Denver Seminary

Faculty/Staff Directory

Ryan Tafilowski, PhD

Chair of the Theology Department, Assistant Professor of Theology

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Dr. Ryan Tafilowski, assistant professor of theology and chair of the Theology Department, holds a PhD in systematic theology, a master’s in theology in history from the University of Edinburgh, and a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies from Colorado Christian University. Prior to joining the faculty at Denver Seminary, Tafilowski served as an adjunct professor of theology at Colorado Christian University, and postgraduate instructor in theology and ecclesiastical history at the University of Edinburgh. He serves as the lead pastor at Foothills Fellowship Church in Denver and as Theologian-in-Residence at the Denver Institute for Faith and Work.

113 | Christianity and the Rise of Nazi Germany Dr. Ryan Tafilowski
  • Virtue and Vice at Work: Ancient Wisdom for a Modern Age. Denver, CO: Denver Institute for Faith and Work, 2022.
  • ‘Dark, Depressing Riddle’: Germans, Jews, and the Meaning of the Volk in the Theology of Paul Althaus. Forschungen zur systematische und ökumenischen Theologie 166. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019.
    • Reviews in: Theologisches Beiträge, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Lutheran Quarterly

Book Chapters

  • “The Four-Part Gospel,” “The Sacred/Secular Divide,” “The Brokenness of Work,” “A Theology of Place,” and “A Christian’s Engagement with Culture,” in Faith and Work 101. Edited by Ross Chapman. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity (in press, forthcoming 2023).
  • “A History of Kingdoms in Conflict,” in Kingdom and Country: Following Jesus in the Land that We Love. Edited by Angie Ward. Kingdom Conversations. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2022.
  • “The Countries of the Sunrise: Early Christianity in Asia and Africa,” in Bruce Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, 5th edition. Edited by Marshall Shelley. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2021.
  • “The Earnest Adjunct: Resisting Faintheartedness as a Contracted Lecturer,” Didaktikos: Journal of Theological Education 6:2 (2022): 8–10.
  • “The Body upon the (Lynching) Tree: The Humanity of Jesus in James Cone and Reinhold Niebuhr.” The Journal of Theological Studies 71:2 (2020): 756–77.
  • “A Reappraisal of the Orders of Creation.” Lutheran Quarterly 31:3 (2017): 288–309.
  • “Conflict and concession: nationality in the pastorate for Althaus and Bonhoeffer.” Co-written with David Robinson. Scottish Journal of Theology 70:2 (2017): 1–20.
    • Reviews in: Contemporary Church History Quarterly
  • “Exploring the Legacy of Paul Althaus.” Lutheran Quarterly 31:1 (2017): 64–84.
  • “Inclusive Quarantine: The Pathology and Performance of Jewish Existence in the Erlangen Opinion on the Aryan Paragraph.” Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations 10:1 (2015): 1–29.
  • Video curriculum to accompany Church History in Plain Language, 5th (24 lectures), forthcoming 2023.
  • Entries on “Pachomius the Great,” “Monica,” “Martin Bucer,” “Argula von Grumbach,” “Katharina Schütz Zell,” “Jan Łaski,” “Juan de Zumárraga,” and “Amy Carmichael,” in Bruce Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, 5th Edited by Marshall Shelley. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2021.
  • “Luther and Anti-Semitism/National Socialism” and “Marburg Colloquy,” in Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation. Edited by Mark A. Lamport. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.
  • Assistant Translation Review Editor, Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture. Edited by Dan Diner. Boston, MA: Brill, 2018. [English translation of Enzyklopädie jüdischer Geschichte und Kultur. Brill, 2017]
  • “Review of T&T Clark Companion to the Doctrine of Sin.” The Expository Times 128:7 (2017): 361–62.
  • “Stories of Jewish Courage: A Review of Nechama Tec, Resistance: Jews and Christians who Defied the Nazi Terror.” The Expository Times 127:1 (2015): 47–48.
  • “The Faithful Reading of Scripture,” Engage Magazine 10:2 (2022): 12–15.
  • “Crooked Timber: Manger and Cross.” Center for Pastor Theologians Blog. 19 December 2020.
  • “Politics at Twilight: Faithful Political Engagement in an Age of Ideology” and “Politics and Christian Realism in Bonhoeffer and Niebuhr.” Center for Pastor Theologians Blog. 7–19 October 2020.
  • “The Gospel for our Work.” Denver Institute for Faith and Work Blog. 7 July 2020.
  • “Reason(s) and democracy: a response to Jeffrey Stout.” University of Edinburgh Gifford Lectures Blog. University of Edinburgh, UK, 1–11 May 2017.
  • Fear God. Honor the emperor.” Opening address at “The Politics of Neighborly Love,” sponsored by the Denver Institute for Faith and Work. Denver, Colorado, USA, 17 September 2020.
  • “Particularity in Solidarity: The Ethical Promise of the Doctrine of the Orders of Creation.” Bonhoeffer: Theology and Social Analysis Unit, American Academy of Religion Annual Conference. Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 18–21, November 2017.
  • “Hermann Sasse and the Ecclesial Renewal of the Orders of Creation.” Society for the Study of Theology Annual Conference. University of Nottingham, UK, 24–26 April 2017.
  • “‘Don’t believe the appearance!’: Revisiting the legacy of Paul Althaus.” New College Theology and Ethics Research Seminar. University of Edinburgh, UK, 12 October 2016.
  • “Common soil: the expatriate theologies of Althaus and Bonhoeffer in the 1920s.” Reading Bonhoeffer for the Life of the Church. St. John’s College, University of Durham, UK, 20–22 September 2016.
  • “Between complicity and resistance: Protestant ambivalence toward the ‘Jewish Question.’” German Historical Institute London Postgraduate Conference. London, UK, 7–8 January 2016.
  • “Dark, depressing riddle: the dreadful vocation of the Jews in the theology of Paul Althaus.” Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Unit, American Academy of Religion Annual Conference. Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 21–25 November 2015.
  • “Open wounds: the Jews in the theological imagination of Paul Althaus.” Theological Anthropology Seminar, Society for the Study of Theology Annual Conference. University of Nottingham, UK, 13–15 April 2015.
  • “Holy taciturnity: A response to John Webster’s ‘Sins of Speech.’” New College Theology and Ethics Research Seminar. University of Edinburgh, UK, 21 January 2015.
  • “Follow the Leaders” [Week-Long Intensive Church History Survey]. Ravencrest Chalet Bible School (Torchbearers International). Estes Park, Colorado, USA, 5–12 October 2012 (Invited Address).
  • “Christianity in Nazi Germany,” Full Proof Theology Podcast, 20 September 2020
  • “A Time for Lament,” The Faith and Work Podcast, 22 April 2020
  • “Theologians and the Nazis,” Virtue in the Wasteland Podcast, 25 September 2017

International Journal of Systematic Theology   

American Academy of Religion
St. Basil Fellowship, Center for Pastor Theologians
Evangelical Theological Society

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