Assistant Professor, Theology and Ethics

Educational Info
B.A. (Psychology), Wilfrid Laurier University, 1998
M.Div. (Pastoral Studies), Tyndale Seminary, 2001
Th.M. (Theology) Regent College, 2004
Ph.D. (Christian Theology), McMaster Divinity College, 2011

Contact Information

Personal and Research Interests

I am passionate about theology as a formative and life giving practice for the church and as a spiritual discipline for all Christians. Of course, theologians and pastors are called to study and practice theology in a more intensive way because it is intrinsic to their particular vocations. But every Christian is called to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2) and theology is meant to guide us all in that journey.

I have wide ranging (and always expanding) interests in theology. My current areas of particular expertise and interest include trinitarian theology, ecclesiology (the church; both historic and contemporary expressions), theological anthropology (the human person), atonement theology, theology and culture, and Christian ethics. I also have an ongoing interest in the life, thought, and contemporary significance of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Finally, I am interested in the relationship between the sciences and Christian faith & thought. I currently serve as the coordinating book review editor for Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, the journal of the American Scientific Affiliation and Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation.

Check out my blog & join in the conversation at: http://patrickfranklin.wordpress.com/

Publications

BOOK AND BOOK CHAPTERS

Being Human, Being Church: The Significance of Theological Anthropology for Ecclesiology (Paternoster, forthcoming).

"Julian of Norwich: Her Life, Contribution, and Contemporary Significance" (forthcoming book chapter).

“Interpreting Scripture with Watson and Fowl,” chapter in Pillars of Biblical Interpretation, ed. Stanley E. Porter and Sean A. Adams (forthcoming).

PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES

“The Human Person in Contemporary Science and Theology,” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 64, no. 2 (June 2012): 120–29.

“Teaching, Scholarship, and Christian Worldview: A Review of Recent Literature,” McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry 11 (2009–2010): 28–61.

“Penal Substitution in Perspective,” McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry 10 (2008– 2009): 22–52.

“Bonhoeffer’s Missional Ecclesiology,” McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry 9 (2007– 2008): 96–128.

“Women Sharing in the Ministry of God: A Trinitarian Framework for the Priority of Spirit Gifting as a Solution to the Gender Debate,” Priscilla Papers 22 (Autumn 2008): 14–20.

“John Wesley in Conversation with the Emerging Church,” Asbury Theological Journal 63 (Spring 2008): 75–93.

“Bonhoeffer’s Anti-Logos and its Challenge to Oppression,” Crux 41, no. 2 (2005): 2–9.

BOOK REVIEWS

The Sacredness of Human Life: Why an Ancient Biblical Vision is Key to the World's Future, by David P. Gushee. Reviewed in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 65, no. 3 (September 2013).

Bonhoeffer and the Biosciences: An Initial Exploration, edited by Ralf K. Wüstenberg, Stefan Heuser, and Esther Hornung. Reviewed in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 63 (September 2011), 207–8.

New Perspectives in Believers Church Ecclesiology, edited by Abe Dueck, Helmut Harder, and Karl Koop. Reviewed in the McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry 12 (2010–2011).

Rewired: Exploring Religious Conversion, by Paul N. Markham. Reviewed in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 60 (December 2008): 274–75.

Can These Bones Live? A Catholic Baptist Engagement with Ecclesiology, Hermeneutics, and Social Theory, by Barry Harvey. Reviewed in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 60 (December 2008): 272–73.

Nicaea and its Legacy: An Approach to Fourth-Century Trinitarian Theology, by Lewis Ayres. Reviewed in Canadian Evangelical Review (Spring 2008): 91–94.

PRESENTED ACADEMIC PAPERS

“Penal Substitution in Perspective: Re-evaluating the Doctrine’s Conceptualization and Application.” Annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (Atlanta, GA), November 17, 2010.

“Missionaries in Our Own Back Yard: Lesslie Newbigin’s Concept of the Missionary Congregation as a Precursor to the Missional Church.” Paper presented at the McMaster Divinity College Theological Research Seminar (Hamilton, ON), November 24, 2009.

“John Wesley in Conversation with the Emerging Church.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (Providence, RI), November 18, 2008.

“Women Sharing in the Ministry of God: A Trinitarian Framework for the Priority of Spirit Gifting as a Solution to the Gender Debate.” Paper presented at the Midwest regional meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (Chicago, IL), March 28, 2008.

“Is Existentialism Consistent with Christian Theology?” Paper presented at the McMaster Divinity College Theological Research Seminar (Hamilton, ON), January, 2008.

“John Wesley in Conversation with the Emerging Church.” Paper presented at the McMaster Divinity College Theological Research Seminar (Hamilton, ON), February, 2007.

“Christianity in Community: Bonhoeffer’s Theology of the Church.” Presentation on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s ecclesiology at the Perichoresis conference (north) on Trinitarian theology (Oakville, Ontario), September, 2003.

Membership in Academic Societies

American Academy of Religion
Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation (and ASA)
Canadian Evangelical Theological Association
Evangelical Theological Society
International Bonhoeffer Society

Church Based Ministry

Pastor of teaching and mentoring at King’s Community Church in Oakville, Ontario (2011–12)

Co-pastor at Chartwell Baptist Church, King’s Campus in Oakville, Ontario (2003–06)

Elder / Leadership Team Member, Chartwell Baptist Church, King’s Campus (several years)

Interim pastor, Chartwell Baptist Church (multiple locations), 1999–2000, 2001

Course Syllabi

TS5201 Theological Foundations (Fall 2013)
TS5302 Christian Ethics (November 2013)
TS6105 Reading Bonhoeffer (January 2013)
TS6202 Themes in Theology: On Being Human (Fall 2012)
TS6203 Jesus the Saviour (Winter 2013)