Faculty Profile


Gregory Love   
Associate Professor of Systematic Theology


Biographical Information

The Rev. Dr. Gregory Love is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology. A native of Portland, Oregon, Dr. Love gained his M.Div. and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. Prior to SFTS, he taught theology to undergraduates at Pacific Lutheran University, Gustavus Adolphus College, and St. Olaf College.

Dr. Love is interested in understanding how God acts in the world and in our lives. He is currently working on a constructive theology of divine providence which tries to explain how God can act in a world which science believes works according to natural laws, chance and human free will, and in which horrific events of suffering happen. Related to this topic, Professor Love teaches courses on "God and Human Suffering," "Christian Theology and Human Existence," "Grade, Will and Spirit: Psychology and Christian Theology," and "Science and Christian Theology."

He lives in San Anselmo with his wife, Julie, a Presbyterian pastor, and his daughter Claire Marie.

Teaching Philosophy

The Reformed faith is a thinking faith. Presbyterians are content neither with a faith that is blind, nor with academic reflection that resists an encounter with the living God. Responding to the God who approaches us through the risen Christ and the Spirit, this faith asks questions of itself. In my teaching, I aim to train pastors who can think theologically, seeing the character of the biblical God and how that God is present in our day-to-day world. In my courses-God and Human Suffering, Barth and Feminist Theology, Science and Religion-we explore connections between the best of the classical theological tradition and our contemporary thought and experience.

My research centers around the question of divine agency. How does God act for good in your life and mine, while respecting the fact that our choices matter? How does God use chance events, natural laws, and free human choices to move the world toward God's inbreaking reign of peace? I believe helpful clues are found in the doctrines of Christ and the Spirit, and in pre-seventeenth century understandings of divine grace.

As a native Pacific Northwesterner, I love walks on the beach, and backpacking in the Olympics. I enjoy coffee with friends, running in the hills above the Seminary, and exploring new cities with my wife, Julie, who both encourages my thinking about the faith, and shows me how the living of life is itself the faith.

B.A. Pacific Lutheran University; M.Div. Princeton Theological Seminary; Ph.D. Princeton Theological Seminary.

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