By training, he is a specialist in form-critical interpretation, especially as it interacts with newer methods such as narrative criticism and feminist criticism. His main goal is to teach critical methodologies, the underlying philosophical presuppositions behind those methodologies, and how well those underlying philosophical presuppositions accord with Judeo-Christian tradition and the history of human experience. Dr. Finlay also teaches classes in the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Gospels, and is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the National Association of Professors of Hebrew.