Professor Sarah Coakley
Professorial Fellow
Religion and Theology
Areas of expertise: Modern systematic theology; analytic and continental philosophy of religion; evolutionary theory and theology; patristic theology and spirituality; contemporary theories of gender and ‘race’
Email: sarah.coakley@acu.edu.au
Sarah Coakley is the Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity Emerita, University of Cambridge, and was previously (1995-2007) the Mallinckrodt Professor of Divinity, Harvard University. As well as serving now as a Professorial Fellow at ACU, she also holds an Honorary Professorship at the Logos Institute, St Andrews University, and an Honorary Fellowship at Oriel College, Oxford. She was elected a Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2012, and a Fellow of the British Academy in 2019. He publications range widely across the fields of historical and systematic theology, philosophy of religion, science and religion, and theories of gender and ‘race’. She has given many named lectureships internationally, including the Hulsean Lectures at Cambridge (1992), the Hensley Henson Lectures at Oxford (2005), the Gifford Lectures at Aberdeen (2012), and the Stone (2002) and Warfield (2015) Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Curriculum vitae
Visit website
Select publications
- The Oxford Handbook to the Reception History of Christian Theology, co-ed. with Richard Cross and Jonathan Teubner (Oxford, forthcoming, 2022)
- The New Asceticism: Sexuality, Gender and the Quest for God (Bloomsbury, 2015)
- God, Sexuality and the Self: An Essay ‘On the Trinity’ (Cambridge, 2013)
- Evolution, Games and God: The Principle of Cooperation, co-ed. with Martin A. Nowak (Harvard, 2013)
- Sacrifice Regained: Evolution, Cooperation and God (Aberdeen, Gifford Lectures, 2012)
- Powers and Submissions: Philosophy, Spirituality and Gender (Blackwell, 2002)
- Christ Without Absolutes: A Study of the Christology of Ernst Troeltsch (Oxford, 1988)
Accolades and awards
- Elected, Fellow of the British Academy, 2019
- Warfield Lecturer, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2015
- Templeton World Charity Foundation grant (£1 million) for post-doctoral fellowships in theology, philosophy of religion and the sciences at Cambridge (PI and mentoring role), 2014-18
- President, British Society for the Philosophy of Religion, 2013-15
- Elected, Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2012
- Gifford Lecturer, Aberdeen University, 2012
- Templeton Foundation grant ($2 million), with Professor Martin A. Nowak (Center for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University), for research in the ‘Theology of Cooperation’ (the intersection of theology, evolutionary theory, and game theory), 2005-8
- Hensley Henson Lecturer, Oxford University, 2005
- Stone Lecturer, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2002
- Hulsean Lecturer, University of Cambridge, 1992
See attached CV for all honorary degrees, grants, and named lectureships.
Appointments and affiliations
- 2019- Professorial Fellow, Australian Catholic University (Melbourne/Rome); Honorary Professor, University of St Andrews; Honorary Fellow, Oriel College, Oxford; Emeritus Fellow, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge
- 2007- 2018, Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge
- 2003-4, Eli Lilly Visiting Professor in the Department of Religion and the Center for the Study of Religion, Princeton University
- 1995-2007, Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr., Professor of Divinity, Harvard University
Editorial roles
Co-editor (with Richard Cross) of the Oxford University Press monograph series, Changing Paradigms in Historical and Systematic Theology.
For service on editorial boards, see attached CV.
International journal review panel
- Faith and Philosophy
- Modern Theology
- Journal of Theological Studies
- Ecclesiology
Grant agency review panel
- British Academy
- Leverhulme Foundation
- Templeton Foundation
Public engagement
Recent Australian Broadcasting Corporation online materials:
- ‘Easter vigil: Knocking at the door of the resurrection,’ Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 11 April 2020.
- ‘The coronavirus story meets the Passion story: Ten meditations for Holy Week,’ Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 6 April 2020.
- ‘Evolution, providence and the Trinity: From natural cooperation to natural theology,’ Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 11 Feb 2019.
- ‘Can systematic theology become "pastoral" again, and pastoral theology "theological"?’ Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 24 July 2017.
- ‘Angels and Dreams: Second Naivete and the Christian Imagination,’ Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 29 December 2015.
- ‘Two interrupted by Three: Gender Difference and the Desiring God,’ Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 11 February 2014.
- ‘Meaning beyond meaning: Meditations on the death and resurrection of Jesus,’ Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 30 March 2013.
For all online audio and video, see attached CV.
