Born and raised in Western Canada, I grew up in a Christian family. After my undergraduate degree, I went to Thailand as a missionary apprentice for several years, learning to appreciate the language and culture of Thailand (as well as discovering many things about myself!).
I returned to Canada where I worked as a funeral director, completed graduate studies at Regent College in Vancouver, and served as a pastor. However, I never lost my interest in Thailand, and during the pandemic, I decided to merge my love of history, the Bible, and Thailand through academic study.
I started at Fuller in 2022, where my research is focused on the earliest translations of the New Testament into Siamese (Thai) in the nineteenth century. I live in Surrey, Canada (just outside of Vancouver) with my wife Joy.
Master of Theology (History of Christianity)
Bachelor of Arts (Psychology/Philosophy)
History of Christianity in Thailand, Bible Translation, Missions, History of Christianity, World Christianity
“Portrait of a Translator: Francis Seely and the 1971 Revision of the Thai Bible.”
Journal of Translation 21, no. 1 (2025): 35–57.
Two of the most famous portraits of a translator are paintings by Caravaggio (1571–1610) of Jerome (c. 342/347–420). Francis Seely (1917–2004) was an American missionary who helped revise the Thai Bible in the 1950s and ’60s, and left behind numerous workbooks from that translation project. This article examines what these workbooks show us about Seely’s community, concerns, and character, and uses these insights to offer an alternative picture to Caravaggio’s masterful paintings of a translator. The paper concludes by considering how a portrait of a modern Bible translator might differ from those of Jerome and Seely.
"The 1971 Revision of the Thai Bible.”
The Bible Translator 75, no. 3 (December 2024): 336–351.
The 1971 Thai Bible was a revision of earlier Thai translations that took almost twenty years to complete. It was used by the majority of Thai Protestants for forty years before it was further revised and published in 2011 as the Thai Standard Version. This article examines the 1971 revision, looking at its background, the people and processes involved in the translation, and the obstacles it faced, concluding with a brief examination of the legacy of this translation which shaped a generation of Thai Christians.
“Listening to the Other: Kuang’s Babel, Postcolonialism, and Bible Translation.”
Journal of Translation 20, no. 1 (2024): 1–23.
Despite its influence in the broader academy, postcolonial thought has had minimal impact on the study of Bible translation. This article examines postcolonialism, drawing out common themes from the contested descriptions of the discipline, and suggests ways that attending to postcolonial critiques could benefit the field. The article concludes with a case study using the history of Thai translations of the Bible to illustrate some of the benefits that could be brought to studies of Bible translation by an increased sensitivity to postcolonial thought.
The ‘Unpopular’ Version: The Story of Thailand’s Common Language Bible Translation.
2025, Studies in World Christianity. (Forthcoming)
In the 1960s and 1970s, dynamic equivalent, common language translations changed how the global church read the Bible. In this period, a dynamic equivalent, Thai common language translation of the Bible was made, the Prachaniyom (“Popular”) Version. Yet despite the optimistic naming, this translation proved unpopular with the Thai church. This article tells the story of the Prachaniyom version and explores why it was a glorious failure—examining both the fascinating things attempted by the translation and the reasons why it was not accepted by the Thai church.
A Crisis of Conscience: Francis Seely and the American Presbyterian Church.
2025, Journal of Presbyterian History (Forthcoming)
Francis Seely was a Presbyterian missionary to Thailand from 1947 to 1978, working in Bible translation, theological training, and inter-religious dialogue. Much of his work was done after an extended crisis of conscience that Seely went through in the 1950s when he wrestled with his beliefs and his place in the church. This article will examine Seely’s theological struggles and the response to his crisis of conscience. Contrasting his case with the similar situation of Evander McGilvary in the 1890s reveals some of the ways the American Presbyterian Church had changed in the intervening years.
