Clifton Ward

Our program provides students with the opportunity to engage Christian texts with biblical, theological, and historical rigor. As a BTS student at Covenant, you will have the opportunity to work closely with faculty who are concerned in your development not only as a student of Scripture and theology, but also as a Christian. This makes our department an exciting place at which to study!

Education

• PhD, Durham University
• ThM, Southern Seminary
• MDiv, Southern Seminary;
• BA, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Interests / Specialization

• History of Christianity (esp. Patristic and Medieval Christianity)
• Development of Early Christian Theology (esp. Scripture, Trinitarian Theology, and Christology)
• Christian Spirituality (esp. Benedictine spirituality and the mystical tradition)
• History of Biblical Interpretation
• Spiritual and Theological Interpretation of Scripture

Selected Professional Work

• Clement and Scriptural Exegesis: The Making of a Commentarial Theologian (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022)
• "'A New Book according to the Syllables': Organizing Scripture in Clement of Alexandria," Vigiliae Christianae (2022): 1–39 [https://doi.org/10.1163/15700720-bja10046]
• The Rise of the Christian "Intellectual," ed. by H. Clifton Ward and Lewis Ayres (Berlin: DeGruyter, 2020)
• “Marcion and His Critics,” in The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Biblical Interpretation, ed. by Paul M. Blowers and Peter W. Martens, 366-382 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019)
• “The Emergence of Christian Scripture,” in Cambridge History of Early Christian Theology, ed. by Lewis Ayres (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming)

Get to know your professor

Q. Favorite movie?
A. Shawshank Redemption

Q. Favorite food?
A. Italian

Q. What is one thing that instantly makes your day better?
A. A smile and hug from one of my daughters!

Q. Personal Interests/Hobbies
A. Running, Tennis, Woodworking (I'm a novice!)