Curriculum Vitae

Brad East

Assistant Professor of Theology

Abilene Christian University, College of Biblical Studies

1850 Teague Boulevard, ACU Box 29420, Abilene, TX 79699

(325) 674-3736 || brad.east@acu.edu

EDUCATION

2017                Yale University

Ph.D. (M.A., M.Phil) in Religious Studies (Theology)

Dissertation: The Church’s Book: Theology of Scripture in Ecclesial Context in the Work

of John Howard Yoder, Robert Jenson, and John Webster

Committee: Kathryn Tanner (advisor), David Kelsey, Miroslav Volf, Stephen Fowl

2011                Emory University, Candler School of Theology

M.Div. summa cum laude (Theology and Ethics)

2007                Abilene Christian University

B.A. summa cum laude in Biblical Text

HONORS, AWARDS, AND SCHOLARSHIPS

2015–2017      Graduate Fellowship Award, Christian Scholarship Foundation

2015                Louise and Richard Goodwin Prize for Excellence in Theological Writing

2014–2016      Doctoral Fellowship, Louisville Institute

2014–2015      Graduate Research Lecturer, Heritage Christian University

2011                Award for Academic Excellence, Candler School of Theology

2010                Award for Excellence in Biblical Scholarship, Candler School of Theology

2008–2011      Honor Scholarship, Candler School of Theology

2007                University Scholar Award, Abilene Christian University

2004–2007      Presidential Scholarship, Abilene Christian University

BOOKS

The Church: A Guide to the People of God (Christian Essentials; Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2023).

The Church’s Book: Theology of Scripture in Ecclesial Context (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2022).

The Doctrine of Scripture (Cascade Companions; Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2021).

EDITED BOOKS

Robert W. Jenson, The Triune Story: Collected Essays on Scripture (New York: Oxford University

Press, 2019).

JOURNAL ARTICLES

“The Church and the Spirit in Robert Jenson’s Theology of Scripture,” Pro Ecclesia 28:3 (2019):

278–300.

“What is the Doctrine of the Trinity For? Practicality and Projection in Robert Jenson’s Theology,”

Modern Theology 33:3 (2017): 414–433.

“John Webster, Theologian Proper,” Anglican Theological Review 99:2 (2017): 333–351.

“The Hermeneutics of Theological Interpretation: Holy Scripture, Biblical Scholarship, and

Historical Criticism,” International Journal of Systematic Theology 19:1 (2017): 30–52.

“Reading the Trinity in the Bible: Assumptions, Warrants, Ends,” Pro Ecclesia 25:4 (2016): 459–

474.

“An Undefensive Presence: The Mission and Identity of the Church in Kathryn Tanner and John

Howard Yoder,” Scottish Journal of Theology 68:3 (2015): 327–344.

“Hooking In, Sitting Loose: A Call for Theology in the Churches of Christ,” Restoration Quarterly

54:4 (2012): 219–228.

“Though the Earth Give Way: Haiti, Suffering, and the Crucified God,” The Other Journal 16:5

(2010).

BOOK CHAPTERS

“Preaching Peace in Violent Times: Faithful Approaches for Pacifist Pastors to Speak the Truth in

Love,” Preaching and the Theological Imagination, ed. Zachary Guiliano and Cameron

Partridge (New York: Peter Lang, 2015), 231–250.

“A Response to Jon Coutts on Barth and the Coen Brothers,” Karl Barth in Conversation, ed. David

Congdon and W. Travis McMaken (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2014), 247–

254.

BOOK REVIEWS

Steven J. Duby, God in Himself: Scripture, Metaphysics, and the Task of Christian Theology, in

International Journal of Systematic Theology (forthcoming).

Joseph K. Gordon, Divine Scripture in Human Understanding: A Systematic Theology of the Christian

Bible, in Anglican Theological Review (forthcoming).

Keith D. Stanglin, The Letter and Spirit of Biblical Interpretation: From the Early Church to Modern

Practice, in Interpretation (forthcoming).

Hans Boersma, Scripture as Real Presence: Sacramental Exegesis in the Early Church, in Interpretation

73:1 (2019): 91–92.

Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Biblical Authority After Babel: Retrieving the Solas in the Spirit of Mere Protestant

Christianity, in Interpretation 73:1 (2019): 90–91.

Gary Anderson, Christian Doctrine and the Old Testament: Theology in the Service of Exegesis, in

International Journal of Systematic Theology 19:4 (2017): 534-537.

John Howard Yoder, ed. Gayle Gerber Koontz and Andy Alexis-Baker, Theology of Mission: A

Believers Church Perspective, in Scottish Journal of Theology 69:3 (2016): 370–371.

Nicholas M. Healy, Hauerwas: A (Very) Critical Introduction, in International Journal of Systematic

Theology 18:2 (2016): 236–239.

Scott R. Swain, The God of the Gospel: Robert Jenson’s Trinitarian Theology, in Pro Ecclesia 23:4

(2014): 471–474.

Kevin Giles, The Eternal Generation of the Son: Maintaining Orthodoxy in Trinitarian Theology, in

Restoration Quarterly 56:3 (2014): 188–189.

Duane Olson, Issues in Contemporary Christian Thought: A Fortress Introduction, in Restoration

Quarterly 55:4 (2013): 255–256.

Lee Camp, Who Is My Enemy?: Questions American Christians Must Face About Islam—and

Themselves, in Restoration Quarterly 55:2 (2013): 124–126.

PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS

“A Third Way for Churches of Christ,” Summit Lectureship, Abilene, TX, September 18, 2019.

“Untidy Scripture, Systematic Theology: Some Friendly Questions for Joe Gordon,” Christian

            Scholars’ Conference, Lubbock, TX, June 7, 2019.

“How to Think, or: How to Resist the Social Media-fication of Relationships,” Summer Seminar,

Abilene, TX, August 3, 2018.

“Theology of Scripture: Ecclesiological Reflections,” Christian Scholars’ Conference, Nashville, TN,

June 6, 2018.

“Theological Reflections on Movies as Prayers,” Christian Scholars’ Conference, Nashville, TN,

June 6, 2018.

“Unlike Any Other Book: Theological Reflections on the Bible and its Faithful Interpretation,”

Baylor University, Waco, TX, February 10, 2018.

“How Should We Read John Howard Yoder in Light of His Abuse of Women?” Ethics Colloquium,

Yale University, New Haven, CT, November 18, 2015.

“Undefensive Ecclesiology and Engaging the Wider Tradition”; “10 Commitments of Theological

Interpretation,” Heritage Christian University, Florence, AL, April 1, 2015.

“Some Nonnegotiables in Theological Interpretation Done Well, or: On Keeping the Fight Alive

with Biblical Scholarship,” Christian Scholars’ Conference, Nashville, TN, June 5, 2014.

“Patiently Awaiting the Death and Resurrection of the Universe: Eschatological Memory and

Ecological Ethics in 2 Peter 3:1–13,” Christian Scholars’ Conference, Nashville, TN, June 7,

2013.

“An Undefensive Presence: The Mission and Identity of the Church in Kathryn Tanner and John

Howard Yoder,” annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Chicago, IL,

November 19, 2012.

“Hooking In, Sitting Loose: A Call for Theology in the Churches of Christ,” Christian Scholars’

Conference, Nashville, TN, June 7, 2012.

“Disciples of a State Criminal: How the Mission of the Church Relates to the U.S. Imprisonment

Crisis,” Stone-Campbell Journal Conference, Lincoln Christian University, Lincoln, IL,

April 14, 2012.

POPULAR, ONLINE, AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS

“Birth on a Cross,” in The Christian Century 136:18 (August 28, 2019): 10–11.

“A Better Country: On Michael Brendan Dougherty’s My Father Left Me Ireland: An American Son’s

Search for Home,” in Plough (August 7, 2019).

“Briefly Noted: Chris E. W. Green’s The End is Music: A Companion to Robert W. Jenson’s Theology,”

in First Things 295 (August/September 2019): 60–61.

“Enter Paul: On Paula Fredriksen’s Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle and When Christians Were Jews: The

First Generation,” in The Los Angeles Review of Books (June 23, 2019).

“Five Theses on Preaching,” in Mere Orthodoxy (June 7, 2019).

“The Specter of Marcion,” in Commonweal 146:4 (February 22, 2019): 12–13.

“An Anti-Enlightenment Ax to Grind: A Review of Craig A. Carter’s Interpreting Scripture with the

Great Tradition: Recovering the Genius of Premodern Exegesis,” in The Christian Century 136:4

(February 13, 2019): 45–49.

“The Church and the Common Good,” in Comment (January 17, 2019).

“First Things and Last Things in Christian Theology: On Ian McFarland’s From Nothing: A

Theology of Creation and Paul Griffiths’ Decreation: The Last Things of All Creatures,” in The

Marginalia Review of Books (October 26, 2018).

“God and All Things in God: The Theology of John Webster,” in Mere Orthodoxy (August 20,

2018).

“A Brief Introduction to John Webster,” in Anglican Theological Review 100:3 (2018): 561–562.

“In Captivity to the Zeitgeist: A Review of David P. Gushee and Glen H. Stassen’s Kingdom Ethics:

Following Jesus in Contemporary Context,” in Living Church (March 11, 2018): 31–32.

“Holy Ambivalence: On Patrick Deneen’s Why Liberalism Failed and James K. A. Smith’s Awaiting

the Kingdom: Reforming Public Theology,” in The Los Angeles Review of Books (March 1,

2018).

“Public Theology in Retreat: On Three New Essay Collections by David Bentley Hart,” in The Los

Angeles Review of Books (September 20, 2017).

“Systematic Theology and Biblical Criticism: On Ephraim Radner’s Time and the Word: Figural

Reading of the Christian Scriptures,” in The Marginalia Review of Books (June 22, 2017).

“Theologians Were Arguing about the Benedict Option 35 Years Ago,” in Mere Orthodoxy (March

13, 2017).

“Renewing the Heart of Systematic Theology: On Katherine Sonderegger’s Systematic Theology:

Volume 1, The Doctrine of God,” in The Marginalia Review of Books (August 2, 2016).

“Discerning the (Holiday) Spirits: On Prophecy in the Negative Mode Only,” in Tokens Blog

(December 19, 2013).

“Interview with Miroslav Volf,” in Missio Dei 4:2 (August 2013).

“Turn, Turn, Turn, Turning No More: An Eschatological Reflection on Ecclesiastes 3:1–11,” in

The Princeton Theological Review 44 (Fall 2011): 69–73.

“Why Theology Matters,” in New Wineskins (July 21, 2010).

“Battlestar Galactica: Frakking Feminist—So Say We All!” in Slant Magazine’s The House Next Door

(March 20, 2009).

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Teaching Experience

Abilene Christian University:

Fall 2019         Theology; Ecclesiology; Christianity and Culture

Sum 2019        Christianity and Culture (online)

Spr 2019          Theology; Acts to Revelation

Jan 2019          Christianity and Culture

Fall 2018         Survey of the Gospels; Ecclesiology; Christianity and Culture; Freshman Seminar

Sum 2018        Christianity and Culture (online)

Spr 2018          Ethics; Acts to Revelation

Jan 2018          Christianity and Culture

Fall 2017         Survey of the Gospels; Ecclesiology; Freshman Seminar

Sum 2017        Christianity and Culture (online)

Jan 2017          Christianity and Culture

Yale Divinity School:

Spr 2016          Christian Social Ethics (Adam Eitel)

Fall 2015         Theology and the New Testament (Dale Martin and Kathryn Tanner)

Spr 2015          Medieval Theology (Denys Turner)

Fall 2014         Patristic Theology (Christopher Beeley)

Editorial Work

2017–              Theology Book Review Editor, The Marginalia Review of Books

Conference Organization

Convener, “Major Book Review: Joseph Gordon, Divine Scripture in Human Understanding: A

Systematic Theology of the Christian Bible,” Christian Scholars’ Conference, Nashville, TN,

June 7, 2019.

Convener, “Major Book Review: Keith Stanglin, The Letter and Spirit of Biblical Interpretation:

From the Early Church to Modern Practice,” Christian Scholars’ Conference, Nashville, TN,

June 6, 2019.

Convener, “Negotiating Scripture and Culture,” Christian Scholars’ Conference, Abilene, TX, June

4, 2015.

Convener and moderator, “Reading the Old Testament as Scripture: A Conversation Between Ellen

Davis and Walter Brueggemann on Biblical Interpretation, Theology, and the Relationship

Between Church and Academy,” Christian Scholars’ Conference, Nashville, TN, June 6,

2014.

Convener and moderator, “Faith in Public: A Conversation Between John Hare and Charles

Mathewes on Religious Commitment, Christian Ethics, and Political Engagement,”

Christian Scholars’ Conference, Nashville, TN, June 7, 2013.

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Koine Greek; German

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

American Academy of Religion; Society of Biblical Literature