About

Presently, I am an Associate Professor of Theology & Director of MA Studies in Theology at Ave Maria University.

I have a PhD in Systematic Theology from Southern Methodist University, an MTS from Duke University, a ThM and MA from Dallas Theological Seminary, and a BS in Psychology from Texas Christian University. Bruce D. Marshall was my dissertation director.

Though I have been a Roman Catholic for many years, I grew up within American Evangelicalism. Shortly after enrolling at Dallas Theological Seminary, however, I began to see the need for a more historically grounded, philosophically self-aware, and globally connected approach to the Christian faith. After much discussion, my wife and I soon joined an Anglo-Catholic parish, and we here happy Episcopalians for several years. However, for theological and other reasons, we felt the Holy Spirit was leading us to swim the Tiber and enter the Catholic Church. My wife and I, along with our three fantastic children, were received into the Church in 2016.

As a Catholic theology professor, I enjoy teaching graduate and undergraduate courses across a broad spectrum of theological topics, always with the aim of helping to habituate students into a deeper understanding & appreciation of the grammar of Catholic faith in its holistic beauty.

In terms of theological research, I work primarily in the fields of systematic/constructive and philosophical/fundamental theology. My most current academic research explores how theology might transfigure and deploy philosophical quietism for the sake of dissolving recurrent confusions regarding the relationship between first and second order intentionality with respect to the Church’s speech and knowledge of God. Additional research interests of mine include Christology, the development of doctrine, “mystery” as a theological category, theological appropriations of analytic philosophy, ecumenism, late medieval scholastic theology, and theological anthropology.

Regarding academic honors, I recently became the Academy of Catholic Theology's very first recipient of the Fr. Joseph Koterski, S.J. Research Fellowship for Philosophy in Theology.

Lastly, I am, by God’s inestimable grace, a native Texan.