E-mail:
simmons@cord.edu

Office Phone:
218-299-3430

Office:

FAX:
218-299-3572

DR. ERNEST L. SIMMONS, JR.

 

            ERNEST SIMMONS is Professor of Religion and Director of the Dovre Center for Faith and Learning at Concordia College, Moorhead, MN. An ordained ELCA  pastor, he holds a Ph.D. in Religion from Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA and an M. Div. from Luther Seminary, St. Paul. MN. Simmons served parishes in Minnesota, California and North Dakota prior to coming to Concordia in 1979. His publications include articles on the theology of Martin Luther, issues in science and religion, and the relation of faith  and learning in higher education. He is a recipient of several Templeton Foundation  awards for his  coursework and writing in the field of science and religion. He is author of the book Lutheran Higher Education (Augsburg Fortress, 1998) and is currently Book Review Editor for the journal dialog.

 

Education:

  • Ph.D., Claremont Graduate School, 1981
    • Dissertation: "Process Pluralism and Integral Non-Dualism: A Comparative Study of the Nature of the Divine in the Thought of Alfred North Whitehead and Sri Aurobindo Ghose"
    • Advisor: John B. Cobb, Jr.
    • Majors: Philosophy of Religion and Theology
  • M.Div., Honors, Luther Theological Seminary, St. Paul, MN, 1973
  • B.A., Distinction, Colorado State University, 1970
    • Major: Philosophy
    • Minor: Psychology

Professional Experience:

  • Professor, Department of Religion, Concordia College, 1995-present
  • Director, Dovre Center for Faith and Learning, 1990-present
  • Associate Professor, Department of Religion, Concordia College, 1987-1995
  • Chair, Department of Religion, Concordia College, 1986-1989
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Concordia College, 1979-1986
  • Instructor, CHARIS Ecumenical Center, Moorhead, MN, 1979-present
  • Pastoral Ministry, Caprio Lutheran Church, Caprio, ND, 1978-79
  • Instructor, Great Plains Institute of Theology, 1977-79
  • Pastoral Ministry, Balfour-St. Paul's Lutheran Parish, Butte, ND, 1977-78
  • Pastoral Ministry, Grace Lutheran Church, Upland, CA, 1974
  • Assistant Director, Center for Process Studies Circulation Manager, Process Studies Journal, Graduate Assistant, Dr. John B. Cobb, Jr.

Research Interests:

  • Luther's Theology of the Cross  and Quantum Field Theory, Systematic Theology in Relation to Natural Science, Relation of Faith and Learning in Higher Education

 

 

Memberships:

  • Associations:
    • The American Academy of Religion
    • The American Association for the Advancement of Science
    • Institute on Religion in an Age of Science
    • Clergy Roster of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
    • Clergy Roster of the American Lutheran Church, 1978-88
  • Fellow:
    • Center for Process Studies, Claremont, CA
    • Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Berkeley, CA
    • Chicago Center for Science and Religion, Chicago, IL
    • Lilly Program on Humanities and the Arts, Valparaiso, IN

Publications:

  • Articles:
    1. “Christ, Culture and the Lutheran Intellectual” Intersections – 2006, Forthcoming
    2. “Quantum Perichoresis: Quantum Field Theory and the Trinity,” Theology and Science, vol. 4 No. 2, Fall, 2006, forthcoming
    3. “Whither the Dialectic?” editorial, Dialog, vol. 44 no. 4 , winter 2005.
    4. “Barbour in Process: Contributions to Process Theology.” Fifty Years in Science and Religion: Ian Barbour and His Legacy. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Pub., 2004
    5. “The theology of the Cross and Popular Culture.” Word and World, vol. 23 no. 3, Summer, 2003
    6. “What Does the Church Owe Lutheran Higher Education?” Lutheran Partners, March/April, 2003
    7. “A Protestant Critical Mass School: Concordia College” in Mentoring for Mission: Nurturing New Faculty at Church-Related Colleges.Lilly Mentoring Projected. editor Carol Simon. Eeerdman’s, October, 2002
    8. “The 911 of 9/11,” editorial, dialog, Vol. 41:1, Spring, 2002
    9. “The Lutheran Theological Tradition and Recruiting Lutheran Students,” Intersections, No. 13, Winter, 2002, pp. 4-11
    10. “God of the Gaps” 1,000 word entry for the Encyclopedia of Science and Religion, J. Wentzel Van Huysteen, editor, Macmillan, summer, 2002.
    11.  “Transcendence, ” “Transmigration,” “Mediatation,”100 word entries

Encyclopedia of Science and Religion, J. Wentzel Van Huysteen, editor, Macmillan, summer, 2002.

    1.  “Towards a Kenotic Pneumatology: Quantum Field Theory and the Theology, republished in Expanding Humanity’s Vision of God, Templeton Press, July, 2001.
    2. “Reclaiming Lutheran Students and the Lutheran Theological

Tradition” LECNA Papers and Proceedings, Fall, 2000.

    1. “The Sighs of God: Kenosis, Quantum Field Theory and the Spirit”, Paul

Sponheim  Festschrift, Word and World, April, 2000.

    1.  “Towards a Kenotic Pneumatology: Quantum Field Theory and the Theology of the Cross”, Center For Theology and The Natural Sciences Bulletin, March, 2000.
    2. “From Ethos to Logos: ‘Real Presence’ in the Academy”, dialog, Spring, 1997
    3. “Editor’s Introduction” Zygon, Journal of Religion and Science

special issue devoted to the thought of Ian Barbour, March, 1996

    1. "Soli Deo Gloria: A Doxological Vision of the Church College",

The Cresset, Vol. LVIII    No. 7B     June, 1995

    1. "Creation in Luther's Theology of the Cross", dialog, Vol. 30 No. 1 Winter, 1991
    2. "God and Space: Implications of Space Development for

Theology", Teaching at Concordia, 1989

    1. "A Lutheran View of Christian Vocation in the Liberal

Arts--I", The Cresset, Vol. LII, No. 2 (Dec., 1988)

    1. "A Lutheran View of Christian Vocation in the Liberal

Arts--II," The Cresset, Vol. LII, No. 3 (Jan., 1989)

    1. "Mystical Consciousness in a Process Perspective"

Process Studies 14/1, Winter, 1985.

    1. "Not Bound by Human Standards" The Lutheran

Standard October 2, 1981.

 

  • Reviews:

     

    1. Christ in our Context, Douglas John Hall, Dialog, forthcoming 2006
    2. Divinity and Diversity, Marjorie Suchockie, Dialog, forthcoming 2006
    3. Science and the Study of God, Alan Padgett, Theology and Science, November, 2005
    4. Nature, Human Nature and God, Ian Barbour – Dialog, July, 2004
    5. The Gift and Task of Lutheran Higher Education, Tom Christenson, Dialog, July, 2004
    6. Religion and Popular Culture in America ed. By Bruce Forbes and

Jeffrey Mahan, Dialog , Winter, 2001.

    1. Two Hundred Years of Theology: Report of a Personal

Journey by Hendrikus Berkhof, Theology Today,

Vol. XLVIII No. 2 (July, 1991)

    1. Spiritual Care by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Interpretation

Vol. XL, No.4  (Oct., 1986)

    1. Justification-A Matter of Death and Life, by Gerhard Forde Trinity Seminary Review, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Fall, 1984) 

 

  • Books:
    1. Lutheran Higher Education: An Introduction for Faculty, ELCA,  

(July, 1998)

         

 

Honors:

  • Who's Who in American Education, 1996-97
  • Who's Who in America, 1993
  • Who's Who in Theology and Science, 1992, 1994
  • Who's Who in Religion, 1985, 1990, 1992
  • Personalities of America, 1985
  • Concordia College Summer Study Grant, 1996, 1991
  • LECNA Travel Seminar Grant, 1991
  • Bush Scholars Grant, 1988
  • Global Studies Grant, 1987
  • Templeton Foundation Award
  • Course in Science and Religion, 1996

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