ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF CHURCH HISTORY
EDUCATION
- B.A., University of California, Davis CA
- M.A., Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena CA
- Ph.D., Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley CA
PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING
As a scholar and a pastor of a modest Church in Richmond California, I have a deep appreciation for the way in which students are prepared for ministry at the Berkeley School of Theology. Here, at BST we are intentional in equipping students for ministry in the local church. Throughout our program, students are challenged to think critically about what they are learning as it relates to “doing and understanding ministry.” As a result, I believe the serious student can leave BST with a solid theological education, and life long tools for ministry.
As Professor of Church History, I like to challenge students to appreciate the Church’s past accomplishments, but also learn from our many mistakes in the areas of injustice and intolerance.
SCHOLARLY INTERESTS
- The major African Fathers, such as Tertullian, Cyprian and St. Augustine
- The theology and history of the Donatist Church in North Africa
- The history and theology of the first four ecumenical councils
- The history and theology of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- The Civil Rights Movement as it relates to the theology of justice and love
GTU INVOLVEMENT
Dr. Burris serves on the core doctoral faculty of the GTU, History Area.
PUBLICATIONS
Book reviews
Jesus Christ as Ancestor: A Theological Study of Major African Ancestor Christologies in Conversation with the Patristic Christologies of Tertullian and Athanasius by Reuben Turbi Luka
RBL 10/2022 the Society of Biblical Literature. See www.sblcentral.org/home
The Christian Moses: Vision, Authority, and the Limits of Humanity in the New Testament and Early Christianity, by Jared C. Calaway
Church History, volume 89, Issue 3, September 2020, 89, 659-750.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 February 2021, pp.659-660.
The Donatist Church in an Apocalyptic Age, by Jesse A. Hoover
American Academy of Religion, Reading Religion, February 19, 2019.
Online: https://readingreligion.org/9780198825517/
Articles and Books
“Another Look at the Good Samaritan: Luke:10 25-37,” Review and Expositor, August 2017
Wisdom From Africa: Theological Reflections on the Confessions of St. Augustine, Wipf & Stock Publications, 2106.
Where Is the Church? Martyrdom, Persecution, and Baptism in North Africa from the Second to the Fifth Century, Resource Publications, 2012.
