Meet the Author
Research Interests: public theology, theological anthropology (esp. theologies of sin, the Imago Dei, and work), ecclesiology, theology proper (Triunity, attributes of God, etc.) and the relationship between doubt, struggle, and faith
Hobbies: landscaping, grilling, board games, playing make believe with his daughters, and enjoying nostalgic conversations and theological debates over deep cups of coffee
Currently Reading: Liquid Modernity by Zygmunt Bauman.
Favorite Book of the Bible: Genesis or Ruth for the Old Testament and 1 John or Hebrews for the New Testament
Favorite Book: Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Favorite Bands/Artists: Twenty One Pilots, Mountain Goats, Bambu, Cavetown, Billy Joel, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson.
Favorite Movies: Braveheart, Brothers Bloom, and Train to Busan
Dylan Parker lives in Pasadena, CA, with his wife Jennifer and their daughters, Sola Evangeline (who finds herself firmly in her toddler phase) and her baby sister, Wren Ulan. Dylan is currently pursuing his PhD in Theology with an emphasis on Public Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary under the supervision of Sebastian Kim.
In high school, Dylan had no aspirations of college or further education. While always interested in theological questions, his interests were more evangelistic or missional in nature, and he planned to skip education entirely and go straight into ministry (whatever that means). However, it would seem that the Lord had other plans.
Dylan received a B.A. in Biblical and Theological Studies from College of the Ozarks in 2016, and at some point during those four years the reluctance towards formal study gave way to a passion for academic discipleship. It didn’t take long to realize how needed the training was and how much he truly enjoyed the devotionally satisfying and spiritually enriching study of God’s Word that an academic life provided. So, shortly after college he pursued a seminary degree and graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with a M.A. in Christian Studies in 2020.
But ministry has always remained deeply important to him, and a desire for intellectual depth has never found itself divorced from his deep concern for the church and its engagement with the world. It is this dual desire to know God and to make God known that stands behind his research and writing. So Dylan’s main passion lies in doing theology in a way that is faithful to Scripture and impacts the real lives of real people, connecting the academic. the ecclesial, and the public.
While pursuing his education, Dylan has accrued an eclectic employment history, holding positions in youth ministry, refugee ministry, landscaping, thrift store operation, basket weaving, and working a gristmill, and these experiences have helped to shape his research interests along the way. His primary research focus is church engagement with the world, particularly in the form of public theology and especially from the perspectives of theological anthropology and ecclesiology, and recognizing the theological dimensions of our historical moment and our daily lives. In this, he hopes to move toward a theology that is accessible, beautiful, inviting, compelling, and bridges the gab between academics and the public life of the church together.