Faculty
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Dr. Jeffery Kinlaw
Professor of Religion and Philosophy and Chair of the Department
Phone: (325) 793-3897
Office: Home
Email: jkinlaw@mcm.edu
 Dr. Kinlaw discusses the purpose of government on the KWKC radio program “The Professors”
Ph.D., University of Virginia
M.Div., Southern Baptist Seminary
B.A., Wake Forest University
McMurry’s philosophy program is anchored by Dr. Jeffery Kinlaw. His expertise is wide-ranging, for he has taught classes from ancient to modern philosophy, from Socrates to Heidegger. He regularly teaches courses on political philosophy and free will. Kinlaw is particularly interested in German philosophy of the late 18th and early 19th centuries — Kant, Hegel, Fichte, Schleiermacher. His active scholarship is demonstrated in his numerous articles and conference papers. Most recently, he co-edited The State of Schleiermacher Scholarship Today: Selected Essays.
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Dr. Philip LeMasters
Professor of Religion and Director of the Honors Program
Dean, School of Social Sciences and Religion
Phone: (325) 793-3898
Office: Cubicle Village 18
Email: plemasters@mcm.edu
Listen to Dr. LeMasters lecture on Acts (from his online Introduction to
Christianity class)
Watch Dr. LeMasters’ Intro to Christianity Course Overview
Ph.D., Duke University
M.A., Rice University
B.A., Baylor University
Dr. LeMasters is an internationally recognized scholar of Christian ethics. He has presented papers on the ethics of war and peace in Eastern Orthodox Christianity at conferences in Romania, Greece, and Syria. In 2007, he addressed an ecumenical gathering of church leaders and theological students in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was a plenary speaker at a national ecumenical conference in Indiana in 2010 and was the commencement speaker at a theological seminary in Alaska in 2006. A widely published author, Dr. LeMasters’ five books and many essays and reviews address a variety of topics in moral theology, including biomedical, political, and sexual ethics. His most recent book is The Goodness of God’s Creation, published in 2008. He has published an essay on the ethics of war and peace in the Orthodox Church in the March 2011 edition of The Ecumenical Review, a journal associated with the World Council of Churches. In June 2011, he traveled to Greece to present a paper entitled “Orthodox Perspectives on Nonviolent Resistance” at an international meeting on Christianity in the Middle East.
Dr. LeMasters joined the McMurry faculty in 1995 after teaching at Wake Forest University and Northeast Missouri State University. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, the American Academy of Religion, and the Society of Christian Ethics, Dr. LeMasters is also a member of the Board of Trustees of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, New York, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Southwest Commission on Religious Studies. He received the Bennett Award for Excellence in Teaching, Service, and Leadership in 2001 and has held the Turner Distinguished Chair in Religion. A priest of the Orthodox Church, he is also the pastor of a small congregation in Abilene.
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Dr. John B. Miller
Associate Professor of Religion
Phone: (325) 793-3896
Office: 107 Campus Center (Religious Life suite)
Email: jbmiller@mcm.edu
M.Div., Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary
B.A., University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Miller’s teaching focuses on biblical studies and Koiné Greek. His courses introduce students to critical analysis of the Bible and to the realm of Biblical theology, in which questions of “dogma” and “doctrine” give way to an appreciation of the remarkable diversity of the biblical witness and the implications of this diversity for theological reflection.
Dr. Miller’s current research focuses on dreams and visions in the Bible and in other ancient literature, including considerations of religious experience and the rhetoric of revelation. His first monograph, Convinced That God Called Us: Dreams, Visions, and the Perception of God’s Will in Luke-Acts, was published in 2007. Dr. Miller joined the McMurry faculty in 2004 after teaching at Princeton Theological Seminary. A member of Phi Beta Kappa and a Fulbright recipient, Dr. Miller participates actively in the Society of Biblical Literature and the Southwest Commission on Religious Studies. He is the advisor for the McMurry pre-ministerial program.
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Dr. Bryan Stewart
Assistant Professor of Religion
Phone: (325) 793-3899
Office: Cubicle Village 5
Email: stewart.bryan@mcm.edu
Ph.D., University of Virginia
M.Div., Covenant Theological Seminary
B.A., Grove City College
Dr. Stewart joined the McMurry faculty in 2009. He teaches courses on the history of Christian thought, with an emphasis on the beliefs and practices of Christians in the patristic and early medieval eras. Dr. Stewart is also interested in the ways early Christians have appropriated and interpreted the Biblical canon and has offered several courses on this subject. All of Dr. Stewart’s classes emphasize the importance of students engaging first-hand with the primary sources of the Christian tradition.
Dr. Stewart’s current research focuses on the Gospel of John in the ancient Christian interpretive tradition, and he is under contract as the editor of a volume on the Gospel of John in The Church’s Bibleseries (published by Eerdmans). This forthcoming volume will provide editorial remarks and freshly translated selections of patristic and early medieval commentaries and homilies on the fourth gospel. An active member of the North American Patristics Society, the American Academy of Religion, and the Society of Biblical Literature, Dr. Stewart has pesented a number of conference papers and as recently published an article entitled “Levitical Paradigms for Christian Bishops: The Old Testament Influence on Origen of Alexandria.” A second article, entitled “Text, Context, and Logical Analysis: A Reexamination of the Use of Psalm 82 in John 10:31-39,” will be published in fall 2011.
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Rev. Bill Libby
Adjunct Professor of Religion and History
Phone: (325) 793-4637
Office PE 115
Email: blibby@mcm.edu
M.A., Kansas State University
M.Div., Drew University
B.A., Texas A&M University
Mr. Libby teaches Old Testament and is especially interested in its relevance and application in the modern world. After graduation from Texas A&M and Drew Theological School, Libby was Ordained in the United Methodist Church and served as a Chaplain in the US Army. His service included assignments in Europe, Asia, and the United States. During those years he also completed a degree in American Diplomatic History (Kansas State) and was admitted to the doctoral program in American Studies at the University of Maryland. Later he completed the US Army’s program in Organizational Behavior and the Executive Program in Human Resources Management at Columbia University. He concluded his military service by serving on the faculty of the National Defense University.
Mr. Libby has been at McMurry University since 1996. He began and coached the cross-country teams (1996-2003) and currently co-hosts the KWKC Talk Radio program “The Professors.” When he’s not in the classroom or on the radio, he’s involved in ongoing summer archaeological work in Jordan.
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