Welcome to SPACE, our adult continuing education program which offers interactive monthly courses for personal enrichment! Learn more here.
Dr. Joel D. Ruark
Signum Tutorials Program
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SPACE Preceptor
Biblical scholar and self-proclaimed "Tolkien Freak"
Vocationally, I am a scholar of the Hebrew Bible in the service of the global Christian Church. I am passionate to empower people around the world to read, understand and apply the Hebrew Bible better than before, both in its original languages and in translation. I am also keenly interested in expressions of Christian spirituality and thought during the medieval period, especially the writings of the Catholic abbot-turned-monk William of St Thierry. I am perpetually fascinated by "old stuff" in general, and "old stories" in particular, which is one reason why I remain absolutely captivated by Tolkien's legendarium!
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Current and Upcoming Modules
January 2026
Biblical Hebrew 4
Closed Cohort
February 2026
Biblical Hebrew 5
Closed Cohort
March 2026
Biblical Hebrew 6
Closed Cohort
Highlighted Modules
All Modules
Ancient Near East Literature and the Old Testament
Mixed Lecture/Discussion Medium intensity
Many readers around the world are familiar with the Old Testament, especially in western civilization. But did you know other cultures from the Ancient Near East also contained comparable genres of literature? Epics, annals, legal texts, hymns, wisdom literature, and prophetic oracles are all exta...
Biblical Foundations: Genesis 1-11
Mixed Lecture/Discussion Low intensity
The premise for this course is that the Primeval History (i.e. Genesis 1-11) provides the key conceptual roadmap for how to understand the rest of the biblical narrative (especially the OT, but pertaining to the NT as well). Once the reader begins to see these connections, an entire world is opened...
Biblical Hebrew Series Series of 8
Lecture-based
This series of modules would be for students who want to learn how to read Biblical Hebrew. The course would include some speaking, listening, and writing skills as well. But people who learn Biblical Hebrew do so in order to read it, so reading and comprehension skills would take primary focus.
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Medieval Christian Thought and Practice
Mixed Lecture/Discussion Medium intensity
Between the Great Schism (the separation of Orthodox and Catholic churches in 1054 CE) and the Protestant Reformation (initiated by the Church of England separating from the Catholic Church in 1534 CE) lies the medieval period of Christian history. The Church was theologically and spiritually vibra...
Men Marrying Up: Marriage and Romance in Tolkien
Discussion-based Medium intensity
Typological motifs are a prominent feature of Tolkien's legendarium, including the motif of marriage and romance. Marital relationships appear among the Ainur (both Valar and Maiar) and the Children of Ilúvatar (both Elves and Men): some happy, some tragic, and some in-between. Tolkien's stories o...
Tolkien and the Old Testament
Mixed Lecture/Discussion Medium intensity
The basic premise of this module is that 1) there are some systematic similarities and dissimilarities between Tolkien's works (especially his legendarium) and the corpus of literature called the Old Testament; and 2) understanding these systematic similarities and dissimilarities enriches the reade...
Women in the Old Testament
Discussion-based Low intensity
The Old Testament is remarkable among other works in ancient Near Eastern literature for its prominent inclusion of women in the narrative. This is especially noteworthy, considering that ancient Israelite society was a patriarchal society. This course explores the lives of individual women in the...