Sam Powell Curriculum Vitae

PERSONAL INFORMATION: 

PUBLICATIONS:

Books:

• Discovering Our Christian Faith. Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2008.
• A Theology of Christian Spirituality. Abingdon Press, 2005.
• Holiness in the 21^st Century: Call, Consecration, Obedience Perfected in Love. Point Loma Press, 2004.
• Participating in God: Trinity and Creation. Fortress Press, 2003. Winner of the Wesleyan Theological Society’s 2005 Smith-Wynkoop award.
• The Trinity in German Thought. Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Books Edited:

• It’s All About Grace: Wesleyan Essays in Honor of Herbert L. Prince. San Diego: Point Loma Press, 2004.
• Embodied Holiness: Toward a Corporate Theology of Spiritual Growth. InterVarsity Press (1999).

Articles and Essays:

• “The World’s Participation in God’s Trinitarian Life.” Process Studies 37, no. 1 (2008): 145-165.
• “Discussion: Theological Reflections.” In Religion, Terror and Violence: Religious Studies Perspectives. Routledge, 2008.
• Two articles (“Fundamentalism” and “Fideism”) for The Science and Religion Primer. Baker (forthcoming).
• “Idealism.” In The New Lion Handbook: The History of Christianity. Lion Hudson, 2007
• Four articles (“Johann Fichte,” “Theology of Hope,” “William James,” and “William C. Placher”) in New Dictionary of Theology. InterVarsity Press (forthcoming).
• “The Theological Significance of the Holiness Movement.” In Quarterly Review 25/2 (2005):126-140.
• “Divine Trinity.” In Philosophy of Religion: Introductory Essays. Nazarene Publishing House, 2003.
• Four Articles (“Christian Wolff,” “Neology,” “Schelling,” and “Hegel”) in The Encyclopedia of Protestantism. Routledge, 2004.
• “Schelling and Tillich on God’s Relation to the World.” In Religion and Its Relevance in Post-Modernism. Edwin Mellen Press, 2001.
• “A Trinitarian Alternative to Process Theism.” In Thy Name and Thy Nature is Love: Wesleyan and Process Theologies in Dialogue. Kingswood Books, 2001.
• “History and Eschatology in the Thought of Wolfhart Pannenberg.” Fides et Historia 32/2 (2000):19-32.
• Two chapters in Embodied Holiness: Toward a Corporate Theology of Spiritual Growth. InterVarsity Press (1999).
• "Committing Christianity in Public." In Maps and Models for Ministry. Edited by David Whitelaw. Point Loma Press, 1996.
• "Thinking About Economics and Ethics as a Wesleyan." In Grace in the Academic Community: Festschrift for Dr. Cecil Paul. Edited by Maxine E. Walker. Point Loma Press, 1996.
• "Religious Experience and Myth: The Philosophy of C.H. Weisse." Annals of Scholarship 6 (1989):383-396.
• "The Doctrine of the Trinity in 19th Century American Wesleyan Theology." Wesleyan Theological Journal 18 (1983):33-55.

PAPERS RECENTLY DELIVERED:

• “A Hermeneutical Approach to Interpreting Theology from the Perspective of Neuroscience.” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2004.
• “The Sacrament of Proclamation: The Christian Intellect Seeking Understanding.” Christianity and the Soul of the University Conference, March 2004.
• “Embodied Knowledge: Hegel and Schleiermacher.” American Academy of Religion, Western Region, March 2004.
• “The Idea of the Church in Liberal Theology.” American Academy of Religion, Western Region, March 2003.
• “Creation Theology and the Catholic Spirit.” ‘God of Nature and of Grace’: Wesleyan Perspectives on Creation conference. Point Loma Nazarene University, April, 2002.
• “Theology as an Exercise in Creative Imagination.” Creative Imagination: Embodying Time, Space and Form conference. Point Loma Nazarene University, February, 2002.
• “A Wesleyan Understanding of Order and Contingency.” American Academy of Religion, November, 2000.
• “A Recommendation of the Doctrine of the Trinity.” Wesleyan Theological Society, March, 2000.

MEDIA APPEARANCES:

• Appearances on KPBS (San Diego) radio program, “These Days”:
• June 20, 2002 “Hell”
• May 7, 2001 “The Bible and History”
• April 18, 2000 “Religion and Politics/The Influence of Religion on Politics in America”
• January 6, 1998 “Religion and Society/First Amendment Issues”
• June 4, 1997 “Reform in the Roman Catholic Church
• February 19, 1997 “Cloning”
• “Pope Bravely Chose a Very Painful Course,” in the San Diego Union-Tribune (March 19, 2000).

EDUCATION:

• Claremont Graduate School. Ph.D. in Religion, 1987. Major Field: Philosophy of Religion and Theology. Dissertation: "The Doctrine of the Trinity in Nineteenth-Century German Protestant Theology: Philipp Marheineke, Isaak Dorner, Johann von Hofmann, and Alexander Schweizer."
• Nazarene Theological Seminary. M.Div. Magna cum Laude, 1981.
• Point Loma Nazarene College. B.A. Magna cum Laude, 1978. Major in Philosophy and Religion.

MINISTERIAL ORDERS:

• Ordained Deacon in the Church of the Nazarene

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:

• American Academy of Religion
• Wesleyan Theological Society

GRANTS, AWARDS AND SABBATICALS:

• Received in 2007 a $4000.00 mini-grant from the John Templeton Foundation for previous participants in the Oxford Seminars on Science and Christianity.
• Won the Wesleyan Theological Society’s 2005 Smith-Wynkoop award for Participating In God: Creation and Trinity. The award recognizes recent publication of distinction in a research area related to the Wesleyan/Holiness tradition.
• 2002 Led a five person team that won a planning grant from the Lilly Endowment ($50,000)
• Sabbatical leaves from Point Loma Nazarene University in 2007-2008, 2000-2001 and 1993-1994
• 2001 Pasadena/Point Loma Alumni Association Teaching Development Award ($2000)
• 1999-2001 Participant in the John Templeton Foundation Oxford Seminars on Science and Christianity.
• Successful grant applications to sponsor lecture series:
• 1998 Matchette Foundation ($3000)
• 1998 Templeton /ASA Lecture Series ($2000)
• Wesleyan Center for 21^st Century Studies Fellowships in 2000-2001 and 1998-1999
• 1996-1997 Templeton Foundation Science-Religion Course Program Award ($10,000) and recipient of Course Development Grant ($2,000) in 2000-2001
• Wesleyan Center for Twenty First Century Studies Summer Stipends: 1996, 1998 and 2002.
• Point Loma Nazarene University R.A.S.P. Grants in 1987, 1990, and 1999

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

• Point Loma Nazarene University. Professor of Philosophy and Religion, 1986-present. Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion/Dean of the School of Theology and Christian Ministry, 1996-2002, 2004-present; Director of Graduate Studies in Religion, 1998-2000, 2002-2005.
• Nazarene Theological College, Manchester, U.K. Lecturer, 1993-1994.
• Fullerton College. Part-time faculty in Philosophy, 1984-1986.
• Rancho Santiago College. Part-time faculty in Philosophy, 1984-1986.
• Bloomington Church of the Nazarene. Youth Minister, 1982-1984.

COMMUNITY AND CHURCH INVOLVEMENT:

Current positions of service:

• Interim director of Point Loma Press 2007-2008
• Secretary-Treasurer of the Wesleyan Theological Society
• Member of the editorial board of Kingswood Press
• Member of the Church of the Nazarene’s Centennial Adviso
• Committee, a decade long textbook-publishing endeavor
• Sunday School teacher at Mission Valley Church of the Nazarene
• Member of Southern California District Church of the Nazarene Board of Ministerial Studies

 Previous positions of service:

• Chair of the 19^th century section of the American Academy of Religion, western region
• Member of the church board of Mission Valley Church of the Nazarene
• April 20-21, 2001 Spoke at the Doctrinal Forum of the Los Angeles District Church of the Nazarene.
• President (1999-2000) and Historian (1998-1999) of West Hills High School music program parent booster organization
• President of the Parent-Teacher Fellowship of Carlton Hills Christian School, 1992-93