John B. White, PhD
Associate Professor of Practical Theology Holder of the Harold and Dottie Riley Director of the Sports Chaplaincy/Ministry Program
Education
PhD, University of Edinburgh
MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
MA, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Research Interests
Theological Ethics
Moral Theology
Constructive Theology
Theology of Culture
Christianity and Sports
Sports Ethics
Sports Chaplaincy/Ministry
Courses Taught
Theological Ethics of Sports
Theology of Worship in Sports
Theology and Philosophy of Sports Ministry
Sports Chaplaincy
Publication Highlights
- Sport and Christian Ethics: Towards a Theological Ethic for Sport, dissertation at the University of Edinburgh.
About Dr. White
Dr. John B. White is a native of the Midwest and in particular, he is a Hoosier. He raced in the legendary cycling race, "The Little 500" at Indiana University, on Team Cutters, which the film Breaking Away dramatizes.
Playing sports has always been a "school" of sorts for John. The joys of play, challenges of competing well with others, and how to do and celebrate sports unto God are difficult to integrate but they demand serious reflection and practice. Because of such formative experiences, he sensed God's call to sports chaplaincy and ministry. His work included serving and ministering in churches, on various NCAA Division 1, 2 and 3 university campuses, at the Olympic Training Center and in Eastern and Western Europe.
His PhD is from The University of Edinburgh where he studied moral theology with Michael Northcott and his dissertation was on Christianity and Sports- Sport and Christian ethics: Towards a theological ethic for sport. He also completed an M.Div. and an M.A. at T.E.D.S. where he completed his thesis with Kevin Vanhoozer. John’s publications have appeared in Sport, Ethics and Philosophy, Implicit Religion, Studies in Christian Ethics, Practical Theology, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Bible and Ethics, and he recently co-edited books with Routledge Press (2016), Cambridge Scholars and Mercer Press (2017). He also has a book under contract with Baker Academic. He is the Principal Investigator and Faculty Director of the newly established Faith and Sport Institute: Running the Race Well at Baylor University, which is funded by a grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc. He is regularly interviewed on the subject matter of Christianity and sports in prominent news media and periodicals such as CBS, Sports Illustrated, Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
If you are interested in studying theology and sports, sports chaplaincy or sports ministry—whether for the church, academy or your local sport contexts as a Christian leader or minister—consider joining John in Truett Seminary’s Sports Ministry Program with students from all over the world who seek to love sports properly so that they are a faithful presence in the culture of sports for the good of community and glory of God.
When not reflecting on theology, ethics or sport as academic disciplines, he relishes time with Cindy and their three adult children (ages 23, 21 and 19), camping, running, cycling, drinking coffee and reading. A recurring image which haunts Dr. White is seeing children simply play for no other reason, because it is fun. He feels that our modern sports world needs to recover the beauty of play over against the instrumental logic that robs children and adults from celebrating and sharing in the many joys available in sports. Winning might be a goal but it is not THE GOAL.