Robert Dean
Office 4H08
Address 10 College Crescent, Otterburne, MB, R0A 1G0
Phone 1-431-815-4283
Email Robert.Dean@prov.ca
Department SEMINARY, FACULTY - FULL-TIME

Robert Dean

Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics

Dr. Dean’s work is motivated by the question of exploring what it means for the church to be a faithful community of disciples in our contemporary post-Christendom Canadian context. Although formally trained as a systematic theologian, both his experience as a pastor and his dissertation work on the theologies of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Stanley Hauerwas, have left him convinced that theology is properly a practical discipline. As a result, his writing and interests have traversed the fields of systematic theology, theological ethics, pastoral theology, homiletics, worship and liturgy, and missional leadership – all in the interest of seeing theological reflection brought to bear on the concrete realities facing the church.

Courses
  • PS5102 Homiletics
  • TS5201 Theological Foundations
  • TS5302 Christian Ethics
  • TS6101 Contemporary Issues in Theology
  • TS6105 Theologians of the Church: Reading with the Church Fathers
  • TS6105 Theologians of the Church: Dietrich Bonhoeffer
  • TS6201 Themes in Theology: Scripture and the Triune God
  • TS6203 Themes in Theology: The Person and Work of Christ
  • TS6204 Themes in Theology: The Church and the Mission of God
  • TS6205 Themes in Theology: The Holy Spirit and the Last Things
  • DS8106 Thinking and Interpreting Theologically
Education

Wycliffe College – University of Toronto (ON)

Doctor of Theology (Th.D.), Theology
2014

Tyndale Seminary (ON)

Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Pastoral Studies
2003

University of Western Ontario (ON)

Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.), Intermediate-Senior
2000

University of Western Ontario (ON)

Honours Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), Kinesiology
1999

Professional

Present

  • Providence Theological Seminary, Faculty
  • Providence Theological Seminary, Editor of Didaskalia

Past

  • Wycliffe College – University of Toronto, Adjunct Professor of Preaching (2018)
  • Tyndale Seminary, Adjunct Professor of Theology (2016-2018)
  • Tyndale Seminary, Instructor (2011-2016)

Professional Memberships

  • American Scientific Affiliation / Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation
  • Academy of Homiletics
  • American Academy of Religion
  • Canadian-American Theological Association
  • Canadian Society of Presbyterian History
  • Canadian Theological Society
  • International Bonhoeffer Society

Awards

  • Vital Worship – Vital Preaching Grant (2024)
  • Science for Seminaries Seed Grant (2021-2022)
  • Prince of Wales Prize for Modern Church History, Knox College (2017)
  • Graduating Class Valedictorian, Tyndale Seminary (2003)
  • Ross and Carol Bailey Theology Award, Tyndale Seminary (2003)
  • Hebrew Award, Tyndale Seminary (2002)
Publications

Books

Book Chapters

  • 2018, “On the Mountain with Jesus.” The Word is Near You: Seeds of Reformation. Edited by Peter Robinson. Wycliffe Studies in Gospel, Church and Culture. Wipf and Stock.

Academic Journal Articles

  • 2022, “The Heresy of Relevance: Bonhoeffer’s Warning to Preachers,” Pro Ecclesia: A Journal of Catholic and Evangelical Theology, 30 no. 1, 73-93.
  • 2022, “Reclaiming an Eschatological Imagination: A Dogmatic Sketch.” Cultural Encounters: A Journal for the Theology of Culture, 17 no. 1, 5-27.
  • 2019-2020, “In the Presence of Poppies: Remembrance Day and Christian Worship.” Didaskalia, 29, 20-39.
  • 2018, “Ecclesiological Developments in Canadian Evangelical Theology.” Canadian-American Theological Review, 6, no. 2, 1-14.
  • 2018, “A Matter of Mission: Bonhoeffer, the Bible, and Ecclesial Formation.” Didaskalia, 28, 49-74.
  • 2015, “Unapologetically (A)Political: Stanley Hauerwas and the Practice of Preaching.” Didaskalia, 25, 131-160.
  • 2014, “Tolkien and the Adventure of Discipleship: Imaginative Resources for a Missional Ecclesiology.” Canadian Theological Review, 3, 2, 84-96.

Book Reviews

  • 2023, Review of John G. Stackhouse Jr., Evangelicalism: A Very Short Introduction in Canadian-American Theological Review, 12 no. 1, 111-114.
  • 2022, Review of Derek W. Taylor, Reading Scripture as the Church: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Hermeneutic of Discipleship in Studies in Christian Ethics, 35 no. 2, 418-421.
  • 2021, Review of Silje Kvamme Bjørndal, The Church in a Secular Age: A Pneumatological Reconstruction of Stanley Hauerwas’s Ecclesiology, Reading Religion, https://readingreligion.org/books/church-secular-age
  • 2019-2020, Review of Evangelical vs. Liturgical: Defying a Dichotomy, by Melanie C. Ross. Didaskalia, 29: 102-104
  • 2018, Review of Victor Lee Austin, Losing Susan: Brain Disease, the Priest’s Wife, and the God Who Gives and Takes Away in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 70, no. 3: 200-201.
  • 2016, Review of Fritz de Lange, Loving Later Life: An Ethics of Aging in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 68, 3, 199-201.
  • 2015, Review of Ian A. McFarland, From Nothing: A Theology of Creation in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 67, 2, 151-152.
  • 2014, Review of Mark Thiessen Nation, Anthony G. Siegrist, and Daniel P. Umbrel, Bonhoeffer the Assassin? Challenging the Myth, Recovering His Call to Peacemaking in Conrad Grebel Review, 32, 2, 215-216.
  • 2012, Review of John Howard Yoder, A Pacifist Way of Knowing: John Howard Yoder’s Nonviolent Epistemology in Conrad Grebel Review, 30, 2, 211-212.

Recent Teachings at Local Churches and Other Educational Events

  • 2024, “Imagining a Better Way: Towards a Theology of Transformative Preaching,” Providence BTS Symposium, Otterburne, MB.
  • 2021, Panelist for “Vaccines, Restrictions, and the Church,” Zoom Forum, hosted by Providence University College and Theological Seminary, Otterburne, MB.
  • 2021, Series: “Theological Resistance in Troubled Times: The Compelling Witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer [scheduled for 6 lectures]” Xplore Lecture Series at Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, MB.
  • 2020, “All that Is Hidden Shall Be Revealed,” and Panelist, The Church Post-Pandemic, Zoom Forum hosted by Providence Theological Seminary, Otterburne, MB.
  • 2020, Series: “Theological Resistance in Troubled Times: The Compelling Witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer [scheduled for 6 lectures; only 2 due to COVID]” Xplore Lecture Series at Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, MB.
  • 2019, Series: “Living Well, Dying Well: A Christian Response to Medical Assistance in Dying [3 lectures],” Niverville Community Fellowship, Niverville, MB.
  • 2019, “‘It’s the End of the World as We Know It’: Reclaiming an Eschatological Imagination,” Providence Public Lecture Series, Winnipeg and Steinbach, MB.
  • 2019, “A Plea for Pointless Preaching: Renewing the Pulpit through Theological Reflection,” Presbytery of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB.
  • 2018, “Parsing the Grammar of Atonement.” Providence Theological Seminary, Otterburne, MB.
  • 2018, “Confessing Christ in Troubled Times: Bonhoeffer as a Resource for Preachers.” Tyndale Preaching Conference, Tyndale Seminary, Toronto, ON.
  • 2018, “Bonhoeffer: Following Jesus in a Fragmented World [4 lectures].” Whitby Christian Assembly, Whitby, ON.
  • 2017, “Confessing Christ in Troubled Times: Bonhoeffer as a Resource for Preachers.” Preaching Day, Wycliffe College, Toronto, ON.
  • 2016, “‘It’s the End of the World as We Know It’: Paul, the Kingdom and Living between the Times.” Kingdom Come: Awakening to a Gospel-Centred Life, Bayview Glen Alliance Church, Toronto, ON.
  • 2016, “Author’s Response” at Book Launch Celebration for For the Life of the World by Robert J. Dean. Good Shepherd Community Church, Scarborough, ON.
  • 2016, “Reading Faithfully: Approaching the Bible as Holy Scripture.” Knox Presbyterian Church, Toronto, ON.
  • 2015, “Trinitarian-Shaped Church and Mission.” Knox Presbyterian Church, Toronto, ON.
  • 2015, “Trinitarian Renewal: What’s Happening? Why it Matters?” Knox Presbyterian Church, Toronto, ON.
  • 2014, “Discipling Dietrich: Exploring the Radical Christian Life and Vision of Dietrich Bonhoeffer [5 lectures].” Knox Presbyterian Church, Toronto, ON.
  • 2014, “The Adventure of Discipleship.” National Conference of Congregational Christian Churches in Canada, Toronto, ON.

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