John P. Burgess

The Rev. Dr. John P. Burgess is the James Henry Snowden* Professor of Systematic Theology. Burgess has taught at the Seminary since 1998. Previously he was professor of religion at Doane College and associate for theology in the Office of Theology and Worship, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He was awarded his B.A. from Colorado College, his M.Div. from McCormick Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. in Christian theology from the University of Chicago. An ordained Presbyterian minister, Burgess has served several congregations part-time. His publications include The East German Church and the End of Communism, Why Scripture Matters: Reading the Bible in a Time of Church Conflict, After Baptism: Shaping the Christian Life, and numerous essays. He has edited In Whose Image: Faith, Science, and the New Genetics and co-edited What Is Justification About?: Reformed Contributions to an Ecumenical Theme. He is a member of the Re-forming Ministry Initiative of the Office of Theology and Worship, and a board member and a faculty mentor for the Company of New Pastors, a Lilly Endowment-funded program that assists Presbyterian candidates in the transition from seminary into ordained ministry. In recent years, he has lived and traveled extensively in Russia, where he has observed the Orthodox tradition and the rebirth of the Christian church after 75 years of Communism. Together with his wife, Deb, Burgess has three school-aged daughters, who are also his theological teachers.

*James Henry Snowden, D.D., L.L.D., was professor of systematic theology at Western Theological Seminary (a predicator of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary) from 1911-1929. He was a 1875 graduate of Washington and Jefferson College and a 1878 alum of Western Seminary. Snowden authored 23 books and 16 volumes of Snowden's Sunday School Lessons (1911-36). His best known books include The World and Spiritual System (1910) and Old Faith and Knowledge (1928).