Justin Stratis

Academic Dean, Professor of Systematic Theology

I was raised in a Christian home in New Jersey, my parents having converted to evangelical Protestantism from Greek Orthodoxy a couple of years before I was born. I made my own commitment to Christ as a teenager and began serving in several churches as a musician, a path that would lead me to complete a degree in music before turning to theology as I contemplated a calling to full time vocational ministry.

In 2003, my wife Melissa and I moved to Chicago where I attended seminary and she continued her work in communications/marketing. In seminary, a journey that had begun as preparation for further church work led me to systematic theology as a calling in its own right, and after taking two degrees, we made the decision to head to Scotland so I could study with John Webster for a research degree in dogmatics. In Scotland, I learned a great deal from John about what it is to be a ‘doctor of the church,’ not merely as an academic career, but more so as an ecclesial office to which one is accountable. In light of this, and after having been confirmed Anglican in the Scottish Episcopal Church, our next move was to Bristol, England, where I took up my first post as Tutor in Christian Doctrine at Trinity College training ordinands for vocational ministry in the Church of England.

I served at Trinity College Bristol for nine years teaching some brilliant students, working alongside excellent colleagues, and directing the college’s doctoral programme in partnership with the University of Aberdeen. I had intended to stay there indefinitely, but when the opportunity arose to make a move to Wycliffe College in 2021, it was clear that providence was leading me once again to make an unexpected change.

What excites me the most about Wycliffe, alongside its clear and historic commitment to doing theology in service of the church and her mission in the world, is the college’s vision to ground ministerial education in the theological interpretation of Scripture. I truly believe that the more emerging ministers and theologians learn to place the Bible at the centre of their ministries and earnestly desire to hear and proclaim the Word of God in its pages, the more the church’s witness will distinguish itself in the world as an effective testimony to the living God. I am looking forward to many years of service here, and especially to spending time learning, worshipping, and praying with students and colleagues.

Books

The T&T Clark Companion to the Doctrine of Providence (co-edited with Timothy Harmon). London: T&T Clark, forthcoming.

God’s Being Towards Fellowship: The Meaning of ‘God is Love’ in Schleiermacher and Barth. London: T&T Clark, 2019.

Theological Theology: Essays in Honour of John Webster (co-edited with R. David Nelson and Darren Sarisky). London: T&T Clark, 2015.

Other

‘Twydall Estate and the Body of Christ.’ (with Rev. Ann Richardson) In Finding the Treasure: Good News from the Estates. Ed. Al Barrett. London: SPCK, forthcoming 2021.

‘Creation.’In A Companion to the Theology of John Webster. Ed. Michael Allen and R. David Nelson. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021.

‘A Person’s a Person No Matter How Divine? The Question of Univocity and Personhood in Richard of St. Victor’s De Trinitate.’ Scottish Journal of Theology 70.4 (2017): 377-389.

‘Friedrich Schleiermacher.’ In The T&T Companion to the Atonement. Edited by Adam J. Johnson. New York: T&T Clark, 2016.

‘Widening the Frame on Redemptive History: A Response to Michael Goheen.’ In The End of Theology: Shaping Theology for the Sake of Mission.’ Edited by Jason S. Sexton and Paul Weston. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2016.

‘Unconditional Love: Creatio ex Nihilo and the Covenant of Grace.’ In Theological Theology: Essays in Honour of John Webster. Edited by R. David Nelson, Darren Sarisky, and Justin Stratis. London: T&T Clark, 2015.

‘Speculating about Divinity? God’s Immanent Life and Actualistic Ontology.’ International Journal of Systematic Theology 12 (2010): 20-32.