BAgrSc (Hons) BD (Hons) PhD
Teaching areas:
THCT304 God Crucified
THCT207 Church: Uniting Purposes and Practices
THCT208 The Bible and Christian Ethics
THCT209 Reformed Ethics
THCT211 Jesus, God and Salvation
Positions:
Principal, Director of Studies – Systematic Theology
Geoff believes that theology is one of the best kept secrets in the Australian church and enjoys helping theological students catch a glimpse of the wisdom, vision and possibilities of a theologically-formed faith. Specifically, as a teacher of Systematic Theology, he encourages people to see how the Christian faith ‘hangs together’ in a way that allows it to offer a coherent view of reality and to engage with the objections levelled by Christianity’s critics. After original training and employment in agriculture (including several years working on a church-funded programme in Pakistan) Geoff studied theology at the United Faculty of Theology in Melbourne and then completed a doctorate at Cambridge University. He spent five years as the Minister of the Word at the Alphington/Fairfield Uniting Church in Melbourne. He joined the TTC faculty mid-2001. Geoff is married to Linda and they have two teenage sons, Stephen and Jamie.
Summary of Geoff’s publications:
Book
Jointly edited with Christiaan Mostert, Karl Barth: A Future for Postmodern Theology? (Adelaide: ATF, 2000)
Jointly edited with Rob Bos, Theology for Pilgrims: Selected Theological Documents of the Uniting Church in Australia (Sydney: Uniting Church Press, 2008).
Chapters and other Entries in Books
“Introduction” in Karl Barth: A Future for Postmodern Theology? (Adelaide: ATF, 2000), ix-xvi
“‘Our lines and concepts continually break apart’: Language, Mystery and God in Barth”, in Karl Barth: A Future for Postmodern Theology? (Adelaide: ATF, 2000), 191-209.
“‘The Spirit Cannot Breathe Without Story’: The Gospel Narratives and the West’s Grand Narrative” in Ian Weeks and Duncan Reid (eds), A Thoughtful Life: Essays in Philosophical Theology, A Festschrift for Rev Professor Harry Wardlaw (Adelaide: ATF, 2006), 97-112.
“Barth: From Invisible Redemption to Visible, Hopeful Action” in Wayne Cristaudo and Wendy Baker (eds), Messianism, Apocalypse and Redemption in 20th Century Thought (Adelaide: ATF Press, 2006), pp. 49-62.
“Doctrine” in New Dictionary of Theology 2nd edn (Leicester: IVP, forthcoming).
“Religious Experience” in New Dictionary of Theology 2nd edn (Leicester: IVP, forthcoming)
“Creation” in New Dictionary of Theology 2nd edn (Leicester, IVP: forthcoming).
“‘Remaining Loyal to the Earth’: Humanity, God’s other creatures and the Bible in Karl Barth” in Ecological Hermeneutics: Biblical, Historical, and Theological Perspectives, edited by David G. Horrell, Cherryl Hunt, Christopher Southgate and Francesca Stavrakopoulou (London & New York: T&T Clark, forthcoming).
“Salvation Beyond the Church’s Ministry: Reflections on Barth and Rahner” in The God of Salvation: Essays in Systematic Theology, edited by Ivor Davidson and Murray Rae (Aldershot: Ashgate, forthcoming)
Articles in Refereed Journals
“Christianity and the World Religions: The Judgement of Karl Barth”, Pacifica 7 (1994), 185-206
“Theology, Its Academic Public and Ministerial Education”, Uniting Church Studies 4: 1 (1998), 28-43
“A Question of Posture: Engaging the World with Justin Martyr, George Lindbeck and Hans Frei”, Pacifica 13 (2000), 267-287
“Theology, The Gospel and Ministerial Formation”, Uniting Church Studies 9:2 (2003), 24-44
“Christ, Church and Scripture: Doctrinal Reflections on Paragraph 5 of the Basis of Union”, Uniting Church Studies 11:2 (2005), 30-49.
“ ‘It Has Become Clear To Us….’: The Justification of the Ordination of Women to the Ministry of the Word in the Uniting Church in Australia”, Interface 8:2 (2005), 21-31.
“Religious Plurality, Christian Doctrine and Karl Barth”, International Journal of Systematic Theology 8 (2006), 3-24
“Does the Uniting Church have a theological future?”, Uniting Church Studies 15:2 (2009), 25-41.
Book Reviews
Michael Morwood, Is Jesus God? Finding our Faith (Melbourne: Spectrum, 2001) in Journey, February 2002
“Reflections on Church Unions”, Review of Thomas Best (ed), “With a Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power”: Seventh International Consultation of United and Uniting Churches (Geneva: WCC Publications, 2004) in The Expository Times 117 (1) October 2005, p.42.
Robert Boak Slocum (ed), A New Conversation: Essays on the Future of Theology and the Episcopal Church in Journal of Anglican Studies 3 (2006), pp. 251-252.
Leslie Houlden (ed), Jesus: The Complete Guide (London: Continnum, 2005) in Journey, April 2006
Contributions to Church and Secular Media
“Progressive Christianity: Testing its Arguments”, Uniting Theology and Church, February 2011 http//www.trinity.qld.edu.au/data/UTC_Essay05.pdf
“Can we have an Easter without kitsch, please” opinion piece on ABC Religion and Ethics, April 21, 2011: http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2011/04/21/3197816.htm
Is Tony Abbott a closet Protestant’, ‘First published in www.onlineopinion.com.au on Dec 24th, 2009.
Panelist on “Reflections on Good Friday”, Breakfast, ABC Radio National, April 6th 2007
“Inner God Hard to See”, Courier Mail, October 3rd, 2003
“How Reliable a Guide is David Tacey”, Journey, June 2005, p. 6.
“DaVinci Not the Code for Bible Readers”, Journey, November 2005, p.8.
