Alister McGrath

Alister McGrath is a biochemist and Christian theologian born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He currently holds the title of distinction “Professor of Historical Theology” at the University of Oxford. He is the author of several books on theology and history, including In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation,a Language, and a Culture and The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World. He lives in Oxford, England and lectures regularly in the United States.

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Bible/Jesus Experts

Heresy

A History of Defending the Truth

Talking Points

Alister E. McGrath is a longtime Oxford University professor, and is regarded as a leading scholar of the history of Christianity. He has a large following here in the U.S. and commands large audiences of motivated readers. McGrath can speak with authority and passion about heresy, which consistently intrigues, angers, and inspires those inside and outside the church.

Description

Our ongoing fascination with alternative pictures of Christianity is on public display every time a never-before seen gospel text is revealed, archaeological discoveries about Jesus make front page news, and a new work of fiction challenges the very foundations of the church. In recent years the distinction between heresy and orthodoxy has come under fire by those eager to reject the formal boundaries of sanctioned beliefs about Jesus.

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Biography/History

Christianity’s Dangerous Idea

The Protestant Revolution - A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First

Talking Points

McGrath is a biochemist and Christian theologian born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He currently holds the title of distinction “Professor of
Historical Theology” at the University of Oxford. He is the author of several books on theology and history, including In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture and The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World. He lives in Oxford, England and lectures regularly in the United States.

Description

In the Protestant tradition, all individuals have direct access to God without the mediation of priests or institutions to establish boundaries. The “dangerous idea” is that there is no authority apart from the Bible—yet the Bible is open to many diverse interpretations.

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