Education
- Ph.D., Durham University
- Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
- M.A., University of Pennsylvania
- B.A., Arizona State University
- B.A., Arizona State University
Courses
- Introduction to Theology
- Science and Religion
- Faith and Reason
Biography
Edward Epsen, Ph.D. (Durham University), Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania), is dually trained in philosophy and theology. Epsen studies Christian doctrine in the context of current cultural challenges, including the religion-science dialogue, science and technology governance, and especially the ethics of AI. His approach is to use philosophical resources to help vulnerable communities articulate and advocate for their needs in the face of emerging and disruptive technologies.
His publications and presentations focus on themes surrounding creation and providence. Epsen has written a monograph and academic journal articles on the dogmatic question of what gets produced in the divine act of creation and how it is internally organized and administrated. This focus leads to adjacent questions about the mind-brain relation, perceptual psychology, miracles and divine action in nature, the cosmic significance of Christology, and the ethics of intervention on land, energy and labor, all of which are topics Epsen has written about and remains interested in investigating.
Epsen teaches theology comparatively in the context of the variety of historical interpretations in the Jewish and Christian traditions, with a focus on the relation between faith and reason. He currently teaches at introductory, intermediate and graduate levels.
Epsen has served as the Lord Gifford Fellow of Natural Theology at the University of Aberdeen. He served as the director of the Research Institute in Systematic Theology (RIST) at King’s College London. He was also assistant professor of Science and Religion at Samford University and enjoyed the support of a research fellowship with the project ‘God and the Book of Nature: Building a Science-Engaged Theology’, a £2.44 million international project funded by the John Templeton Foundation.
Publications
From Laws to Liturgy: An Idealist Theology of Creation (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2020). https://brill.com/display/title/56111
Perceptual Consciousness (Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest, 2011). https://www.proquest.com/openview/1dbba8d6590b335a8562bf4770ace25d/1?cbl=18750&pq-origsite=gscholar&parentSessionId=m8l1fDVyCBDxC7p%2FLf2GLieh7ypLMhui5CXlB3I6is8%3D
“Banners of the Double Kingdom: How to Identify the Product of Creation and Its Order”, International Journal of Systematic Theology (2021) 23:502-524. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ijst.12513
“The Idealist View of Divine Action in Nature”, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
(2020) 55:924-47. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/zygo.12655
“Why God Had to Have an Immaculate Mother”, New Blackfriars (2016) 97:560-574. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nbfr.12216
“Eternity is a Present, Time is Its Unwrapping”, Heythrop Journal (2010) 51: 417-429. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1468-2265.2009.00498.x
“Games with Zero-knowledge Signaling”, Studia Logica (2007) 86: 409-42. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11225-007-9067-4