Gregory Love Ph.D.
About Dr. Love
The Rev. Dr. Gregory Love is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology. A native of Portland, Oregon, Dr. Love taught theology to undergraduates at several Lutheran colleges before coming to SFTS in 1999. Dr. Love is interested in understanding how God acts in the world and in our lives. He is currently working on a constructive theology of divine providence which tries to explain how God can act in a world which science believes works according to natural laws, chance and human free will, and in which horrific events of suffering happen. Related to this topic, Professor Love teaches courses on "God and Human Suffering," "The Change Toward Wholeness," "A Good Death," "Joy," "Hope: The Resurrection and Christian Eschatology," and "Christ, the Spirit, and the Trinity."
Education
- Ph.D., Christian Systematic Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary
- M.Div., Princeton Theological Seminary
- B.A., Modern European History and Religion, Pacific Lutheran University
Professional Background
- Seattle University, Lecturer (1995)
- Pacific Lutheran University, Lecturer (1993-96)
- Gustavus Adolphus College, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion (1996-97)
- St. Olaf College, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion (1997-99)
- San Francisco Theological Seminary, Assistant and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology (1999-present)
Publications
“Six Theological Essays: Pentecost through Proper 7 of Lectionary Year A,” New Interpreter’s Bible (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2012)
Love, Violence and the Cross: How the Nonviolent God Saves Us through the Cross of Christ. (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books/Wipf & Stock, 2010)
“Jesus’ Sending of the Seventy” (Luke 10:1-11, 16-20); “The Good Samaritan” (Luke 10:25-37); “Martha and Mary” (Luke 10:38-42); and “Sayings on Prayer” (Luke 11:1-13), four theological articles in David Howell, Lectionary Homiletics (Lectionary Homiletics, Inc., 2010)
“A Model of Damaging Self-Sacrifice, or An Event of Abyssal Compassion? Rita Nakashima Brock and Anthony Bartlett on Abelard and the Cross of Christ,” Ch. 11 in Bruce McCormack and Kimlyn Bender, eds., Theology as Conversation: The Significance of Dialogue in Historical and Contemporary Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009)
“The Centurion’s Slave” (Luke 7:1-10); “The Widow’s Son at Nain” (Luke 7:11-17); and “The Woman who was a Sinner” (Luke 7:36 – 8:3), three essays providing theological perspective, in David Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds., Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Vol. VII (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2009)
Awards and service
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The Angell Book Award of 2011 for the book Love, Violence and the Cross: How the Nonviolent God Saves Us through the Cross of Christ, given by The Presbyterian Writers Guild for the Best First Book by a Presbyterian Author in 2010.
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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Grant Winner, and Colloquium Participant, “Christianity and the Holocaust: History, Analysis, Implications,” Washington, D. C., 2009
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The Templeton Science and Religion Course Award, 1998
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One of four finalists for the Swenson-Bunn Award for Teaching Excellence (nominated by student body), Gustavus Adolphus College, 1997
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Magna cum laude, Ph.D. dissertation honor, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1997
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Princeton Doctoral Fellowship, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1988-92
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Magna cum laude, BA, Pacific Lutheran University, 1983