John Feinberg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

John Samuel Feinberg (born April 2, 1946) is an American theologian, author, and professor of biblical and systematic theology. He is currently listed as Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology (retired) at
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) is the divinity school of Trinity International University, an evangelical Christian university headquartered in Bannockburn, Illinois. The divinity school was founded in 1897. In April 2025, Trinit ...
in
Deerfield, Illinois Deerfield is a village in Lake County, Illinois, Lake and Cook County, Illinois, Cook counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A northern Chicago metropolitan area, suburb of Chicago, Deerfield is located on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore, ...
. He is noted for his expertise in
theodicy In the philosophy of religion, a theodicy (; meaning 'vindication of God', from Ancient Greek θεός ''theos'', "god" and δίκη ''dikē'', "justice") is an argument that attempts to resolve the problem of evil that arises when all powe ...
.


Background and education

Feinberg was born in 1946 to Charles Lee and Anne Priscilla (Fraiman) Feinberg in Dallas, Texas. His family moved from
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
to
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
in 1948 when his father became the first dean of Talbot Theological Seminary. Feinberg earned his
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree in English from the
University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Ca ...
, his
Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...
from Talbot Theological Seminary, his
Master of Theology Master of Theology (, abbreviated ThM, MTh or MTheol, or ''Sacrae Theologiae Magister''; abbreviated STM) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a ...
degree (1972) in systematic theology from Trinity, and his
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
(1971) and
Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...
(1979) degrees from the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
. Feinberg lives in
Vernon Hills, Illinois Vernon Hills is a suburb north of Chicago, Illinois in Lake County, Illinois, Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 26,850 at the 2020 census. Vernon Hills serves as a retail hub for its surrounding area (Libertyville, Illinois ...
, with his wife Patricia, with whom he has three children. His brother Paul David (1938 - 2004) also taught Systematic Theology and Philosophy of Religion at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School for thirty years.


Career

In his early career, Feinberg served as a missionary in Los Angeles on staff for the American Board of Missions to the Jews. He began his teaching career in 1969 at the Los Angeles Bible Training School in
Watts, California Watts is a neighborhood in southern Los Angeles, California. It is located within the South Los Angeles region, bordering the cities of Lynwood, Huntington Park and South Gate to the east and southeast, respectively, and the unincorporated comm ...
. Feinberg was ordained to ministry in 1971 and served as pastor of the Elmwood Park Bible Church in
Elmwood Park, Illinois Elmwood Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 24,521 at the 2020 census. The community has long maintained a large Italian American population, with a more recent influx of Hispanic and Latino Americans. ...
, from 1974 to 1976. He resumed teaching in 1976 at Western Conservative Baptist Seminary in
Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
, before moving in 1981 to teach at Liberty Baptist Seminary and College in
Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...
. In 1983, he joined the faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. During the mid-1980s, Feinberg served on the national membership committee of the
Evangelical Theological Society The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) is a professional society of Biblical scholars, educators, pastors, and students "devoted to the inerrancy and inspiration of the Scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ" and "dedicated to the oral ex ...
. He also served as editor of the Bulletin of the Evangelical Philosophical Society from 1982 to 1983, and from 1985 to 1986 he served a term as president of the
Evangelical Philosophical Society The Evangelical Philosophical Society (EPS) is an organization devoted to the study of philosophy, philosophy of religion, philosophical theology, apologetics, and ethics from an evangelicalism, evangelical perspective. Membership is open to profes ...
. Since then, he has authored several books and serves as a theological consultant for the academic division of
Crossway Books Crossway (previously known by its parent ministry Good News Publishers) is a not-for-profit evangelical Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on t ...
. He serves as general editor for the series ''Foundations of Evangelical Theology''. In 2015 a ''
Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
'' was published in his honor. ''Building on the Foundations of Evangelical Theology: Essays in Honor of John S. Feinberg'' includes contributions from
Kevin Vanhoozer Kevin Jon Vanhoozer (born March 10, 1957) is an American theologian and current research professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) in Deerfield, Illinois. Much of Vanhoozer's work focuses on systematic theolog ...
, Bruce A. Ware, and Walter Kaiser Jr.


Selected works


Books

* * * * * * * * * * *


Edited by

* *


Chapters

* - plus his responses *


Articles

* * *


Festschrift

*


References


External links


TEDS faculty pageChristianCourses.com faculty page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feinberg, John S. 1946 births Living people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American theologians 20th-century evangelicals 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American theologians 21st-century evangelicals American Evangelical writers American male non-fiction writers American Messianic Jews American religious writers Christian philosophers Evangelical theologians Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish philosophers Liberty University faculty People from Vernon Hills, Illinois Trinity Evangelical Divinity School alumni Trinity International University faculty University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of Chicago alumni Western Seminary Presidents of the Evangelical Philosophical Society