Born and raised in Germany, Professor Bayer came to Covenant Seminary in 1994 after teaching for ten years at the German Theological Seminary (now FTH) at Giessen, where he also planted and co-pastored a church. His PhD is from the University of Aberdeen (Scotland). He retired from full-time teaching at Covenant in June 2020.
With his expertise in critical scholarship and commitment to the authority and unity of the Scriptures, Dr. Bayer seeks to exemplify our pastor-scholar model. He hopes that his personal interest in world mission might add a multicultural dimension to each student’s world vision for the Gospel.
Dr. Bayer lectures and preaches regularly in the U.S.A. and throughout Europe. He has published English and German monographs, essays, and dictionary articles, primarily on the Gospels and the book of Acts. He contributed to the ESV Study Bible, as well as video-recorded lectures on Acts for Third Millennium Ministries. Among his publications are a German commentary on the Gospel of Mark (Brockhaus Verlag/Brunnen Verlag), A Theology of Mark: The Dynamic Between Christology and Authentic Discipleship (P&R Publisings), and Peter as Apostolic Bedrock: Christology and Discipleship according to His Canonical Testimony (Paternoster/Wipf & Stock). An English commentary on the Gospel of Mark is forthcoming from Crossway.
Dr. Bayer and his wife, Susan, have three children and a growing number of grandchildren.