John Swinton, Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. Why do you love teaching and researching about Christian theology? My background is in mental health nursing. I worked as a nurse for 16 years before I headed into academia. I therefore came to theology from a slightly different angle than some, and with a different set of questions that have emerged from my experience in mental health care and working alongside of people with intellectual… Read more

Samuel Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London Why do you love teaching and researching about Christian theology? Theology is where we come face to face with God – and face-to-face with ourselves. It’s considering now in the light of forever. What is one “big idea” in your scholarship? Theology and mission has been captivated by the notion of ‘for.’ Jesus dies for us. We build a well in Tanzania for the locals. This in turn is dominated by the axis… Read more

Sameer Yadav, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Westmont College Why do you love teaching and researching about Christian theology? As I understand it, the work of Christian theology, whether in teaching, research or writing, is just an attempt to identify some scriptural story about God’s creation and redemption of the world through Christ, and then to work out what the truth of such a story would both require and permit us to think, say, and do. I love that sort… Read more

Phillip Cary, Professor of Philosophy and Scholar-in-Residence at the Templeton Honors College, Eastern University   Why do you love teaching and researching about Christian theology? At a really gut level, studying theology just cheers me up. I suppose that is because it gives me hope. And that of course is because I am a Christian, and I am learning about my Beloved, the Lord Jesus who is the hope of the world. It is an extraordinary privilege to spend so… Read more

  Adonis Vidu, Professor of Theology, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Why do you love teaching and researching about theology? ​Because it is perhaps the one discipline where the object of study talks back, becomes a subject, and I instead become one who “is known” and not simply a “knower”. Thus teaching theology means leading into contemplation, seeking union with God through knowledge. There is no tension here with the idea of critical scholarship, which is supposedly objective and dispassioned. Of course,… Read more

Leah Payne, Associate Professor of American Religious History, Portland Seminary Why do you love teaching and researching about Christian theology? I love teaching and researching the history of Christian theology because exploring the past helps students and researchers gain insight into the present, and inspiration and admonishments for the future. As a seminary professor, I want to help my students understand their identities historically; one of the most fulfilling aspects of teaching students about the development of Christian theology is… Read more

Professor Tom Greggs, FRSE, Marischal Chair (1616) and Head of Divinity at the University of Aberdeen Why do you love teaching and researching about Christian theology? Teaching and researching Theology is my vocation, and an outworking of the call to preach which I have felt since my teenage years. We are called to love God with our minds in Scripture, amongst all the other ways in which we are to love God. Research in Theology is for me an exercise… Read more