Daniel J. Estes (ThM, 1978)

Daniel J. Estes (ThM, 1978) serves as a Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Cedarville University. Equipped with degrees from Cedarville University, Dallas Theological Seminary, and the University of Cambridge, Dan has a wealth of knowledge to share with his students. Teaching, however, goes far beyond the dispersal of facts. Through Dan’s role as a professor, God has enabled Dan to meet all the goals enfolded in his life’s mission—building truth into the next generation of believers, extending pastoral care to students and colleagues, and enriching the church’s understanding of God’s Word through writing.  

Dan jumped straight into seminary after graduating from Cedarville University with a degree in pre-seminary Bible and English. He and his wife, Carol, moved from Ohio to Dallas, Texas, flipping a closet in their Gaylord apartment into a study space, equipped with a typewriter. Dan worked on his ThM with an emphasis on the Old Testament, and Roy Zuck turned out to be one of his favorite professors. Dr. Zuck’s Old Testament Bible classes were huge, but he knew every student’s name. He also demonstrated a wide variety of teaching techniques, masterfully employing five to seven methods an hour, simultaneously filling Dan’s teaching toolbox. After Dr. Zuck’s daughter got into a serious car accident, Dan saw this godly scholar in a Job experience, continuing to teach and holding onto the Lord through the hard things.  

One night, during Dan’s fourth year of seminary, it occurred to him that he had always known what the next year would hold. That night, he had no clue. He felt the Lord nudging him: You’ve learned the principles behind Proverbs 3:5–6. Now I want you to live out those principles. During his final year of seminary, Dan had no answer to everyone’s question of what he was doing next. But he knew what the Lord had told him to do: trust his path-making skills. Dan leaned into the Lord, rehearsing the Proverb’s command: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Toward the end of his final semester, Dan received a phone call from his pastor back in Ohio. The Lord had put Dan on the pastor’s heart. He wanted to see how close Dan was to graduating, since he very much wanted to pour into Dan’s life.  

God continued to make Dan and Carol’s path straight. After graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary, Dan and Carol moved back to Ohio. He served as an assistant pastor, working alongside his pastor. After five years of pastoral ministry, Dan began wondering about his long-term ministry. He and Carol did not know what God had planned, and then Cedarville University reached out. Dan has now served as a professor at Cedarville for forty-one years. In addition to his pastoral care for his students, Dan also extends pastoral care to his colleagues.  Dan’s pastoral gifts found a home in his role as a professor. 

As a brand-new professor, Dan taught anything and everything, including Greek and Hebrew simultaneously. He taught Bible survey courses and an introduction to theology class. Eventually, his course load evolved, and he began focusing on Old Testament poetry and the prophets.  

As a seasoned professor, Dan teaches the courses he enjoys best, including an introductory course that covers spiritual formation, bibliology, and inductive Bible study methods as well as courses on the Psalms, Wisdom Literature, and the Prophets. While Dan might not have a favorite class or book of the Bible, he holds the Psalms very dear.  

In the Psalms, according to Dan, “theology crashes into life, and it’s in that collision that our faith is forged.” Truths about God collide with your experiences. The goodness of God clashes with what you see, his justice with what you hear. Faith is the only muscle to be developed because you can do nothing. What you know about God goes head-to-head with what plays out in the world, and you can only watch. You know he defends the righteous, but nothing shields you from workplace gossip. You know he delivers, but the doctors have no diagnosis. When the truth and your senses refuse to align, you are faced with a question. Will you hold to the principles you once held?  

In his Psalms course, required for all worship majors, Dan highlights the formative function of the Psalms. The Psalms do not deny your senses. Many Psalms proclaim a truth about God before the Psalmist describes his experiences, often in detail—the wicked pursuing the righteous. Then the Psalmist works his way toward a yet I know.  Dan encourages his students to take the Psalms as their prayers, just as Israel did, both individually and corporately. He invites them to say, yet I know, too, whether it be with confidence or a cry, a wail or a whisper. Rehearsing their words engraves the yet I know on your heart, so that your heart bears those words in the valley.  

The Psalmist tells us to taste and see the Lord’s goodness, and this past summer, Dan and Carol, who also teaches at Cedarville, spent some time up on the coast of Maine, a summertime family tradition, reflecting on God’s goodness and savoring his sweetness. All of their kids and grandkids joined them for a bit as they celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. God is good, and he delights to give us good things.  

God’s path has proved to be far better than anything Dan and Carol could have engineered. When you are tempted to manufacture your own path apart from the Lord, remember how he has faithfully constructed your paths so far. For Dan, his garden reminds him of God’s faithfulness to make his paths straight: “In my garden, I don’t see that things are going on under the surface, doesn’t mean they’re not.” God is good, and he longs to sculpt your path. You, too, can trust the Lord to direct your paths.