He received his Ph.D. from University of Aberdeen, Scotland; his M.A. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and completed his B.A., Summa Cum Laude, at Augustana College. He was an assistant professor of Religion at Palm Beach Atlantic College from 1982—85 and took a leave of absence to accept a one-year research fellowship in Cambridge, England with the British wing of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship from 1985-86. During this time, he co-edited Gospel Perspectives, vol. 6: The Miracle of Jesus and wrote The Historical Reliability of the Gospels.

Blomberg stands in the conservative evangelical tradition, but has been known for his wide interaction with mainstream scholarship and his willingness to challenge the evangelical status quo. For example, he chided some evangelicals for their blanket condemnation of Liberation Theology, and he controversially fostered a dialogue with Mormon professor Stephen E. Robinson of BYU, which resulted in the book How Wide the Divide? An Evangelical and a Mormon in Conversation. He was also one of several scholars interviewed for The Case for Christ, a popular book by Lee Strobel.

Blomberg has written on a diverse range of issues including wealth and poverty, parables, eschatology, hermeneutics, and women in ministry. However, his academic work has tended to focus on the Historical Jesus and Gospels research.

He regularly speaks and teaches at home and overseas at a variety of churches and educational institutions. In Denver, he is involved with Scum of the Earth Church, where his wife Fran Blomberg also volunteers her time while also pursuing a doctorate in missiology and teaching as an adjunct in that field at Denver Seminary. The Blombergs have two grown daughters.