The Self Examined: Christian Perspectives on Human Identity

by Jenny McGill

Does Our Identity Come From God?

Through a fresh investigation of the relationship between faith and identity, this diverse group of international contributors offers an engaging discussion of human identity—and specifically, Christian identity. From a biblical foundation, they address theological discussions of identity and contemporary cultural themes, such as migration, ethnicity, embodiment, attachment, and gender. Straightforward and thought-provoking, The Self Examined is an accessible guide to this wide-ranging and important issue.

Marc-André Caron, having grown up in Québec, where evangelical Christianity represents less than 0.5 percent of the population, has a passion to communicate the message of the Old and New Testaments with accuracy and precision to shape worldviews. He serves as an associate pastor in Église Évangélique de Chicoutimi and is a PhD student in New Testament at Université Laval in Québec.

Nate Collins (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the Founder and President of Revoice, an organization that supports, encourages, and empowers Christian gender and sexual minorities so they can flourish while adhering to the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality. Nate specializes in theological and intercultural dialogue on the subject of gender and sexuality and is the author of All But Invisible: Exploring Identity Questions at the Intersection of Faith, Gender, and Sexuality.

Lisa Igram is the Associate Dean of Spiritual Development at Biola University, where she enjoys teaching and training undergraduates in the areas of discipleship, spiritual formation, and leadership. Her career in higher education has led her from teaching in China to developing and managing programming for international students in the United States and to her current role of aiding in the oversight of campus ministry programming at Biola University. A trained Spiritual Director and member of the Evangelical Spiritual Director’s Association (ESDA), Lisa is currently pursuing a PhD in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen.

Jenny McGill (PhD, King’s College London) currently serves as Regional Dean at Indiana Wesleyan University and as an adjunct faculty member of Dallas Theological Seminary. A Fulbright award recipient, she has worked in international education and intercultural training with clients and students from more than sixty nations. She is the author of Religious Identity and Cultural Negotiation and Walk with Me, among other published works. Travel for community service, teaching, and research has taken her to thirty countries on six continents.

Célestin Musekura (PhD, Theological Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary) is an international speaker and the president and founder of African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM Inc.). An ordained Baptist minister who was born and raised in Rwanda, he specializes in communal forgiveness, servant leadership, and justice administration. He travels consistently to East and Central Africa, training leaders in peace-building, biblical forgiveness, and tribal reconciliation. He has written Forgiving as We’ve Been Forgiven (with Gregory Jones) and Assessment of Contemporary Models of Forgiveness and coedited Restoring the Beauty and Blessing of Ethnic Diversity (with Andy Alo), among other works.

Rod Reed (PhD in Theology, University of Bristol) has, over the past twenty years, served two universities as chaplain, administrator, and professor of theology. He is currently serving as Dean of Christian Formation and Associate Professor of Theology at John Brown University. He has also served as a research consultant to nearly thirty Christian universities across the globe to assess their processes of spiritual formation. He is the coeditor of Building a Culture of Faith: University-Wide Partnerships for Spiritual Formation and speaks regularly at conferences and universities.

Jürgen Schulz is a German pastor, lecturer, and PhD candidate at the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit in Leuven, Belgium. He obtained his theological education in Germany and the United States. He currently serves as the pastor of a church that he planted in downtown Paderborn, Germany. Besides pastoral ministry, he immerses himself in academic work. He teaches as a guest lecturer at various institutions and is currently completing his dissertation on the concept of shame in the ancient Near Eastern context and the Hebrew Testament.

Andrew B. Spurgeon (PhD, New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary), a native of India, serves as Professor at Singapore Bible College. Andrew has also taught at universities, seminaries, and churches in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and the United States. He is the publications chairperson for the Asia Theological Association and one of the New Testament editors for the Asia Bible Commentary Series. His latest book is Twin Cultures Separated by Centuries: An Indian Reading of 1 Corinthians.

Andi Thacker is Assistant Professor of Biblical Counseling at Dallas Theological Seminary. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Andi maintains a small private practice in which she specializes with children and adolescents and supervises licensed professional counselor interns. Dr. Thacker obtained a PhD in counselor education and supervision from the University of North Texas. She is a licensed professional and nationally certified counselor, a board-approved supervisor, and a registered play therapist supervisor.

“One of the important and difficult tasks of Christian educators and researchers today is to address issues related to identity and identity formation. The Self Examined proves a tremendous interdisciplinary resource for both the academy and all who want a nuanced and thoroughly Christian grounding in this important topic. As a university chaplain, this book has already been a great help in teaching and staff development. I highly recommend it.”
— Rob Rhea, PhD, Chaplain and Director of the Centre for Spiritual Formation, Trinity Western University, British Colombia, Canada

“This book offers a variety of important contributions to the much-debated concept of identity. McGill gathers a group of professors, theologians, pastors, and practitioners from various disciplines, representing different cultural backgrounds, to consider aspects of human identity-making, articulating how multiple identities are negotiated and how self-understanding relates to Christian faith. It stands as an important contribution to the conversation of how and who we understand ourselves to be, and advances our discernment of identity, both in a biblical and in a broader cultural horizon.”
— Markus Zehnder, PhD, Professor of Old Testament and Semitics, Talbot School of Theology

“These essays contribute new facets to the discussion of Christian identity, addressing topics such as shame, suffering, gender, forgiveness, and relationship in a way that is engaging and relevant. They are a rare combination of sound theory and robust theological discussion that lend themselves to devotional and life application. Each essay provides a rich, nuanced, balanced theological discussion that addresses important contemporary issues. It is a very timely and excellent contribution to our understanding of what it means to be created in the image of God.”
— A. Sue Russell, PhD, Professor of Missions and Contextual Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary

“Identity may have taken the place of culture as the most complex word in daily use. For those of us called or responsible to assist others in their formation as Christians, exploring what it is, how it forms, and where it points is not optional. Fortunately, this new collection of essays offers rich and relevant discussions that will help readers makes sense of identity for their own Christian journeys as well for those contemporary issues where ‘identity’ is in play.”
—Todd Pickett, PhD, Dean of Spiritual Development, Biola University

“Nine authors from across the globe offer insightful, interdisciplinary scrutiny of how Christian belonging interacts with prominent contemporary discourses on identity. They explore shame, forgiveness, and suffering alongside ethnic, gender, and migrant identities to provide helpful theological responses to issues of identity.”
— Emma Wild-Wood, PhD, Senior Lecturer of African Christianity and African Indigenous Religions, University of Edinburgh

“Human identity and its politics are the most contested topics in our cultural spaces today. What does it mean to be a human being, what is gender, what is intersectionality, and how shall we live with differences?Christians have to confront this quagmire of rival accounts in human identity. Jenny McGill has put together a team of cross-disciplinary researchers who draw on Scripture, history, culture, and biology to help us think through what it means to have a Christian identity in a world troubled by the quest to know oneself.”
—Michael F. Bird, PhD, Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College, Melbourne

“This book comes like a fresh breeze, reflecting on Christian identity in a super-diverse and super-mobile world. Building the bridge between past and present, it illuminates Scripture in fresh ways with contemporary identity questions in mind. Often in radically changing times, we reflect on identity instinctively from the perspective of fear. This book not only describes this phenomena but also gives fresh perspectives on how to deal with contemporary identity formation. I highly recommend this book.”
— Jacobus (Kobus) Kok, PhD, Department Chair and Professor of New Testament Studies, Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven, Belgium

“McGill has assembled a diverse group of authors to discuss identity from a Christian perspective. From the beginning of the biblical story in Genesis through several New Testament epistles, the authors of The Self Examined interact with the biblical text with exegetical and theological acumen and engage contemporary questions of identity from the standpoint of Christian convictions. Well written, extensively documented, and charitably argued, this book is an excellent contribution to this critical conversation.”
— Glenn R. Kreider, PhD, Professor of Theological Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary

Vendor: ACU Press