A. in mathematics and philosophy at Gordon College, an M.A. in religious studies at the University of Colorado, and a Ph.D. in Islamic thought at Emory University. His research is principally concerned with how religious people interpret and conceptualize sacred texts—both their own, and those of other religious traditions. He has written on medieval Islamic hermeneutics and Islamic versions of the Psalms of David; he spent the spring of 2013 in Indonesia starting a new project on contemporary Islamic hermeneutics. He has served on the Harvey Fellows Advisory board since 2010. He lives in Norman, Oklahoma with his wife Beth, their two teenagers, his parents, and his mother in law, in a large home that often welcomes students and friends from church.