About me

I am the Howard Paterson Professorial Chair, and Director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues, at the at the University of Otago | Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Originally from the United Kingdom, I moved to Otago in 2015, when I was appointed under the university’s Leading Thinkers initiative. I am an Anglican lay theologian and my work focusses on contextual and liberationist approaches in theology.

Much of my recent research has explored how churches can make better responses to spiritual and sexual abuses. I am known internationally for biblical research that has identified the significance of forced nudity as an instrument of violence during crucifixion.

I previously lectured at the University of Roehampton, London (1992-2001), and the Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (2001-2014). I studied theology at Oxford (BA/MA), Union Theological Seminary, New York (STM), and London (PhD), and completed postgraduate studies in education at Birmingham (PGCE) and London (MA).

My publications include:

• Latin American Liberation Theology (Brill 2002),

• Explorations in Reconciliation (co-edited with Joseph Liechty, Routledge 2006),

• When Did We See You Naked?: Jesus as a Victim of Sexual Abuse (co-edited with Jayme Reaves and Rocío Figueroa, SCM 2021),

• The Crucifixion of Jesus: Torture, Sexual Abuse, and the Scandal of the Cross (Routledge, 2023).

I try to make my work available to a wider readership through open access.

• See here for more on open access.

For more information on my teaching, research, and publications, see:

• My University of Otago staff web-page

• My ORCID page.