[2] He immediately proceeded to Harvard University and received his Bachelor of Sacred Theology followed by a doctoral degree "with distinction" in History and Philosophy of Religion.

He later received awards from the Christian Research Foundation for both his dissertation, "Ordination in the Ancient Church," and for a translation of Gregory of Nyssa's Life of Moses.

He was selected to speak as the John G. Gammie Senior Lecturer of the Southwest Commission for Religious Studies.

[3] Dr. Ferguson was a council member of the Association Internationale D'Etudes Patristiques,[3] which seeks "to promote the study of Christian antiquity, especially the Fathers of the Church, without prejudice to work undertaken in this domain in various countries.

"[4] He served for a term on the council of the American Society of Church History, and has also previously served as president of the North American Patristics Society (1990–1992), from which he received the Distinguished Service Award for more than thirty years of service.