Prof. Dr. Matthew Ryan Robinson
Vita
My research interests lie at the intersection of religion and society, focusing more specifically on how theologies shape and reflect the specific contexts of their emergence in complex ways. The kinds of questions I purse and the methods I employ thus tend to be highly interdisciplinary. My formal academic training is in the fields of Systematic Theology and Religious Studies. But I have always enjoyed returning to the history of philosophy, on the one hand, while on the other hand, engaging with new forms and contexts of religious communication (e.g., digital and intercultural).
Seit 2026 / University Professor for Systematic Theology and Ethics in the Context of Social Diversity
Since 2025 / Research Fellow, University of the Free State, South Africa
2025-2026 / Guest Professor of Systematic Theology and Ethics, Leuphana University Lüneburg
2025 / Habilitation and venia legendi for Systematic Theology
Protestant Theological Faculty, RFW University of Bonn, BONN
2022 / Ordination (Presbyterian Church (USA))
2015 / Doctor of Philosophy
Dept. of Religious Studies, Northwestern University, EVANSTON
2011 / Master of Arts
Dept. of Religious Studies, Northwestern University, EVANSTON
2009 / Master of Divinity
Divinity School of the University of Chicago, CHICAGO
2004 / Bachelor of Arts
Depts. of Philosophy & Ancient Languages, Wheaton College, WHEATON
Teaching
Systematic Theology (including Intercultural Theology and Ecumenics) and Theological Ethics
Research Interests
My areas of research focus include:
- Intercultural Theology, World Christianity Studies, Christian Ecumenism
- Religion and Social Transformation (including religion in connection with pluralism and (super)diversity and Digital Religion / Digital Theology)
- Philosophy and theology during the Enlightenment and Romantic periods
Topics in Systematic Theology that I have worked on or in which I am developing new projects:
- Social theory and ecclesiology
- Communication, hermeneutics of proclamation and homiletics
- Theological Method: Intercultural Theology, Liberation Theologies and Contextual Theologies (Prolegomena)
- “The Holy” in relation to the science of awe and emerging discourses on the weird (doctrine of God, pneumatology)
Topics in Ethics that I have worked on or in which I am developing new projects:
- Friedrich Schleiermacher’s ethics
- Friendship, hospitality and tolerance
- Youth, peace and conflict
- Diversity and conviviality
- Digital religious communication
- The ambivalent place of loyalty in religion and politics
I am open to supervising doctoral researchers, whether in connection with one of the topics listed below or potentially working in a different direction. Please send me an email outlining your project and relevant experience.
- Intercultural Theology, Christian Ecumenism, Interreligious Studies (with co-supervision)
- Digital Religion / Digital Theology
- Classical theories of religion, in particular Friedrich Schleiermacher, William James, Rudolf Otto
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothee Sölle
- Theology, religion, and society in the United States
Projects
-
The role of transcultural semantics and symbols for resilience during the Corona pandemic - a hermeneutic approach to historical and intercultural expressions of severe crisis
Matthew Ryan Robinson (Project manager, academic)
→Project: Research
Publications
Books and anthologies
- Sacred Protest: Religion, Power and Resistance in an Era of Upheaval
Yaser Ellethy (Editor) , Anne Hege Grung (Editor) , Henry Jansen (Editor) , Matthew Ryan Robinson (Editor) , 2026 Leiden, The Netherlands , 279 p.Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research
- Kirche – Diakonie – und …?: Ein spannungsreiches Verhältnis im Wandel.: Festschrift für Eberhard Hauschildt
Uta Pohl-Patalong (Editor) , Matthew Ryan Robinson (Editor) , Eike Kohler (Editor) , Claudia Schulz (Editor) , Anne Wächtershäuser (Editor) , 2024 Göttingen , 242 p.Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research
- What does theology do, actually?: Vol. 2, Exegeting exegesis
Phillip Andrew Davis (Editor) , Daniel Lanzinger (Author) , Matthew Ryan Robinson (Author) , 2023 Leipzig , 292 p.Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research
- Enemy, Stranger, Neighbour, & Friend: Rough Guide on Religion and Othering
Matthew Ryan Robinson (Author) , Lani Anaya Jiménez (Author) , Andrew DeCort (Author) , Ikenna Paschal Okpaleke (Author) , 2023 , 123 p.Research output: Books and anthologies › Book › Research
- What does theology do, actually?: observing theology and the transcultural
Matthew Ryan Robinson (Editor) , Inja Inderst (Editor) , 2022 Leipzig , 332 p.Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research
Journal contributions
- “World,” “Global,” and the Reproduction of Asymmetrical Dependencies in the Study of Christianity
Matthew Ryan Robinson (Author) , 01.02.2025 , in: Journal of World Christianity, 15, 1 , p. 85-98 , 14 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Digital Religious Communication and the Facilitation of Social Resilience: Part 1: Theoretical Model and Proposal
Johannes Fröh (Author) , Matthew Ryan Robinson (Author) , 01.01.2024 , in: Journal of Religious and Theological Information, 23, 1-2 , p. 1-27 , 27 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Digital Religious Communication and the Facilitation of Social Resilience: Part 2: Empirical Test of the Theoretical Model. A Study of the Twitter Activity of Ecumenical and Social Justice-Oriented Groups during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Johannes Fröh (Author) , Matthew Ryan Robinson (Author) , 01.01.2024 , in: Journal of Religious and Theological Information, 23, 1-2 , p. 28-46 , 19 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- What are we talking about when we talk about the (post)secular? Recentering mutual participation and a commitment to communicability in scholarly discussions of contemporary religions
Matthew Ryan Robinson (Author) , 01.03.2023 , in: Dialog, 62, 1 , p. 51-65 , 15 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Youth Agency in Peacebuilding
Lani Anaya Jiménez (Author) , Matthew Ryan Robinson (Author) , 01.12.2022 , in: Ecumenical Review, 74, 5 , p. 760-781 , 22 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Contributions to collected editions/anthologies
- Life Together in Diverse Societies: Philosophical and Theological Reflections on Conviviality Theory
Matthew Ryan Robinson (Author) , 01.01.2025 , p. 47-66 , 20 p.Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review
- Caring, Helping, and For-giving: Systematic-Theological Reflections Drawn From Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together
Matthew Ryan Robinson (Author) , 01.01.2024 Göttingen , p. 177-188 , 12 p.Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research
- Interkulturelle Theologie als Herausforderung für die theologische Forschung zum Christentum in einer globalen Gesellschaft
Matthew Ryan Robinson (Author) , 01.01.2024 Leipzig , p. 91-104 , 14 p.Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review
- Friedrich schleiermacher and the postsecular: "Pacemaker for the Consciousness of a Postsecular Society"?
Matthew Ryan Robinson (Author) , 18.12.2023 , p. 645-659 , 15 p.Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review
- Afterword. Wanderings in Pedagogy as a Model-of Transcultural Theological Research
Matthew Ryan Robinson (Author) , 17.09.2022 2nd rev. Ed. ed. Leipzig , p. 308-323 , 16 p.Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review
Courses
Einerseits habe sich viele der wichtigsten theologischen Ansätze der letzten Jahrzehnten in Basiskontexten geformt: Die Befreiungstheologien, schwarze Theologie, Theology by the People, und vieles mehr. Andererseits ist es auch spannend und evtl. unangenehm zu beobachten, wie versuchend es ist, solche Ansätze ganz gemütlich im Elfenbeinturm zu führen. Und dieser Spannung kann mit einer anderen gekreuzt werden: Theologie auf der Basis gleich nicht demokratiefähige Glaube oder gerechtigkeitsorientierte Religion, sondern kann gleich wohl populistische Tendenzen fördern. In solchen Fällen ist die distanzierte, wissenschaftliche Analyse von großer gesellschaftlicher Bedeutung.
Im Seminar wird diesem Verhältnis am Beispiel von klassischen und neueren Basistheologien nachgegangen, und mit einem Fokus auf Kontexten bzw. Instanzen vom Protest als Ort des Theologisierens auf der Basis.
Diese Vorlesung (auch als "Systematische Theologie IV" zu verstehen) will eine Reihe an Herausforderungen und Probleme aufzeigen, von denen sich die christlichen Kirchen in der Neuzeit und Postmoderne konfrontiert gefühlt haben und wie sie versucht haben, diese theologisch und wissenschaftlich zu verarbeiten, darunter: wissenschaftliche Entwicklungen in den Natur- und Geisteswissenschaften und die Historisierung des Christentums; Konfrontationen mit Faschismus und Nationalismus; die wirtschaftsökonomische und technologische Unterstellung des Menschen und der Natur; die angebliche Säkularisierung westlichen Gesellschaften; die Resilienz der Religion, religiöser Fundamentalismen und religiöser Pluralität.