Dr. John Jefferson Davis

Email: [email protected]
First Year at Gordon-Conwell: 1975
Expertise: Systematic Theology, Christian Ethics, World Religions, and Issues in Science and Religion

Biography:
Dr. John Jefferson Davis has served at Gordon-Conwell South Hamilton since 1975. An active member of both the local and broader community, he has taken leadership roles in various organizations relating to children and families. These leadership roles have included serving as chairman of the Board of Directors of Massachusetts Citizens for Life; as a founding member of the Board of Directors of Birthright of Greater Beverly, MA; as a member of the Board of Directors of the Value of Life Committee, and as the Massachusetts delegate to the White House Conference on Families.

Dr. Davis has also maintained an active role in professional and institutional organizations, lending his talents as former president to the Evangelical Philosophical Society and serving on the advisory board for the Presbyterians for Democracy and Religious Freedom. As a Gordon-Conwell faculty member, he serves as a faculty representative for the Anglican Studies Committee and the Institutional Review Board. He also currently chairs the Distributive Education Committee that addresses extension and distance education.In addition, Dr. Davis is a frequent speaker at churches, conventions and workshops.

He has made appearances regularly on radio and television talk shows, including The 700 Club, and his guest editorials have appeared in the Boston Herald, Newsday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Baltimore News American, the Washington Star and other newspapers. Dr. Davis’ scholarly interests include the theology and practice of worship and liturgy, the relationship of Christian faith and modern science, Trinitarian theology and the theology of the Holy Spirit. His personal interests include gourmet cooking and walking. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister. He and his wife, Robin, have five children and live in Hamilton, MA.

Degrees

• BS (Duke University)
• MDiv (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary)
• PhD (Duke University)

View CV

Select List of Publications

• “Trinity, Perichoresis, and Christian Marriage.” Journal of Psychology and Theology, 2023. 
• “Updating Cappadocian Answers to the One and Threeness Problem of the Trinity,” Doon Theological Journal, 19:1-2, 2022.
• “Lessons from the Proton for Trinitarian Theology?”Science and Christian Belief  34, 2022.
• Forward to An Indian Trinitarian Theology of Missio Dei, by P.V. Joseph. American Society of Missiology Monograph Series. Pittsburgh; Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2019.
• “Justification Five Hundred Years Later: Should It Still Be a Church Dividing Doctrine?” In Reformation Celebration: The Significance of Scripture, Grace, Faith and Christ. Edited by Gordon L. Isaac and Eckhard J. Schnabel. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2018.
• Practicing Ministry in the Presence of God: Theological Reflections on Ministry and the Christian Life. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2015.
• Evangelical Ethics: Issues Facing the Church Today, 4th ed. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2015.
• Meditation and Communion with God: Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012.
• “Buddha, the Apostle Paul, and John Hick: The Challenge of Inter-Religious Epistemologies.” Philosophia Christi 14 (2012): 95–114.
• Worship and the Reality of God: An Evangelical Theology of Real Presence. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2010.
• “The Moral Status of the Embryonic Human: Religious Perspectives.” Ethics and Medicine 22 (2006): 9-21.
• “Human Embryos, ‘Twinning,’ and Public Policy.” Ethics and Medicine 20 (2004): 35-46.
• The Frontiers of Science and Faith: Examining Questions from the Big Bang to the End of the Universe. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002.
• The Victory of Christ’s Kingdom: An Introduction to Postmillennialism. Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 1996.
• Christ’s Victorious Kingdom: Postmillennialism Reconsidered. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1986.
• The Christian’s Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1986.
• Let the Bible Teach You Christian Doctrine. Exeter; Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 1986.
• Handbook of Basic Bible Texts: Every Key Passage for Study of Doctrine and Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984.
• Abortion and the Christian: What Every Believer Should Know. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 1984.
• Your Wealth in God’s World: Does the Bible Support the Free Market? Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 1984.
• Foundations of Evangelical Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984.
• Theology Primer: Resources for the Theological Student. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981.
• The Necessity of Systematic Theology, 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980.