From Collapsed Lungs to Oxford Scholar: An Unlikely Journey Through Faith & Design | Neil Martin

In this episode of the Forum Podcast, Jonah Gollihugh, Communications Team Member and MDiv ’16 alum, sits down with Dr. Neil Martin, ThM ’13 alum, pastor, former design professional, and scholar, for a remarkable conversation about faith, suffering, vocation, and an unconventional path to ministry.

Martin reflects on growing up in the UK with no Christian background, coming to faith through a small village church, and studying engineering at Cambridge while wrestling with big questions about God and Scripture. He also shares how a sudden health crisis in his twenties reshaped the course of his life, driving him deep into Scripture and theological study during a long season of illness.

The conversation explores how Martin’s background in design unexpectedly led to his work on the 2011 NIV update, including the use of computational lexicography to navigate questions of contemporary language in Bible translation. He also discusses his time at Calvin Seminary, his doctoral work at Oxford on Galatians, and the way his life now brings together pastoral ministry, mentoring students, and academic scholarship.

It is a thoughtful and encouraging conversation about God’s faithfulness, the formation that can happen through suffering, and the surprising ways vocation unfolds in service to the church.