Craig Koester earned his bachelor's degree at Saint Olaf College, his Master of Divinity at Luther Theological Seminary, and his PhD at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He served as a parish pastor for several years in Princeton, Minnesota, and joined the faculty of Luther Seminary in 1986. He was appointed holder of the Asher O. and Carrie Nasby Chair of New Testament Studies in 2012 and served as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Academic Dean between 2013 and 2018
Dr. Koester, an innovative teacher, is known for his course "From Genesis to Revelation," which uses visual elements, music, and dramatization to guide participants through the biblical story in ten days. His other courses include the Gospel of John, the Letters of Paul, and Revelation. To reach a broader audience, he also developed courses in digital format. One is titled Revelation: Controversies and Meaning in Western History. The other is "Reading Biblical Literature: From Genesis to Revelation." Both were published through GreatCourses
As a scholar, Dr. Koester has contributed to debates on the Scriptures in academic and ecclesiastical circles. His books include fundamental commentaries on Hebrews (2001) and Revelation (2014) for the Anchor Yale Commentary series. Both have been translated into Korean. In the field of Johannine studies, he is known for his work Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel (2nd edition, 2003), The Word of Life: A Theology of the Gospel of John (2008), and numerous articles. He is currently preparing a major commentary on the Gospel of John for Eerdmans Publishing. His book Revelation and the End of All Things (2nd edition, 2018) is a popular resource among seminary and university students, and is widely used in congregations
Dr. Koester has led and organized seminars for the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for New Testament Studies. He has been an associate editor of the journals New Testament Studies, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, and Journal for the Study of the New Testament, and regularly presents his work at international meetings of scholars. He was a resident scholar at the Center for Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1992-1993 and 2007
In the church, Dr. Koester participates as a speaker at theological conferences, synodal meetings, workshops for pastors and congregations. He is one of the designers of the Narrative Lectionary, which allows congregations to traverse the major sections of the Old and New Testament from September to May each year. Internationally, he participated in the project of the Lutheran World Federation on "The Bible in the Life of the Lutheran Communion" from 2011 to 2016.
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