Richard Linwood Pratt Jr. (born October 17, 1953) is an American theologian, author, and founder and President of Third Millennium Ministries. Third Millennium was launched in response to the lack of training of Christian leaders around the world. Third Millennium recognizes where the church is growing the fastest, those Christian leaders have the least amount of training. Pratt personally witnessed this in the 1980s as he traveled for missions. Helping the church worldwide has become his passion. He believes that any person that has the desire to learn more about the Bible should be given that opportunity in their own land, in their own language, and at no cost.

Background and education

Pratt is actively involved in all aspects of ministry, including writing, teaching, and global advancement. He has traveled extensively throughout the world to evangelize and lecture, including Argentina, Australia, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Indonesia, Mexico, Mongolia, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, Cuba, the United Kingdom and throughout the United States. He is best known for his approach to Biblical hermeneutics, which places a heavy emphasis on the

Kingdom of God The concept of the kingship of God appears in all Abrahamic religions, where in some cases the terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are also used. The notion of God's kingship goes back to the Hebrew Bible, which refers to "his kingdom" b ...

. Pratt taught at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS, and Orlando, FL, for 21 years. He also chaired the Old Testament Department in Orlando and is currently Adjunct Professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary. He received his B.A. from Roanoke College, studied at Westminster Theological Seminary, and received his

M.Div. For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and di ...

from Union Theological Seminary. He earned his

Th.D. Doctor of Theology ( la, Doctor Theologiae, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equiva ...

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

Studies from Harvard University. His thinking was greatly influenced by Cornelius Van Til among others.

Selected publications

Pratt has written and edited numerous books, commentaries and journal articles. He is the general editor of the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible and a contributing translator for the New Living Translation. Some of his books include: Pray with Your Eyes Open, Designed for Dignity, and He Gave Us Stories. He has written commentaries on both Chronicles and Corinthians and is also a contributor to the Complete Literary Guide to the Bible. His books have been translated into several languages including Chinese (Mandarin), Russian and Spanish. In 2014, a '' Festschrift'' was published in his honor. ''For the World: Essays in Honor of Richard L. Pratt Jr.'' included contributions from

Bruce K. Waltke Bruce K. Waltke (born August 30, 1930) is an American Reformed evangelical professor of Old Testament and Hebrew. He has held professorships in the Old Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary, Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wes ...

, William Edgar, and

John M. Frame John M. Frame (born April 8, 1939) is a retired American Christian philosopher and Calvinist theologian especially noted for his work in epistemology and presuppositional apologetics, systematic theology, and ethics. He is one of the foremost int ...

Books

*''Every Thought Captive: A Study Manual For The Defense Of Christian Truth'', 1979 *''Pray With Your Eyes Open: Looking At God, Ourselves, And Our Prayers'', 1988 *''He Gave Us Stories: The Bible Student's Guide To Interpreting Old Testament Narratives'', 1993 *''Holy Bible: New Living Translation'', 1996 (translator) *''1 and 2 Chronicles: A Mentor Commentary'', 1996 (also availabl
online
for free) *''Holman New Testament Commentary: 1 and 2 Corinthians'' with Ra McLaughlin, 2000 (also availabl
online
for free) *''Designed For Dignity: What God Has Made It Possible For You To Be'', 2000 *''NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible'', 2003 (general editor)

Articles and book chapters

"Historical Contingencies and Biblical Predictions"

"Does God Observe the Law of Contradiction? . . . Should We?"

"Hyper-Preterism and Unfolding Biblical Eschatology"

"To The Jew First: A Reformed Perspective"
on evangelizing the Jews
"I Want to Walk Free, but I Still Hear the Chains Rattling"

"Relevance without Irreverence (How to Become All Things to All Men)"

"Baptism as a Sacrament of the Covenant"

"Jeremiah 31: Infant Baptism in the New Covenant"

"The Regulative Principle"
* "Common Misunderstandings of Van Til’s Apologetics"

an

Lectures and sermons

Pratt has published a number of his sermons and lecture
online
Some of them are listed here, all in MP3 format:
"A sermon on 2 Chronicles 30"

"The Vision of Christ in the Lord’s Prayer, (Matthew 6:9-13) "

References

External links

Third Millennium MinistriesReformed Theological Seminary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Richard L. Living people American Presbyterians Harvard Divinity School alumni American Calvinist and Reformed theologians Writers from Orlando, Florida Roanoke College alumni Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni Westminster Theological Seminary alumni 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 21st-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians Presbyterian Church in America ministers 1953 births Bible commentators Writers from Roanoke, Virginia