Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen
| Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1958 (age 57–58) Finland |
| Occupation | Professor |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Helsinki, Fuller Theological Seminary, University of Jyväskylä |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Systematic Theology |
| Institutions | Fuller Theological Seminary |
Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen (b. 1958) is a Finnish Pentecostal theologian. He is Professor of Systematic Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary.
Biography
Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen was born into a Finnish Lutheran family. As a teenager, he would eventually become affiliated to a local Pentecostal church in his hometown of Kiuruvesi.[1]
After receiving a M.Ed. from the University of Jyväskylä, Kärkkäinen would eventually pursue a M.A. in theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. He would return to Finland and be ordained as a minister of the Full Gospel Church of Finland, pastoring a local congregation from 1989-1991. In 1991, he would move his family to Thailand to teach at the Full Gospel Bible College in Bangkok. He would eventually return to Finland, becoming president of the Iso Kirja Bible College in Keuruu in 1994 and completing his doctorate in the University of Helsinki in 1998.[1][2][3]
He would join the faculty of Fuller in 2000 as associate professor of systematic theology and become full professor in 2003.[3] Kärkkäinen also serves as Docent of Ecumenics at the University of Helsinki.[4]
Theology
Kärkkäinen has written textbooks offering global introductions to pneumatology, ecclesiology, and christology.
He has completed four volumes of a projected five-volume series called Constructive Christian Theology for the Church in the Pluralistic World, which engages questions of science and religion, global theology, and dialogue with other religions through comparative theology.[5][6][7][8]
According to Amos Yong, he is "fast becoming one of the more important theologians to be reckoned with in our time."[1]
References
- 1 2 3 Yong, Amos (2015). "Whither Evangelical Theology? The Work of Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen as a Case Study of Contemporary Trajectories". The Dialogical Spirit: Christian Reason and Theological Method in the Third Millennium. Cambridge: James Clark and Co. pp. 121–148.
- ↑ "Participants". Humble Approach Initiative. John Templeton Foundation. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- 1 2 "Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen". Fuller Theological Seminary. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ↑ "Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen". Biola University. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ↑ Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti (2013). Christ and Reconciliation: A Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802868534.
- ↑ Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti (2014). Trinity and Revelation: A Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802868541.
- ↑ Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti (2015). Creation and Humanity: A Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802868558.
- ↑ Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti (2016). Spirit and Salvation: A Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802868565.