New Divinity School faculty member Miroslav Volf has been appointed the Henry B. Wright Professor of Divinity, by vote of the Yale Corporation.
Volf has done extensive work in 19th- and 20th-century European theology and philosophy as well as 17th- and 18th-century Protestantism, patristics, contemporary Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism. He is also an expert in the theology of Third World Christians.
A native of Croatia, Volf has written and edited several books in German, some of which were later translated into English, Croatian or Korean, as well as books that originally were published in English and later translated into German or Croatian. His books in English include "Work in the Spirit: Toward a Theology of Work," "Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation" and (with his wife, Judith Gundry Volf) "A Spacious Heart. Essays on Identity and Togetherness." He is currently working on another book, titled "Western Values -- Public Theology." His articles, book reviews and translations have also appeared in numerous publications in both the United States and Europe.
An internationally recognized human rights advocate, Volf has been an outspoken advocate for peace in the Serbian-Croatian conflict. In fact, his book "Exclusion and Embrace" (which won the Christianity Today Book Award in 1996) focuses on how to negotiate intra-group conflicts when there is a history of breach of trust and animosity.
A pastor for several years in his homeland, Volf served on the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Osijek, Croatia and on the faculty of the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He was also editor of the Christian monthly journal Izvori for many years, and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of the Croatian Philosophical Society. Volf will spend the 1998-99 academic year as a Pew Fellow at the Center for Theological Inquiry before coming to Yale in July of 1999.
Volf earned three degrees summa cum laude: a B.A. from the Evangelical-Theological Faculty of Osijek, Croatia; a M.A. from Fuller Theological Seminary; and a Dr. theol. from the University of Tübingen, Germany. He also received a Dr. theol. habil. at the latter institution.
Volf, who is listed in "Who's Who in Croatia," is a member of the American Theological Society, the American Academy of Religion and Gesellschraft für Evangelische Tehologie.