Simeon Zahl is Professor of Christian Theology in the Faculty of Divinity. He is an historical and constructive theologian whose research interests span the period from 1500 to the present. His most recent monograph is on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. It proposes a new account of the work of the Spirit in salvation through the lens of affect and embodiment (Oxford University Press, 2020).
Biography
Professor Zahl received his first degree in German History and Literature from Harvard, and his doctorate in Theology from Cambridge. Following his doctorate, he held a post-doc in Cambridge followed by a research fellowship at St John’s College, Oxford. Prior to his return to Cambridge he was Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Nottingham.
Research
Professor Zahl's recent research has focused on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the place of experience and emotion in Christian religious life, and the theological legacy of the Protestant Reformation. Further research interests include Augustine, nineteenth-century theology, and the contributions to theology of affect theory and cognitive science. He is currently working on a new book on the theology of sin and its contemporary relevance.
From 2018-2022, he was Principal Investigator on the project Affect and Knowledge-Production in Theology and Religious Studies, funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation. The project was a collaboration with Prof. Donovan Schaefer at the University of Pennsylvania.
Publications
Books
Zahl, S. (2020). The Holy Spirit and Christian Experience. Oxford University Press.
Journal Articles
Zahl, S. (2015). ‘On the Affective Salience of Doctrines’, Modern Theology 31(3): 428-44.
Book Chapters
Edited Volumes
Muers, R., Greggs, T., and Zahl, S. (2013). The Vocation of Theology Today. Cascade.
Ford, D.F., Higton, M., and Zahl, S. (2011). The Modern Theologians Reader. Wiley-Blackwell.
Teaching and Supervisions
Undergraduate:
Paper B8: Christ, Salvation, and the Trinity
Paper C16: The Holy Spirit and Christian Experience
MPhil:
The Christian God
Professor Zahl is open to supervising doctoral research in most major areas of Christian theology. Topics of particular interest include the Holy Spirit, salvation, affect and emotion, the intellectual history of Protestantism, Martin Luther, the doctrine of sin, and the significance of embodiment for theological knowledge-production.
Other Professional Activities
Professor Zahl is co-editor, with Rachel Muers and Ashley Cocksworth, of the Cambridge Elements in Christian Doctrine series for Cambridge University Press.
