Jeremy M. Bergen

Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Theological Studies
Jeremy Bergen

Contact:
(519) 885-0220 ext. 24234
jbergen@uwaterloo.ca
Office:听 CGR 2122


Canadian Theological Society, President, 2016-17

Education
BTh, Canadian Mennonite Bible College, 1996
BA, University of Winnipeg, 1997
MA, University of St. Michael鈥檚 College, 2002
PhD, University of St. Michael鈥檚 College, 2008

Research Areas:

Contemporary Christian theology, Anabaptist theology, ecclesiology, ecumenism, Holy Spirit, church apologies, martyrdom

Courses Taught:

Undergraduate
ARTS 130 - Inquiry and Communication (Topic: Public Apologies)
RS 152 鈥 Introduction to Christian Theology
RS 253 - Christianity's Big Questions
RS 258 - God
RS 350 - Dying for God
RS 351 鈥 Contemporary Christian Thought
RS 353/PACS 330 鈥 War and Peace in Christian Theology

Graduate
TS 600 鈥 Thinking Theologically
TS 635 - Christian Ethics
TS 690 鈥 Seminar in Theological Studies (Topic: Atonement)
TS 690 鈥 Seminar in Theological Studies (Topic: Holy Spirit)
TS 718 鈥 Systematic Theology
TS 735 - Peace Church Theology

Remote video URL
Remote video URL

About:

Jeremy Bergen teaches and writes in the area of contemporary Christian theology. His research interests include church apologies for historical wrongs, martyrdom, ecclesiology, ecumenism, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and contemporary Mennonite theology.听 In his book Ecclesial Repentance: The Churches Confront Their Sinful Pasts (T&T Clark, 2011) he analyzed over 100 instances of churches apologizing for historical wrongs and proposed a theological framework for understanding this relatively new practice.听 His current research project is a critical examination of the claim that Christian martyrdom advances the unity of otherwise divided churches.听 Jeremy has been on faculty at Grebel since 2008, and was the Director of Theological Studies from 2014-2021.听 He has served as Director of the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre, Editor of The Conrad Grebel Review and was President of the Canadian Theological Society, 2016-2017.

Jeremmy bergen in class

Selected Publications:

  • One Body blog, Salt + Light Media, 25 March 2025.

  • Journal of Mennonite Studies 41, no. 1 (2023): 129-144.

  • 鈥,鈥 Journal of Moral Theology 12, no. 2 (2023): 48-62.

  • 鈥,鈥欌赌 The Conversation, 25 July 2022.

  • Pro Ecclesia 31, no. 1 (2022): 9-19.

  • 鈥,鈥 The Conversation, 1 April 2022.

  • 鈥,鈥 Canadian Mennonite, 20 October 2021.

  • 鈥,鈥 The Globe and Mail, June 8, 2021.

  • 鈥淭he Ecumenical Vocation of Anabaptist Theology,鈥 in Recovering from the Anabaptist Vision: New Essays in Anabaptist Identity and Theological Method, ed. Laura Schmidt Roberts, Paul Martens, and Myron Penner, 103-126 (New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2020).
  • 鈥淒octrine, Stability, and Human Speech within God,鈥 The Conrad Grebel Review 37, no. 2 (Spring 2019): 190-199.
  • 鈥淭heology as Interpretive, Critical, and Constructive: Presidential Addresses to the Canadian Theological Society, 1990-2016,鈥 Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 48 (2019): 77-96.

  • 鈥淭eaching Christian Theology at a Canadian Public University,鈥 in A University of the Church for the World: Essays in Honour of Gerald Gerbrandt, ed. Paul Dyck and Harry J. Huebner, 247-259. Winnipeg: CMU Press, 2016.

  • Theology Today 73 (2016): 129鈥148.

  • 鈥淒ie reuige Kirche in der Geschichte. Theologische Reflexionen [The Penitential Church in History: Theological Reflections],鈥澨 脰kumenische Rundschau 63, no. 2 (2014): 166-181.

  • 鈥淭he Holy Spirit and Lived Communion from the Perspective of International Bilateral Dialogues,鈥 Journal of Ecumenical Studies 49 (2014): 193-217.

  • 鈥淐onscience, Dissent, and Church: Theological Anthropology in Mennonite Perspective,鈥 in On Being Human: Essays from the Fifth Shi鈥檌 Muslim Mennonite Christian Dialogue, ed. Harry J. Huebner and Hajj Muhammad Legenhausen, 244-263. Winnipeg: CMU Press, 2013.

  • 鈥淎tonement, Violence, Martyrdom:听 Engaging Tom Yoder Neufeld鈥檚 Killing Enmity,鈥 The Ecumenist: A Journal of Theology, Culture, and Society 50, no. 1 (Winter 2013): 14-18.

  • 鈥淭he Holy Spirit in the World,鈥 Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology 13, no. 1 (Spring 2012): 84-92.

  • 鈥淟utheran Repentance at Stuttgart and Mennonite Ecclesial Identity,鈥 Mennonite Quarterly Review 86 (2012): 315-338.
  • : The Churches Confront Their Sinful Pasts. London:T&T Clark, 2011.
  • 鈥淏aptism of Blood: Peace, Justice, and Christian Martyrdom,鈥 in Peace and Justice: Essays from the Fourth Shi鈥檌 Muslim Mennonite Christian Dialogue, ed. Harry J. Huebner and Hajj Muhammad Legenhausen, 176-194. Winnipeg: CMU Press, 2011.
  • Edited, with Anthony G. Siegrist, Power and Practices: Engaging the Work of John Howard Yoder. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 2009.
  • 听鈥淭he Publicity of the Holy Spirit,鈥 in Creed and Conscience: Essays in Honour of A. James Reimer, ed. Jeremy M. Bergen, Paul G. Doerksen, and Karl Koop, 219-236. Kitchener, ON: Pandora Press, 2007.

Selected Activities:

Conference Presentations

  • 鈥淎nabaptist Martyrs and the Ambivalence of Mennonite (Non-)Violence,鈥 American Academy of Religion annual meetings, Ecclesiological Investigations Unit, San Diego, 23 November 2024.
  • 鈥淐hristian Martyrdom, Violence, and the Catholicity of Interpretation,鈥 Canadian Theological Society, Montreal, 18 June 2024.
  • 鈥淐hristian Martyrdom, Cultural Trauma, and Conspiracies of Silence,鈥 Canadian Theological Society annual meetings (virtual), 24 May 2022.

  • 鈥淢ennonite Dispossession of Indigenous Lands as a Crisis for Mennonite Identity,鈥 Indigenous-Mennonite Encounters conference, Conrad Grebel University College, 14 May 2022.

  • 鈥淪ilencing the Martyr: Pain, Agency, and Communities of Memory,鈥 Leuven Encounters in Systematic Theology XII. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, 24 October 2019.

  • 鈥淭he Ecumenism of Martyrdom and the Mission of the Church,鈥 American Academy of Religion annual meetings, Ecclesiological Investigations Unit, Denver, November 17, 2018.

  • 鈥淭he Ecumenical Vocation of Anabaptist Theology,鈥 Anabaptist Theology conference, Humanitas Centre, Trinity Western University, Langley, BC, 8 June 2017.
  • 鈥淗ow are we Canadian? Theological? A Society? Reflections on CTS Presidential Addresses, 1990-2016,鈥 Presidential address, Canadian Theological Society, Ryerson University, Toronto, 29 May 2017.
  • 鈥淐hristians Killing Christians: Martyrdom and the Disunity of the Church,鈥 Benjamin Eby Lecture, Conrad Grebel University College, 3 November 2016.

  • 鈥淐hristian Martyrdom and the Unity of the Church,鈥 paper presented at Canadian Theological Society annual meetings, University of Calgary, May 31, 2016.

  • 鈥淪ettlement and Apology,鈥 panel on Canada鈥檚 Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Canadian Theological Society annual meetings, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, 27 May 2014.

  • 鈥淭he Anabaptist Martyrs Mirror in the Past and For Today,鈥 invited speaker, 47th International Ecumenical Seminar, Institute for Ecumenical Research, Strasbourg, France, 8 July 2013.

  • 鈥淎pologizing for Canada鈥檚 Indian Residential Schools: A Theological Account of a Political Apology for an Historical Wrong,鈥 Ecclesiological Investigations Network conference on 鈥淩eligion, Authority, and the State,鈥 Belgrade, Serbia, 20 June 2013.

  • 鈥淭he Holy Spirit in the Anabaptist Story,鈥 Mennonite Church Manitoba Leadership Seminar, keynote presentation, three sessions, Winnipeg, 26 October, 2012.

  • Mennonite Church Canada Ministers Conference. 蓝莓视频, 4 July 2011.听

Awards:

  • A.C. Forrest Memorial Award, for excellence in socially conscious feature article writing, Canadian Christian Communicators Association, May 2022.


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