WTS Faculty Stand Out In The Academy

Our faculty aren’t simply respected within our own institution—did you know that WTS faculty are widely recognized as thought leaders in the highest academic circles? Here are a few recent publications of authoritative scholarly works featuring our faculty.

WTS Faculty featured in The Oxford Handbook of Reformed Theology

OUP is the largest academic publisher in the world. In addition to stand-alone books, OUP produces a Handbook series, each volume featuring essays written by the top scholars in a particular field. Scholars are commissioned by invitation to share cutting-edge research that will shape the future of academic discussion on the topic.

The 2020 publication of The Oxford Handbook of Reformed Theology features three WTS professors:

• Dr. Suzanne McDonald for her chapter, “John Owen’s Discourse on the Holy Spirit.”
• Dr. J. Todd Billings for his chapter, “Redemption Applied: Union with Christ”
• Dr. Sue Rozeboom for her chapter, “Liturgy.”

WTS Faculty featured in The New Cambridge Companion to Christian Doctrine

Like OUP, Cambridge publishes a series of “Companion” guides that bring together the top scholars on a variety of subjects. This most recent survey of Christian Doctrine features three WTS professors (more than almost any other institution):

• Dr. Kristen Deede Johnson for her chapter, “Public Theology”
• Dr. Wesley Hill for his chapter, “Apocalyptic Theology” 
• Dr. J. Todd Billings for his chapter, “Reformed Catholicity”

WTS Faculty featured in The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Karl Barth

This two-volume guide to Barth is hailed among scholars as “the most comprehensive scholarly survey of Karl Barth’s theology ever published.” Dr. Han-luen Kantzer Komline was invited to contribute a chapter on “Barth and Augustine.”

WTS’s faculty are breaking ground in Reformed theology at the highest levels of scholarly discourse. They’re recognized among academics as thought leaders and are invited (at higher rates than most other institutions) to contribute to the most important works in their fields.

These top-tier scholars aren’t just ‘ivory tower’; they are invested in the local church and the lives of students attending Western Theological Seminary. They serve as elders and Sunday school teachers in their churches; they contribute resources to their denominations, such as Dr. Travis West’s co-edited She Is Called: Women of the Bible series or Dr. J. Todd Billings’s Understanding the Bible course.

They mentor and shape future ministry leaders inside and outside the classroom. When I graduated in 2019, I prayed that these ‘expert’ theologians had imparted some of their wisdom to me. From my vantage point in the Cook Library now, I get a front-row seat to witness how this top-notch scholarship challenges the next generation of church leaders to think more deeply, write more boldly, and speak the good news of Jesus Christ to the world.