Tom Greggs,

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

, is a British theologian and the Marischal Professor of Divinity at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

.University of Aberdeen (School of Divinity, History and Philosophy)
Faculty profile: Professor Tom Greggs
Retrieved 30 March 2016.

Early life and education

Greggs was born and raised in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, where he was educated at

Liverpool Blue Coat School The Liverpool Blue Coat School is a grammar school in Liverpool, England. It was founded in 1708 by Bryan Blundell and the Reverend Robert Styth as the Liverpool Blue Coat Hospital and was for many years a boarding school, boys' boarding school ...

. During his time there, he was head of school and now serves as a foundation guardian.The Blue Coat School Old Blues
Stories: Professor Tom Greggs
Retrieved 30 March 2016. In 1999 he entered

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, where he studied theology as an Open Scholar and graduated with the highest first class honours in his year for which he was awarded the Denyer and Johnson Prize. Before beginning his doctoral work, Greggs taught religion and philosophy at the

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is a highly Selective school, selective Private_schools_in_the_United_Kingdom, private day school for boys aged 7-18 in Manchester, England, which was founded in 1515 by Hugh Oldham (then Bishop of Exeter). ...

. He completed his PhD in Systematic Theology in 2007 at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

under the supervision of David Ford. His doctoral dissertation served as the basis for his 2009 book ''Barth, Origen, and Universal Salvation: Restoring Particularity''.

Academic career

Greggs has taught at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, and served as senior lecturer in Christian Doctrine at the

University of Chester The University of Chester is a public university located in Chester, England. The university originated as the first purpose-built teacher training college in the UK. As a university, it now occupies five campuses, campus sites in and around Ch ...

. At the age of 29, he became Chester University's youngest ever professor and was appointed to a chair in systematic theology. At that time, he was the youngest professor in the UK. He moved to the University of Aberdeen in 2011 to take the post of Professor in Historical and Doctrinal Theology. He was translated to the Marischal Chair in 2016. The Marischal Chair is the oldest separate Chair of Divinity at the University of Aberdeen and was founded in

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has been the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. The building was constructed for and is on long-term lease fr ...

in 1616, although the Divinity School is now located in King's College in Old Aberdeen. He is also Honorary Professor of Theology at

St Mellitus College St Mellitus College is an English theological college established in 2007 by the Diocese of London and the Diocese of Chelmsford of the Church of England. It has campuses in Earl's Court, Chelmsford, Plymouth, and Nottingham, with growing links wi ...

, London, and a founding member to the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

Young Academy of Scotland. In 2019 he was elected a Fellow of the

. During his career, Greggs has also served as a visiting research fellow at

St John's College, Durham St John's College is one of the Colleges of Durham University#Types of College, recognised colleges of Durham University. The college was established in 1909 as a Church of England theological college and became a full constituent college of th ...

, and as the College of Arts and Sciences International Visiting Scholar and Visiting Professor in Religion at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. He has served as secretary of Society for the Study of Theology, and as co-chair of the Scriptural Reasoning panel for the

American Academy of Religion The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is the world's largest association of scholarly method, scholars in the List of academic disciplines, field of religious studies and related topics. It is a nonprofit member association, serving as a profess ...

. He is the editor of

Brill Brill may refer to: Places * Brielle (sometimes "Den Briel"), a town in the western Netherlands * Brill, Buckinghamshire, a village in England * Brill, Cornwall, a small village to the west of Constantine, Cornwall, UK * Brill, Wisconsin, an un ...

's ''Companions to Modern Theology'' series and co-editor of the Edinburgh University Press ''Critical History of Theology'' series. He is also on the editorial board of ''The Journal of Scriptural Reasoning'' (University of Virginia) and a consulting editor for the ''Encountering Traditions'' series published by Stanford University.

Ecclesiastical work

Greggs is a local preacher in the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

and has also preached internationally as well as appearing on radio. He was the 2014 Fernley-Hartley Lecturer for the Methodist Church, and gave the 2014 Conference Lecture for the Methodist Church on the impact of doctrine on the life and ministry of the church. He serves on the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

Faith and Order Commission and convenes the subgroup considering religious pluralism for Faith and Order. He also serves on the Faith and Order Commission of the Methodist Church.

Research and publications

Greggs's research and writing has focused on salvation, the doctrine of God, evangelical theology, theologies of the religions, and inter-faith issues. He has published over 50 essays in theology journals including ''International Journal of Systematic Theology'', ''

Modern Theology ''Modern Theology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley. It publishes articles, review articles, and book reviews in the area of theology, with an ecumenical editorial policy. Abstracting and indexing The journal is abstracte ...

'', '' Journal of Religion'', ''Scottish Journal of Theology'', ''International Journal of Public Theology'', ''

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

'', and ''Epworth Review''. His books include: *Widdicombe, Peter (April 2010)
"Review of ''Barth, Origen, and Universal Salvation: Restoring Particularity'' by Tom Greggs"
pp. 455–456. ''

The Journal of Theological Studies ''The Journal of Theological Studies'' is an academic journal established in 1899 and now published by Oxford University Press in April and October each year. It publishes theological research, scholarship, and interpretation, and hitherto unpubli ...

'', Vol. 61, No. 1. . * * *) *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greggs, Tom Academics of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Chester English Christian theologians Methodist theologians 21st-century Protestant theologians Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Academics from Liverpool Living people 1980 births Teachers at Manchester Grammar School