Professor Paul Nimmo

Research Overview

My research interests lie primarily in the field of systematic theology, exploring the meaning, coherence, and implications of Christian faith and doctrine. I would be very happy to hear from anyone thinking about postgraduate research at the University of Aberdeen, whether on campus or at distance, whose interests are similiarly aligned. My own principal areas of research include the following:

• the central loci of Christian doctrine

My research has always gravitated towards the core tenets of lived Christian faith - beliefs about God, Jesus Christ, the Spirit, creation, salvation, the church, and the sacraments - and towards exploring their theological meaning, their dogmatic connectedness, and their current relevance. My work extends beyond tradition-specific enquiry to a broader consideration of the biblical roots, the historical elucidations, and the constructive implications of these doctrines. I am currently working towards a monograph on the doctrine of sanctification, as well as on working papers in Christology, ecclesiology, and the doctrine of God.

• the history and theology of the Reformed tradition

I have a profound passion for the theology of the Reformed tradition in all its historical and doctrinal diversity and as representing a lived and ecumenical form of Christian faith. As well as co-editing the Cambridge Companion to Reformed Theology with David Fergusson, I have engaged in research articles  with the work of figures such as Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, Heinrich Bullinger, John McLeod Campbell, Herman Bavinck, H. R. Mackintosh, T. F. Torrance, and Markus Barth. I have a particular interest in the way this tradition has been received and furthered in Scotland - seeking to attend to the history (and the present) of its churches and colleges, as well as to how it might be constructively developed in future.

• the theology of Karl Barth

I have a long-standing interest in the theology of Karl Barth. The monograph which I am currently writing is entitled Karl Barth and the Lord's Supper, a book which seeks to think with and after Barth on the eucharist. This research builds explicitly on work I carried out in my first monograph - Being in Action: The Theological Shape of Barth's Ethical Vision. I have published a textbook entitled Karl Barth: A Guide for the Perplexed, and have co-edited the Oxford Handbook of Karl Barth with Professor Paul Dafydd Jones, and have also written a series of research articles and teaching essays on such doctrines as election, pneumatology, vocation, hamartiology, sacramentology, justification, and ecclesiology in the theology of Karl Barth.

• the theology of Friedrich Schleiermacher

I also have a long-standing interest in the theology of Friedrich Schleiermacher. I have written a number of research articles on his views of soteriology, justification, and the sacraments, and have published an extended article on his construal of the relationship between Scripture and the work of Jesus Christ. I hope in the future to turn my attention to a series of further extended articles on diverse aspects of his dogmatic work within the context of the Reformed tradition, including essays on the Lord's Supper and on prayer.

List of Publications at March 2021

List of Presentations at March 2021

Past Research

Invited Lectureships

University of Glasgow – The Kerr Lectures (2008)

Title:   'A Theology of Obedience'

Georg-August-Universität Göttingen – Guest Lectureship (2008)

Title:   'Grundthemen der Theologie Karl Barths

Knowledge Exchange and Public Engagement

At the heart of my work is a desire to encourage the relationship between the study of systematic theology and the life of Christian communities. I am an ordained elder in the Church of Scotland, and participate in diverse ways in the life of the church – locally, nationally, and internationally. My work includes not only regular preaching in local parish churches but also the diverse forms of service mentioned below:

• Member, CPCE delegation for ecumenical conversation with PCPCU (2020– )
• Member, Theological Forum of the Church of Scotland (2020– )
• Trustee, Board of Christ's College, University of Aberdeen (2019– )
• Elder, Kemnay Kirk (2015– )
• Associate, Centre for Ministry Studies, University of Aberdeen (2014– )

• Previous Positions: Theological Adviser, Learn initiative of the Church of Scotland (2014–2018); Member, Joint Commission on Doctrine of the Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland (2008–2015); Member, ACTS / Church of Scotland ‘Why Believe?’ Group (2011–2013); Member, Church of Scotland Working Group on Human Sexuality (2009–2012); Placements at St. Columba’s Church (Pont Street) (2006–2007), Morningside Parish Church (2005), Parish of the North Isles (Shetland) (2005), Parish of Manish-Scarista (Harris) (2004), Parish of Bracadale and Duirinish (Skye) (2003)

Collaborations

• Cambridge Companion to Reformed Theology

co-Editor with David Fergusson (Edinburgh); Cambridge: CUP, 2016

• Learn: Understanding our Faith 

Editor; Edinburgh: St Andrew Press, 2017

• Oxford Handbook of Karl Barth

co-Editor with Paul Dafydd Jones (UVa); Oxford: OUP, 2019