_DSC2612e-267x400Joshua T. Searle, FHEA FRHistS BA MA (Oxon) MTh PhD
Director of Postgraduate Studies
Email: j.searle@spurgeons.ac.uk

Mobile: 07425772210

A Northumbrian by birth and temperament, Joshua studied at Oxford University (BA and MA), Prague (MTh) and Dublin (PhD). He considers it a great privilege to be part of a vibrant and multi-cultural and multi-ethnic learning community at Spurgeon’s College. His experience at Spurgeon’s has taught him that there is no greater blessing as a teacher than seeing students’ lives and ministries being transformed as a result of their studies. The dominating passion of Joshua’s academic calling is his desire to see all students of Spurgeon’s College grow in grace and knowledge of the “boundless riches of Christ” and to realise their full potential in God.

Before starting work at Spurgeon’s in 2013, Joshua and his wife, Varduyi Rosa, worked as missionaries in Donetsk, Ukraine. He has taught theology and philosophy in Germany, Ireland, the UK and Ukraine. Fluent in German and Russian and proficient in many Slavic languages, he has had an active ministry in Ukraine over many years in his capacity as Chair of Trustees of the charity, Dnipro Hope Mission: www.dniprohopemission.org

His favourite writers are John Milton, William Blake and Fyodor Dostoevsky and his abiding role models growing up were – and still are – Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King. As well as his academic books and articles on the Book of Revelation and social theology, Joshua regularly offers an evangelical Christian perspective on current affairs in his articles published on the Christian Today website: www.christiantoday.com/reporter/joshua-searle

Outside his academic interests, Joshua enjoys swimming, golf and running, and in 2016 he completed the London Marathon. As a loyal and long-suffering supporter of Middlesbrough FC, he has had to learn the theological virtue of keeping hope alive, even in the most hopeless circumstances!

A member of Horley Baptist Church, Joshua is a regular preacher and is also glad to receive invitations from other churches to preach and/or to speak about Spurgeon’s College. He is available to preach in English, Russian or German and can be contacted at j.searle@spurgeons.ac.uk

Recent Publications

MONOGRAPHS

  • Theology After Christendom: Forming Prophets for a Post-Christian World (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2018)
  • The Scarlet Woman and the Red Hand: Evangelical Apocalyptic Belief in the Northern Ireland Troubles (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2014)
  • A Future and a Hope: Mission, Theological Education and the Transformation of Post–Soviet Society (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2014) ­– with Mykhailo N. Cherenkov
  • Church Without Walls: Post-Soviet Baptists after the Ukrainian Revolution, 2013–2014. The 2016 Whitley Lecture (Oxford: Whitley Publications, 2016)

TRANSLATIONS OF MY BOOKS

  • Russian translation of A Future and a Hope (Cherkassy: Colloquium, 2015)
  • Ukrainian translation of Theology After Christendom (Kyiv: Dukh i Litera, 2020)

AS EDITOR

  • Guest Editor of International Journal of Public Theology 14 (2020)
  • (with Kenneth C. G. Newport), Beyond the End: The Future of Millennial Studies (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2012)
  • Solidarity, Freedom and Compassion: Proceedings from the London Consultation on Ukraine at Lambeth Palace (Chicago: BMS World Mission/Mission Eurasia, 2015)
  • 2017–current: Member of the Editorial Board of the journal, Theological Reflections
  • 2018–current: Member of the Editorial Board of the journal, Acta Missiologiae
  • Zustrichayuchys iz Tayemnytseyu: Zbirka Statey na Chest 70-littya S. V. Sannikova (Rivne: Format-A, 2020) – with R. Soloviy, T. Dyatlik, O. Geychenko and M. Raber

FOREWORDS

  • Foreword to Klaus-Dieter John, I Have Seen God: The Miraculous Story of the Diopsi Suyana Hospital in Peru (Oxford: Lion Hudson, 2014)

ARTICLES IN REFEREED JOURNALS and EDITED COLLECTIONS

  • ‘Public Theology After Maidan: New Points of Departure for Public Theology in the Post-Soviet Space’, The International Journal of Public Theology 14 (2020), 255–275
  • ‘Forms of Futuristic Interpretation of Revelation in the Modern Period’, The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Revelation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020), 447–463 (with Kenneth G. C. Newport)
  • ‘Prophecy, Protest and Public Theology: The Relevance of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Prophetic Mandate in Today’s Post-truth World’, Journal of European Baptist Studies 20:2 (2020)
  • ‘Oglyadyvayus na proshloye s blagodarnostyu, smotryu v budushcheye s nadezhdoy: YEAAA i perspektivy reform v postsovetskom yevangel’skom dvizhenii’, in Soloviy, Searle, et al (eds.), Zustrichayuchys iz Tayemnytseyu: Zbirka Statey na Chest 70-littya S. V. Sannikova (Rivne: Format-A, 2020), 69–76
  • ‘Eskhatologiya, nadezhda i prorocheskoye sluzheniye Tserkvi v post-khristianskuyu epokhu’, Almanakh Bogomysliye 25, (2019), 64–79
  • ‘Obedience Ends Where Evil Begins: Church-State Relations in the Former Soviet Union from a baptistic Perspective’, Journal of European Baptist Studies 20:1 (2020), 107–116
  • ‘Between Ulster and the Kingdom of God: Uses of the Bible by Evangelicals in the Northern Ireland Troubles’, in The Bible in Ireland: A Social and Cultural History, edited by Bradford Anderson and Jonathan Kearney (London: T&T Clark, 2018), 155–72
  • ‘The Reformation in Russia and Ukraine and its Relevance for Today’, European Journal of Theology 26.1 (Spring,2017),55–64
  • ‘The Kingdom of God is Justice and Peace: Lessons for Post-Soviet Evangelicals from Glen H. Stassen’, in European Journal of Theology 25.1 (Spring, 2016), 73–80
  • ‘No Revolution without Reformation: A Hegelian Reading of Maidan as a Civil and Religious Reformation’, in van der Laarse et al (eds.), Ukraine: Religion, State, Society and Identity in Transition (Wolf: Oisterwijk, 2015), 299–318
  • ‘Tsarstviye Bozhiye — spravedlivost’ i mir: Uroki, prepodannyye Martinom Lutherom Kingom i Glenom Stassenom’, Almanakh Bogomysliye (Summer, 2015), 40–49
  • ‘Eine vergessene Stimme in der Ökumene? Einheit der Kirche aus baptistischer Perspektive’, Okumenische Begegnungen: Zum 25-jährigen Jubiläum der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ökumenische Forschung / Beihefte zur Ökumenischen Rundschau 100; C. Hoffmann et al (eds.) (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2015)
  • ‘Moving Towards an Ecumenism of Koinonia: A Critical Response to ‘The Church: Towards a Common Vision’ from a Baptistic Perspective, Journal of European Baptist Studies (January, 2015), 17–27
  • ‘Kritická odpov?? z baptistickej perspektivy na dokument „Cirkev v ústrety spolo?nej vízii“’, Teologický ?asopis: fórum pre kres?anský dialóg. Trnavská univerzita Teologická fakulta, Bratislava, Ro?ník 12 (2/2014), 57–70
  • ‘Moving Towards an Ecumenism of Koinonia (baptistic perspective), Testimonium fidei: ?asopis pre teológiu a katechetiku 2 (December, 2014), 217-232
  • ‘From Christian Worldview to Kingdom Formation: Theological Education as Mission in the Former Soviet Union’, European Journal of Theology 23 (Autumn, 2014), 104–115
  • ‘Sweet in the Mouth and Bitter in the Stomach’: Interpretations of the Book of Revelation among Evangelicals in Northern Ireland during the ‘Troubles’, Irish Theological Quarterly 79 (January, 2014), 14–29
  • ‘The Ecumenical Imperative and the Kingdom of God: Towards a baptistic perspective on church unity’, Journal of European Baptist Studies 14(September, 2013), 5-23
  • (with Roy Searle) ‘Monastic Practices and the Missio Dei: Towards a Socially-Transformative Understanding of Missional Practice from the Perspective of the Northumbria Community’, Journal of Missional Practice (Autumn 2013)
  • ‘Bibleyskiye i sotsial’no osnovaniya dlya bogosloviya mirotvorchestva v razreshenii nasil’stvennykh konfliktov’, Bogoslovskiye razmyshleniya (June, 2013), 202-14
  • ‘The Divine-Human Imagination: William Blake’s Vision of Theosis and the Theology of Hope’, Luvah: Journal of the Creative Imagination (Summer, 2013)
  • ‘The Biblical and Social-Ethical Grounds for a Theology of Peacemaking in Resolving Violent Conflicts’, Theological Reflections (June, 2013), 215-26
  • ‘The Future of Millennial Studies and the Hermeneutics of Hope: A Theological Reflection’, in Joshua Searle and Kenneth C. G. Newport (eds.), Beyond the End: The Future of Millennial Studies (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2012), 131-47
  • ‘Romantismus, Fantasie a Utopie: Teologické Zhodnocení’, in K?es?anství a Romantismus, IvanaNoble and Ji?í Hanuš (eds.) (Brno: CDK, 2011), 54-72
  • ‘Ideology, Convictions and Eschatology: Towards a Theological Critique of Ideology from an Eschatological Perspective’, Baptistic Theologies 3 (Spring, 2011), 99-115
  • ‘Is the Sermon on the Mount a Realistic Resource for Christian Discipleship and Spiritual Formation?’, Journal of European Baptist Studies 9 (January, 2009), 80-91

ARTICLES IN NON-REFEREED JOURNALS AND NEWSLETTERS

  • Spiritual Growth Bible (sidebar commentaries on Luke, Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians; Colossians and Ephesians); Bible due for publication in 2019
  • ‘Foi chrétienne et monde post-chrétien’, Christ Seul (Autumn 2018)
  • ‘Samariya – Zona konflikta: Missiya v Obkhod‘, Yevangelskaya Niva 1 (2015), 12–14
  • ‘Rapid Response to Community Building as a Spiritual Practice’, Journal of Missional Practice (online journal), February 2015
  • ‘Learning from the Past to Reimagine the Future: Theological Education in the (Former) Soviet Union’, Keston Newsletter 19 (February 2014), 10-21
  • ‘The Radical Imperative of Otherness: A New Monastic Vision of ‘Being the “Other” in a Context of Cultural Exile’, in Being the Other: Theological Students Conference 2011 (Belfast: IPC, 2011), 7-10
  • My articles on current affairs have been published on the website of Christian Today (see: www.christiantoday.com/reporter/joshua-searle)

REVIEWS

Doctoral Supervision

As Director of Postgraduate Studies, I serve as Chair of Examiners at viva voce examinations of Spurgeon’s College doctoral candidates. I have also served as both an Internal and External Examiner in PhD examinations. I currently supervise doctoral candidates who are researching the following topics:

  • The History of Baptist Missions in Israel/Palestine from 1948 to 2000
  • The Teaching of Science in Christian Colleges
  • Epistemological Understanding in Contemplative Reflective Approaches to Children’s Ministry

Professional Activities, Memberships and Affiliations

  • 2020-present: Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
  • 2019-present: Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • 2020-present: Member of the Advisory Board, The International Journal of Public Theology
  • 2019-present: Member of the Advisory Board of the Eastern European Institute of Theology (http://eeit.info/staff-eng)
  • 2019-present: Member of the Society for the Study of Theology
  • 2017-present: Chair of Trustees, Dnipro Hope Mission (UK charity no. 1177504)
  • 2017-present: Trustee, Anabaptist Mennonite Network (UK charity no. 1175973)
  • 2016-present: Member of the Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians (FEET)
  • 2010-present: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ökumenische Forschung (member of Committee from 2011 to 2013)
  • 2017–present: Member (regular preacher) of Horley Baptist Church, Surrey, UK
  • 2012–present: Member (regular preacher) of Vasylkivka Baptist Church, Ukraine
  • 2014-2016: Mission Eurasia UK (Chairman)
  • 2008-2013: Trinity Millennialism Project (Research Fellow)
  • 2010-2012: Societas Oecumenica (Member)