David Guretzki, PhD

Research Professor of Theology

 

Teaching Philosophy 

As a teacher, I have an obligation to all students under my instruction to call them to nurture their God-given gifts and capacities, whatever their breadth or level, in submission to Christ as the Spirit enables. As much as I want students to master the content of the topics I cover in my classes, I am most gratified if they leave my classes saying they have been challenged to walk more closely and more faithfully with Christ than when they started.

Background

Dr. David Guretzki is President/CEO and Resident Theologian of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (The EFC) since January 2023. From 2017–23 he served the EFC as Executive Vice-President and Resident Theologian. From 1993–2017 he was Professor of Theology and Public Life at Briercrest College & Seminary, but continues to serve as Research Professor of Theology. He also served as an Assistant Pastor in the Evangelical Free Church in Lacombe, Alberta from 1989-1993. David holds a PhD in Western Christian Thought (with a focus on the pneumatology of Karl Barth) from McGill University (Montreal), Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Theology from Briercrest College and Seminary (Caronport), and a Graduate Diploma in Bioethics from St. Paul University (Ottawa) with a focus on medical assistance in dying (MAID). David has published three books and numerous articles, chapters and reviews. He is executive publisher of Faith Today, a bimonthly national magazine of The EFC, in which he also writes an award-winning column called “Cross Connections.”

Active also on the international stage, David is a member of the International Council and Executive Committee of the World Evangelical Alliance since 2019. He’s presented and published academic papers at IVR (Internationale Vereinigung für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie / International Association Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy) on various aspects of the intersection of law and theology. His most recent article, “Three-Dimensional Conscience: A Theo-Legal Proposal for Testing Conscience Claims” was published in the Supreme Court Law Review in 2023. David has also provided theological affidavits, mostly related to matters of religious freedom, for various court cases in BC, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec courts, along with select Supreme Court of Canada cases.

In both his roles at Briercrest College and Seminary (1993-2017) and at The EFC (2017-Present), David has addressed dozens of churches, organizations, denominations, and conferences from coast to coast and in international contexts. David resides in Ottawa, Ontario with his wife Maureen. They have three adult children, one married, all of whom also reside in Ottawa.

Education

PhD Religious Studies, McGill University, 2006
Graduate Diploma in Bioethics, Saint Paul University (Ottawa), 2022
MA Historical Theology, Briercrest Seminary, 1995
BRE, Briercrest Bible College, 1985

Research

Theology and Law
Theology of Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Theology of Karl Barth
The Filioque controversy
Twentieth Century Theology
Political and Public Theology
Ecclesiology

Publications

Books and chapters (articles not included):

• "Why Natural Law, Domesticated of Transcendence, is Ill-Equipped to Save the Rule of Law.” Chapter forthcoming in Monograph with LexisNexis Canada, 2025.
• “Three-Dimensional Conscience: A Theo-Legal Proposal for Testing Conscience Claims.” Chapter in Supreme Court Law Review, 2nd Series Monographs. Vol. 113, Toronto: LexisNexis Canada, 2023.
• “The Value of Church Dogmatics II for Systematic Theology.” Chapter in Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics for Everyone Volume 2—The Doctrine of Godby Marty Folsom. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2023.
• “May Critics of ‘Inherent Dignity’ be Answered? A Rejoinder from Christian Anthropology.” Chapter in The Inherence of Human Dignity: Foundations of Human Dignity, Volume 1, 45-62. London: Anthem Press, 2021.
• “The Filioque and Karl Barth.” Chap. in The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Karl Barth, Vol. 1: Barth and Dogmatics, Wiley Blackwell, 2020.
• An Explorer’s Guide to Karl Barth. IVP, 2016.
•  “Kerygmatic Hope: Another Look at Karl Barth’s Resistance to Univeralism,” In Revisioning, Renewing, and Rediscovering the Triune Center. Cascade Books, 2014.
•  “Become Conversant with Barth’s Church Dogmatics.” In Karl Barth in Conversation. Wipf and Stock, 2014.
• “The Filioque: Reviewing the State of the Question, with some Free Church Contributions,” Ecumenical Perspectives on the Filioque for the 21st Century. Bloomsbury/T&T Clark., 2014.
• Karl Barth on the Filioque. Ashgate, 2009.
• “The Filioque: Assessing Evangelical Approaches to a Knotty Problem” in Semper Reformandum: Studies in Honour of Clark H. Pinnock. Paternoster Press, 2003.
• Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms. Co-authored with Stanley J. Grenz and Cherith Fee Nordling. IVP, 1999.