Dr Matthew D. Kirkpatrick
Lecturer and Director of Studies in Philosophy and Theology
MA (Oxon), MSt (Oxon), DPhil (Oxon)
Lecturer in Ethics and Doctrine, Tutor for Visiting Students, Tutor for Graduates, Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford
Before starting at Wycliffe Hall, Matthew studied theology and then ethics at the University of Oxford, before completing a D.Phil. analysing the thought of Søren Kierkegaard and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He teaches a wide range of subjects across ethics, Christian doctrine, and philosophy, and teaches at graduate level for the University in both ethics and doctrine. Amongst his wide interests includes particular attention to the interplay of existentialism and Christianity, sexual ethics in relation to the identity of children, and the wider thought of Kierkegaard and Bonhoeffer. He is the author of Attacks on Christendom in a world come of age: Kierkegaard, Bonhoeffer, and the question of ‘religionless Christianity’ (2011), Bonhoeffer’s ethics: between pacifism and assassination (2011), and Søren Kierkegaard (2013). He welcomes applications for those wishing to be supervised at graduate level. Matthew is married to Kate, who is herself an expert in philosophy of religion, existentialism, and the thought of Jean-Paul Sartre. They live in Marston with their two children.
Classes Taught
- Christian Moral Reasoning (2981)
- Ethics (103)
- God, Christ, and Salvation (2907)
- Post-Kantian Philosophy (113)
- Aesthetics (109)
- The Later Philosophy of Wittgenstein (118)
- Further Studies in New Testament and Christian Origins: Kierkegaard (2944)
- Further Studies in New Testament and Christian Origins: Bonhoeffer (2932)
Research Interests
- Ethics
- Theology of sexual ethics in relation to the child
- Søren Kierkegaard
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- Existentialism
- Doctrine
Publications
Books
- 2016. How to Live a Good Death. Cambridge: Grove Books.
- 2016. Engaging Bonhoeffer: The Impact and Influence of Bonhoeffer’s Life and Thought. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
- 2013. Søren Kierkegaard. Cambridge: Grove Books.
- 2011. Attacks on Christendom in a World Come of Age: Kierkegaard, Bonhoeffer, and the question of “Religionless Christianity”. Princeton Theological Monographs. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications.
- 2011. Bonhoeffer’s Ethics: Between Pacifism and Assassination. Cambridge: Grove Books.
Articles and Chapters
- Forthcoming. ‘Kierkegaard on the Church.’ In The T&T Clark Companion to the Theology of Kierkegaard. Edited by David Gouwens and Aaron Edwards. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.
- Forthcoming. ‘Sources and Texts.’ In The Oxford Handbook to Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Edited by Michael Mawson and Philip Ziegler. Oxford: OUP.
- Forthcoming. ‘Sociological Categories and the Journey to Selfhood: From the Crowd to Community.’ In Kierkegaard and Political Thought. Edited by Roberto Sirvent and Silas Morgan. Eugene, OR: Pickwick.
- Forthcoming. ‘Bonhoeffer’s Failures: The Transformation of Power and Success through the Failure of Christ on the Cross.’ In Theologies of Failure. Edited by Roberto Sirvent and Duncan Reyburn. Macmillan Palgrave.
- 2016. ‘Situations, Context, and Responsibility: Bonhoeffer’s Ethics in the Thought of Joseph Fletcher, Paul Lehamnm, and H. Richard Niebuhr,’ in Engaging Bonhoeffer: The Impact and Influence of Bonhoeffer’s Life and Thought. Edited by Matthew D. Kirkpatrick. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
- 2016. ‘Bonhoeffer and Liberation Theology,’ with Geffrey B. Kelly, in Engaging Bonhoeffer: The Impact and Influence of Bonhoeffer’s Life and Thought. Edited by Matthew D. Kirkpatrick. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
- 2013. ‘Bonhoeffer, Kierkegaard, and the Teleological Suspension of the Ethical: The Beginning or End of Ethics?’ in Ontology and Ethics: Bonhoeffer and Contemporary Scholarship. Edited by Adam Clark and Michael Mawson. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications.