Research Overview

My research interests lie primarily in the field of systematic theology, exploring the meaning, coherence, and implications of Christian faith and doctrine. My particular areas of focus are in the theology of Karl Barth, in the theology of Friedrich Schleiermacher, in the history and theology of the Reformed tradition (particularly as it has developed in Scotland), and in the central loci of dogmatic enquiry, including the doctrine of God, Christology, pneumatology, creation, soteriology, ecclesiology, and sacramentology.

I would be very happy to hear from anyone thinking about on-campus postgraduate research at the University of Aberdeen in any of the following fields of study:

• 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 Eucharist, a book which seeks to think with and after Barth on the theology of the Lord's Supper. 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. I 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 which explore 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.

• 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 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 not only with the work of Barth and Schleiermacher but also 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, appropriated, 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 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.

List of Publications at October 2020

List of Presentations at October 2020

Past Research

Invited Lectureships

University of Glasgow                    

The Kerr Lectures in 2008

Title:   'A Theology of Obedience'

Form:  a series of eight public lectures in Glasgow

Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Guest Lecturer in Reformed Theology in 2008 

Title:   'Grundthemen der Theologie Karl Barths'

Form:  a block of ten seminars in German

Knowledge Exchange and Public Engagement

Church Connections

At the heart of my work is a passion for encouraging the relationship between the study of systematic theology and the life of Christian communities. I hope to be able to contribute to the strengthening of the connection between church and academy.

I am an ordained elder in the Church of Scotland, and participate in diverse ways in the life of the church – both locally and nationally. My work includes not only regular preaching in local churches but also the diverse forms of service mentioned below.

Denomination         

Church of Scotland

Positions                  

2020 –              Member, CPCE delegation for ecumenical conversation with PCPCU

2020 –              Member, Theological Forum of the Church of Scotland 

2019 –              Trustee, Board of Christ's College, University of Aberdeen

2014 –              Associate, Centre for Ministry Studies, University of Aberdeen

2014–2018        Theological Adviser, Learn initiative of the Church of Scotland

2008–2015        Member, Joint Commission on Doctrine [CoS / RC]

2011–2013        Member, ACTS / Church of Scotland ‘Why Believe?’ Group

2009–2012        Member, Church of Scotland Working Group on Human Sexuality

Placements              

2006–2007        St. Columba’s Church (Pont Street), London

spring 2005       Morningside Parish Church, Edinburgh

Internships              

summer 2005     Parish of the North Isles, Shetland

summer 2004     Parish of Manish-Scarista, Isle of Harris

summer 2003     Parish of Bracadale and Duirinish, Isle of Skye

Collaborations

Cambridge Companion to Reformed Theology

co-Editor with Professor David Fergusson, University of Edinburgh

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016

Learn: Understanding our Faith 

Editor

Edinburgh: St Andrew Press, 2017

Oxford Handbook of Karl Barth

co-Editor with Professor Paul Dafydd Jones, University of Virginia

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019