My Current Research

Currently I am working on two book-length projects, both under contract with Eerdmans publishers.

The first is a textbook for Seminary classes or upper-level college courses which seeks to introduce the current theological discourse and practices related to the theological interpretation of scripture. While I have a background in philosophical hermeneutics, I am writing this book specifically for students who love the Bible and Christian ministry, but would like to refine the theological hermeneutic which they bring to scripture.

This book will not add simply be a "secondary source" to primary sources on the subject, but will present a constructive theological argument and give concrete exegetical examples to illustrate the major points. In terms of the loci of systematic theology, it will explore doctrine of revelation, scripture, and certain dimensions of doctrine of God. It will approach topics such as contextual theology, the relevance of the history of biblical interpretation, and debates among feminists about what it means to call God "Father."

My second writing project is for a book on the Lord's Supper and Salvation in the Reformed tradition. Here is a short description of the core issues driving the project:

Is a “coercive” dimension inherent in the evangelical and Reformed emphasis upon salvation as a legal transaction? This project seeks to address this question by reconstructing the “catholic” dimensions of a Reformed theology of salvation, with its organic and transformational images for salvation. At the center of this catholic-Reformed theology of salvation is a concrete church practice: the Lord’s Supper. For Reformed communities to overcome the individualistic soteriologies of revivalism, they need to rediscover the theology of salvation as “participation in Christ,” which is embodied in the Eucharistic celebration. Thus, the Lord’s Supper highlights not only memory, but participation and hope – and these participatory and eschatological dimensions open fresh possibilities for Reformed soteriology. For evangelical and Reformed communities, this provides an alternative to the predominance of Zwinglian Calvinism, with its memorialistic theology of the sacraments, and its core focus upon legal images for salvation. For Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglo-Catholic communities, I hope to uncover soteriological common ground by articulating a Reformed theology of participation and deification in Christ. Finally, for Anabaptist and feminist thinkers, I plan to address the objections to the potentially “coercive” dimensions of Reformed soteriology.