James Arland Berg (born 1952) is a writer on biblical topics, especially counseling, discipleship, and Christian growth. Berg was reared in a working-class home in South Dakota, where he did farm chores, worked in a restaurant, and learned to trouble-shoot machinery with his father. Many of his illustrations are taken from his varied life experiences.
Berg earned an undergraduate degree in Bible (1974) and an M.A. degree in Theology (1976) from Bob Jones University, a Christian Fundamentalist university in South Carolina. He received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Tabernacle Baptist Theological Seminary (Virginia Beach, Virginia). Jim Berg has taught seminars on biblical counseling and leadership development coordinated through fundamentalist Protestant churches.
Berg served as Dean of Students at Bob Jones University for 29 years (1981-2010). Beginning in the summer of 2010, Berg joined the faculty of the BJU Seminary to teach courses, serve as a spokesperson for BJU at conferences, counsel pastors and members of the university family, and "provide resources for pastors who are facing issues beyond their training and experience." Berg's wife, Pat, also teaches at BJU and assists him in his counseling ministry. They have three married daughters: Kirsten, Angie, and Michelle.
Berg's book, Changed into His Image, has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, German, Russian, and Chinese. Of it, Roy B. Zuck, editor of Bibliotheca Sacra, writes that "it is filled with extensive discussions of Bible passages dealing with various aspects of spirituality and with numerous practical illustrations of real-life situations. These evidence Berg's long-time ministry in working with college students and speaking in Bible conferences." Less sympathetic is Camille K. Lewis, who says that in Changed into His Image and When Trouble Comes, "we see a re-statement of the long-time expected sectarian response that looks less romantic and more simply tragic." Biblical Viewpoint notes that Berg "has done his exegetical homework" in Created for His Glory, and his "words are direct and simple."