Professor Philip Ziegler

Biography

Born and raised in southwestern Ontario in Canada, I was educated at the Royal Military College of Canada and the University of Toronto, before undertaking postgraduate studies in theology in Toronto studying systematic and historical theology, ecumenics, and the philosophy of religion at several member colleges of the Toronto School of Theology; during my final year of doctoral studies I was a Junior Fellow of Massey College. I graduated with my doctorate from the University of Toronto / Victoria University in 2002.

After holding a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Princeton University's Center for the Study of Religion, I taught for several years at the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Canada as Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology. I joined the faculty of the University of Aberdeen as Lecturer in Systematic Theology in January 2006. In 2016 I was appointed to a personal chair as Professor in Christian Dogmatics. 

Ordained to the Order of Ministry of the United Church of Canada since 1996, I am an associeted elder of the cathedral Church of St Machar, in Old Aberdeen and currently serve as Trustee of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

I am a Senior Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.

Research Overview

My research interests comprise core topics in Christian dogmatics with particular interest in Christology; the doctrines of justification, election and revelation; the Christian life and the theological bases of Christian ethics and politics; as well as the history of modern Protestant theology generally, and within it particularly the living theological legacies of Søren Kierkegaard, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth.

My research also concerns the significance of contemporary biblical exegesis for the practice of theology, in particular the consequences of readings of Paul for the reform and renewal of fundamental doctrines. Considering the significance of 'Pauline apocalyptic' for contemporary Christian theology is an especial preoccupation of mine.

Current Research

I am currently writing on topics including: the construal of divine and human identity and the Christian life within an apocalyptic theological vision; the relation of the doctrine of scripture and the practice of Sachkritik; the motif of redemption in the history of soteriology; trajectories in theology in Western Europe in the latter half of the 20th century; the contemporary significance of Bonhoeffer's Ethics; the fate of the devil as a theme in modern European theology.

I have recently edited the newest volume of the Edinburgh Critical History of Christian Theology which treats of the 20th century (EUP, 2022). Together with Kaitlyn Dugan, I've also recently edited The Finality of the Gospel: Karl Barth and the Tasks of Eschatology (Brill, 2022).

Together with R. David Nelson I am editing a substantive new Handbook of Modern Theology for T&T Clark.

My recent Warfield Lectures will be published as God's Adversary and Ours: A Brief Theology of the Devil by Baylor University Press in 2025.

Past Research

For a list of my research publications to date see here: https://theologiaborealis.wordpress.com/selected-publications/

Collaborations

As of the Autumn of 2025 I am the Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Studies in Christian Ethics.

Together with Pieter Vos, I serve as an Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Reformed Theology .

I am Editor of Brill's Companions to Modern Theology series.

Together with Ian MacFarland and Ivor Davidson, I edit the T&T Clark Studies in Systematic Theology series.

Together with Jenny McBride and Michael Mawson, I edit the new T&T Clark New Studies in Bonhoeffer's Theology and Ethics series.

I collaborate with Douglas Harink in the leadership of a working group, 'Explorations in Theology and Apocalyptic' investigating the contemporary relevance of New Testament apocalyptic modes of discourse for the work of Christian dogmatics and ethics.

Funding and Grants

My research has kindly been supported over the years by external funding awards from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the British Academy, the John Templeton Foundation, the Carnegie Trust, and the Hope Trust, as well as by way of visiting research appointments at Durham University (2016/17), the Free University of of Amsterdam (2018), and most recently Basel University (2025).

Teaching Responsibilities

I regularly teach, contribute to, and/or co-ordinate the following courses:

• Topics in Systematic Theology I: God, Christ, Salvation
• Major Themes in Christian Theology
• Reformation, Reason and Revolt: Church and Theology in the 16th century
• Introduction to Christian Theology 
• Introduction to Philosophy of Religion
• Classic Texts in Philosophy of Religion