Dr. Varner came to The Master's College in 1996 after seven years in the Pastorate and seventeen years of ministry with the Friends of Israel in New Jersey. The last ten of those years he served as Dean of their Institute of Biblical Studies, where he taught and led study tours to Israel. Dr. Varner received his M.A. from Dropsie College, both an M. Div. and Th.M. from Biblical Theological Seminary, and his Ed.D. from Temple University. He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Biblical Literature, and has authored five books, contributed to two others, and published over a hundred journal and periodical articles. He recently published an academic commentary on James. 

In addition to teaching Bible Exposition and Greek Exegesis courses, Dr. Varner serves as Director of the College's IBEX semester in Israel program, a country he has visited over forty times. His Old Testament lectures richly benefit from his firsthand study of the sites and culture of Israel. In 1999 and in 2005 Dr. Varner was honored as The Master's College "Teacher of the Year".