Protestant Metaphysics

My current research is focused upon a more thoroughgoing account of Protestant theological attitudes towards metaphysical reflection than I previously offered in my doctoral dissertation. There, my research focused upon the work of Martin Heidegger because of his influence upon postmodern continental philosophy and because of the way his interpretation of Marth Luther's theology was inherited in his account of onto-theology. This opened up my investigation into Karl Barth's alternative account of onto-theology and Luther. My current work, however, goes beyond this focus on Barth and Heidegger to genealogically trace metaphysical reflection through the work of a number of key Protestant theologians, e.g. Luther, Calvin, Hooker, the Dutch reformers, Edwards, Wesley, etc. The goal of this endeavor is to demonstrate more clearly how the heart of a number of contemporary postmodern theological debates are deeply Protestant in their ethos and orientation. Having said that, this is not to say either that postmodernity marks the end of Protestantism, nor its fulfillment. Rather, Protestant theologians must ask, before they reimport their theology in its current postmodern guises, "what have you done with my little ones." So too, cultural and political theorists must pay close attention to the manner in which theological ideas have been carried through in contemporary philosophy.

Publications and Presentations

"Returning Barth to Anselm." Modern Theology vol. 24, no. 3 (July, 2008). 

"Heidegger on Luther on Paul." Dialog: A Journal of Theology vol. 46, no. 1 (Spring, 2007).

“The Post-Ontological Paul?” Paper presented at The Society of Biblical Literature 2006 Annual Conference, Washington, DC, November 18-21, 2006.

"Barth's Prolegomena to Any Future Protestant Metaphysics which Can Possibly Pretend to Be a Science," Paper presented at Belief and Metaphysics, The Centre of Philosophy and Theology in partnership with the Instituto de Filosofia Edith Stein de Granada, Granada, Spain, September 15-18, 2006.

"Heidegger's Hidden Theology: Revisiting Martin Luther's Influence upon Martin Heidegger," Paper presented at the 16th Conference of the European Society for Philosophy of Religion, Tübingen, Germany, September 1-4, 2006.