Advisory Board

The Logia Advisory Board consists of women and men with expertise in the divinity disciplines, publishing, and the blogging world. These board members have agreed to be consulted on Logia initiatives within their area of expertise and are committed to seeing women become more visible and valued in the academy and the church.

Logia Advisory Board member, Professor Sarah Coakley, engaging about her newest volume of her systematic theology at the University of St Andrews

Sofanit Abebe is the Dean of students at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology and lectures in New Testament. She completed her PhD at the University of Edinburgh on “The Apocalyptic Imaginary in 1 Peter and 1 Enoch” as a Langham scholar. Her research interests focus on New Testament epistles and how they have been influenced by Second Temple Judaism and the Greco-Roman milieu.

Sarah Coakley took up her current appointment at Cambridge in 2007. She received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in theology at Cambridge, an M.A. in theology at Harvard, and her doctoral degree in theology at Cambridge. Appointed to her first position at the University of Lancaster while still writing her doctorate, she later taught at Oriel College, Oxford (in Theology and Philosophy of Religion), and at Harvard Divinity School, where she was Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr., Professor of Divinity, 1995-2007. Prof. Coakley teaches modern and contemporary Philosophy of Religion in the faculty, and has an interest in combining both analytic and continental traditions in her own research, whilst also charting the connections with feminist philosophy. She is currently particularly interested in religious epistemology and in what challenges are brought to it by contemplative and ‘apophatic’ traditions of thought, both East and West. In 2012 she gave the Aberdeen Gifford Lectures on evolutionary cooperation and its proposed relation to ethics and apologetics; and more recently she has been working on the second and third volumes of her systematic theology (on sin, racism, and redemption).

Katya Covrett is Associate Publisher at Zondervan Academic, responsible for acquiring works in various areas of biblical-theological studies. Originally from Russia, where she served as a translator at Far East Russia Bible College, she came to the U.S. to study the Bible and theology, stumbled into publishing, and has been part of the Zondervan editorial team now for more than fifteen years. She has extensive experience acquiring and editing academic books and actively seeks to support female scholars entering and persisting in the academic publishing world. She has a B.A. in English Linguistics and an M.T.S. in Systematic Theology and New Testament.

Oliver Crisp is the Chair of analytic theology as a member of the Institute for Analytic and Exegetical Theology in the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews. Before that, he was a professor of systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He was educated at the University of Aberdeen (BD, MTh); and King’s College, London (PhD). He serves on editorial boards of International Journal of Systematic Theology, and Jonathan Edwards Studies. He currently serves on steering committee of AAR Christian Systematic Theology Section and the Analytic Theology Consultation for ETS. He is the author of nine books, and (co-)editor of ten other books, as well as over 80 articles and essays. His most recent publications are Deviant Calvinism: Broadening Reformed Theology (Fortress, 2014), and Jonathan Edwards Among the Theologians (Eerdmans, 2015).

Jill Firth is a lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament at Ridley College in Melbourne. She earned a B.A. from the University of Western Australia, an M.Div. and Ph.D. from the Australian College of Theology, and an M.A. in Theology (Spiritual Direction) from the Melbourne College of Divinity (now University of Divinity). Jill has worked in ministry in remote and urban Australia, and in Hong Kong. She is an ordained Anglican priest. Jill is a convener of the Evangelical Women in Academia conference in Melbourne, and of the Ridley Women’s Writing Groups Network. She is co-author of a report on ‘Women in Theological Education in the ACT in 21st Century Australia’ (2018). Her forthcoming publications include chapters on Jeremiah and Psalms, and an edited book by Australian women scholars. She is revising her dissertation on The Re-representation of David in Psalms 140-143 for publication, and preparing to write a commentary on Jeremiah.

Erin Heim joined the faculty of Denver Seminary in 2014 as Assistant Professor of New Testament. She is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, Institute for Biblical Research, Society of Biblical Literature, and Christians for Biblical Equality. Dr. Heim earned a Ph.D. from the University of Otago, an M.A. from Denver Seminary, and a B.Mus. from the University of Minnesota. Her doctoral thesis, Adoption in Galatians and Romans (Brill, 2017), was named an exceptional thesis in the division of humanities at the University of Otago. She has also authored numerous articles and essays on Pauline theology, Theological Interpretation of Scripture, metaphor in the Bible, and the use of the Pauline adoption texts in contemporary discourse on adoption. Dr. Heim is a co-host of the OnScript podcast, which features conversations on current biblical scholarship. Currently, her research is focused on feminine metaphors in Scripture, identity, and spiritual formation.

Carolyn Custis James (B.A. Sociology, M.A. Biblical Studies) is an activist, blogger, and award-winning author. Her books include Finding God in the Margins, MalestromHalf the Church, and The Gospel of Ruth. She was founder and President of the Synergy Women’s Network, is a consulting editor for Zondervan’s Exegetical Commentary Series on the New Testament, and an adjunct professor at Missio Seminary in Philadelphia. She’s a member of Evangelicals for Justice and blogs at www.carolyncustisjames.com, Huffington Post/Religion, and as a Leading Voice at Missio Alliance. Her work focuses on the intersection between Christianity and twenty-first century cultural issues facing women and men globally and has earned her recognition by Christianity Today as one of “50 Evangelical Women to Watch.”

Joanna Leidenhag is Lecturer in Theology and Liberal Arts at the University of Leeds, UK. Dr Leidenhag completed her PhD in Systematic Theology from the University of Edinburgh in 2018. This research examined recent trends in analytic philosophy of mind and was published as a monograph in the T&T Clark Series in Systematic Theology in 2021, entitled Minding Creation: Theological Panpsychism and the Doctrine of Creation. Dr Leidenhag worked for three years at the University of St Andrews, first as a Research Fellow and then as a Lecturer in Science-Engaged Theology. During her time at St Andrews, Dr Leidenhag served as a co-Director of Logia. Her current research is on developing a theology of autism and providing an accessible introduction to science-engaged theology.  

Amy Peeler is an Associate Rector at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Geneva, Illinois (2016–present) as well as Associate Professor of New Testament, at Wheaton College (2012–present). She received a B.A. at Oklahoma Baptist University (2002), M.Div. at Princeton Theological Seminary (2005), and Ph.D. at Princeton Theological Seminary (2011). Her primary research focuses on the Epistle to the Hebrews, which has prompted her to explore ancient rhetoric, the use of the Old Testament in the New, Israel’s sacrificial system, atonement, family and inheritance in the Ancient World, and theological language. Presently, she is working on a comprehensive theology of the family of God, including Trinitarian relations, the role of Mary in salvation, and Christian identity as children of God.

Michael Rea is Rev. John A. O’Brien Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Philosophy of Religion. He has taught at the University of Notre Dame since 2001. His research focuses primarily on topics in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and analytic theology. He has written or edited more than ten books and forty articles, and has given numerous lectures in the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Russia, China, and Iran, including the 2017 Gifford Lectures at the University of St. Andrews.

Eric Stoddart has taught practical theology at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, since 2005.  Between graduating B.D. from the University of Aberdeen in 1982 and then Ph.D. in 2001, Eric held various positions including more than a decade as an associate minister of a Scottish Baptist church. His doctoral dissertation ‘Hell: A Practical Theological Inquiry’ explored the practice of the doctrine of eschatological loss. His current denominational affiliation is Anglo-Catholic as a lay member of a Scottish Episcopal Church in Edinburgh. In the early 2000s Eric was a programme director at the Scottish Churches Open College, a distance learning, ecumenical institution for lay theological education.  This prepared him for one of his long-standing roles at St Andrews as the School of Divinity’s distance learning officer where he directs the ‘Bible and the Contemporary World’ taught postgraduate programme. For the past 16 or so years Eric’s research focus has been on surveillance systems. He published the first extended theological consideration of contemporary surveillance in 2011, Theological Perspectives on a Surveillance Society: Watching and Being Watched. With a colleague in Sweden, Eric was a recipient of an AHRC grant by which he co-founded the international ‘Surveillance and Religion Network’. His latest monograph, The Common Gaze: Surveillance and the Common Good was published in early 2021.  A former co-chair of the British and Irish Association for Practical Theology, Eric is also a former editor of the journal Practical Theology.  He is currently working on a study of how faith communities in the UK have disseminated public health information during the pandemic. Eric is presently the School of Divinity’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Officer at the University of St Andrews. As the Equality and Diversity representative in the School of Divinity, she is a passionate ally for seeing women thrive across the Divinity disciplines.

Eleonore Stump is the Robert J. Henle Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University, where she has taught since 1992. She has published extensively in philosophy of religion, contemporary metaphysics, and medieval philosophy. Her books include her major study Aquinas (Routledge, 2003) and her extensive treatment of the problem of evil, Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering (Oxford, 2010). She has given the Gifford Lectures (Aberdeen, 2003), the Wilde lectures (Oxford, 2006), and the Stewart lectures (Princeton, 2009). She is past president of the Society of Christian Philosophers, the American Catholic Philosophical Association, and the American Philosophical Association, Central Division; and she is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Emeritus Board Members

Seblewengel Daniel serves the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST) as the Program Leader for the Post-Graduate Diploma and Master of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies, as well as Lecturer in Practical Theology. As the first woman to earn a doctorate in theology in Ethiopia, she served as the Registrar and full-time faculty member at Evangelical Theological College from 200-2005 and later as the director of extension programs and full-time faculty from 2012-2014. In the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church, she serves as the deputy chair of women. In 2015, she joined the International Fellowship of Mission as Tranformation’s (INFEMIT) Networking Team as the second representative for Africa. Her doctoral research focused on the perceptions and identity of Ethiopian Orthodox believers and evangelicals in Ethiopia.

Leanne Dzubinski took a post at Biola University in 2013, where she is Associate Professor and Chair of the Graduate Department of Intercultural Studies. Prior to Biola, she served in a variety of cross-cultural ministries, including professor at the Spanish Bible Institute and Theological Seminary, church ministry in Barcelona, Spain and Graz, Austria, theological education by extension (TEE) in Austria, leader development for missionaries and continuing professional development for women missionaries across Europe. She has also served in Asian-American church ministry in the United States. She is passionate about developing good leadership in Christian organizations and about supporting women to faithfully use their gifts in whatever capacity God calls them. She received a B.A. from Emory University, a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, a D.Min. from Gordon-Conwell Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia.

Anna Sui Hluan is the Second Lady of Myanmar and a lecturer at Myanmar Evangelical Graduate School of Theology and the Academic Dean of the Apostolic Christian Bible College. She served for twelve years as an assistant pastor as well as a women’s commission member of the Myanmar Evangelical Christian Fellowship of which she later became president. She received her B.A. from Christian Life College, her M.A. from Dallas Theological Seminary, her D.Min. from Asia Graduate School of Theology, and her Ph.D. from the University of Otago.

Natalia Marandiuc is an Assistant Professor of Christian Theology as Southern Methodist University (SMU) Perkins School of Theology. Winner of the 2018 Aldersgate Prize, she is a theologian who models deep thinking that matters for daily life. Born and raised in Romania, Dr. Marandiuc pursued her graduate work in religious and theological studies at Yale under the direction of Miroslav Volf. She is a systematic theologian with interests in feminist theory, neurology, reconciliation, and Christology and her forthcoming works focus on feminist soteriology.

Ronald W. Pierce has taught at Biola University since 1976 where he is currently Professor of Biblical and Theology Studies in the undergraduate program. He holds two master’s degrees from Talbot School of Theology and a doctoral degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. He is ordained with Converge International. He has authored several journal articles, including “Evangelicals and Gender Roles in the 1990’s: I Timothy 2:8-15: A Test Case,” (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 1993). Most recently, he has begun work on a revised edition of a co-edited academic text Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity without Hierarchy (InterVarsity Press, 2005).

Andrea C. White teaches at Union Theological Seminary, specializing in constructive Christian theology, especially womanist theology and postmodern religious thought. Her research interests include theologies of otherness, doctrine of God, theological anthropology, and the relationship between philosophy and theology. Professor White has two forthcoming monographs, The Back of God: A Theology of Otherness in Karl Barth and Paul Ricoeur and The Scandal of Flesh: Black Women’s Bodies and God Politics. As an ordained American Baptist minister since 1998, she served in New York State as pastor of Aldrich Baptist Church, chaplain for Catskill Area Hospice, and chaplain at Springbrook, an American Baptist residential school for persons with developmental disabilities (formerly “Upstate Homes for Children and Adults”). She was also Minister of Adult Education and Summer Term Preacher at The University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. She has preached from numerous pulpits in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, New York, Oberlin, and San Francisco.

N.T. Wright, read Classics and Theology at Oxford, where he did his doctorate on Pauline theology. He then taught New Testament studies at Cambridge, McGill and Oxford Universities, and worked as a college chaplain, before becoming Dean of Lichfield, then Canon of Westminster, and finally Bishop of Durham (2003-2010). He is now Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews. He has published over 80 books including the multi-volume commentary series The New Testament for Everyone and the four-volume academic series Christian Origins and the Question of God. Prof. Wright has been a visiting professor in Jerusalem, Rome, Harvard and elsewhere, and has broadcast frequently on radio and TV. He is married with four children and five grandchildren and continues to dream of improving his golf handicap.