Education

  • BA West Georgia College 1979
  • MDiv Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary 1982
  • PhD University of Chicago 1992

Academic interests

History of Christianity, Reformation history and thought, the Eucharist and exegesis in sixteenth-century Europe, images of John Calvin in American culture, Religion and Philanthropy

Publications

  • The Clearest Promises of God: The Development of Calvin's Eucharistic Teaching (1995)
  • By the Waters of Babylon: One Family's Faith-Journey through Illness (1995; Chinese-language edition, 1999)
  • God in My Grief: The Music of Grace when Loss Lives On (1998)
  • The Christmas Quilt: A Novel (2000)
  • John Calvin (2005)
  • The Aluminum Christmas Tree: A Novel (2005)
  • This Is My Body: The Presence of Christ in Reformation Thought (2008)
  • John Calvin's American Legacy (editor, 2010)
  • Religion in Philanthropic Organizations: Family, Friend, Foe? (editor, 2013)
  • The Devil Likes to Sing (2014)
  • numerous articles
  • (Co-editor) Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation