Kimlyn J. Bender, PhD

Education

PhD - Princeton Theological Seminary
MDiv - Fuller Theological Seminary
BA - Jamestown College

Research Interests

The Theology of Karl Barth
19th and 20th-Century Theology
Ethics
Philosophy
Historical Theology
Systematic Theology

Courses Taught

Christian Texts & Traditions 3
Constructive Theology
The Theology of Karl Barth
Contemporary Ecclesiology

Publication Highlights

• 1 Corinthians – Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2022).
• Reflections on Reformational Theology: Studies in the Theology of the Reformation, Karl Barth, and the Evangelical Tradition (London/New York: T & T Clark, 2021).
• T & T Clark Handbook of Ecclesiology (London/New York: T & T Clark, 2020).
• Reading Karl Barth for the Church: A Guide and Companion (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2019).
• Confessing Christ for Church and World: Studies in Modern Theology (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2014).
• Karl Barth’s Christological Ecclesiology (Ashgate, 2005; reissued in paperback by Cascade, 2013; and by Routledge, 2016).
• Theology as Conversation: The Significance of Dialogue in Historical and Contemporary Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009).

About Dr. Bender

Kimlyn J. Bender holds the Foy Valentine Chair in Christian Theology and Ethics at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. He received his Ph.D. in theology from Princeton Theological Seminary.  His primary area of research is in 19^th and 20^th century theology with a particular specialty in the theology of Karl Barth, though his publications extend to include work in ethics and philosophy in addition to historical and systematic theology.  His research has examined the underlying theological convictions that have shaped the Protestant traditions and how they might continue to serve the present confession of the church and its proclamation of the gospel.

Dr. Bender is the author of Karl Barth’s Christological Ecclesiology (Ashgate, 2005; reissued in paperback by Cascade, 2013 and Routledge, 2016) and numerous other works on the topic of Barth’s doctrine of the church, including the chapter on Karl Barth in The Oxford Handbook of Ecclesiology and Barth’s ecclesiology in The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Karl Barth.  He is the author of two collections of essays examining central topics, movements, and figures in the Protestant tradition: Confessing Christ for Church and World: Studies in Modern Theology (IVP, 2014), and Reflections on Reformational Theology: Studies in the Theology of the Reformation, Karl Barth, and the Evangelical Tradition (T & T Clark, 2021).  His other books include Reading Karl Barth for the Church (Baker Academic, 2019) as well as the edited volumes The T & T Clark Companion to Ecclesiology (T & T Clark, 2020) and Theology as Conversation: The Significance of Dialogue in Historical and Contemporary Theology (Eerdmans, 2009).  His most recent book is 1 Corinthians in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible series.  His work has been published in numerous journals and collections, including Scottish Journal of Theology, International Journal of Systematic Theology, Theology Today, Zeitschrift für dialektische Theologie, Ecclesiology, Evangelical Quarterly, Christian Scholars Review, Soundings, Sophia, Perspectives in Religious Studies, and Journal of Religion and Society.

Dr. Bender was a Principal Investigator for the Science for Seminaries grant awarded to Truett Seminary from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion program.  He serves as a Contributing Editor for Cultural Encounters, has served as the Theology Editor of Perspectives in Religious Studies, and is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Karl Barth Society of North America, and the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion. The youngest alumnus to be inducted into the University of Jamestown Academic Hall of Fame, he is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics (First Prize), the David Allan Hubbard Award from Fuller Theological Seminary, and the Outstanding Faculty Award from both the University of Sioux Falls and from Baylor University.  An ordained Baptist minister raised on the prairie of North Dakota, he has preached, taught, and served as a pastor in churches in the Dakotas, California, New Jersey, and Texas. He and his wife Trudy live in Waco and have three children: Andrew, Stephen, and Karalyn.