John Anderson, Ph.D., MTS
John Anderson, Ph.D., MTS
Visiting Assistant Professor
Religion, Philosophy & Classics Department
Education
Ph.D. in Biblical Studies, 2010, Baylor University; Master of Theological Studies, 2006, Duke Divinity School; B.A. in Religion, 2004, Augustana University
Biography
Dr. John Anderson returned to Augustana in Fall 2023, having previously taught at AU from 2010-2012 and as an alumnus (Class of 2004). Prior to Augustana, he was professor of religious studies at Presentation College in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He has also taught at Luther Seminary, Sioux Falls Seminary, Dakota Wesleyan University and Baylor University. His research areas are the character of God in the Old Testament, theodicy, the biblical book of Genesis, lying/deception in the Bible and interfaith relations and learning.
His first published book, Jacob and the Divine Trickster: A Theology of Deception and YHWH's Fidelity to the Ancestral Promise in the Jacob Cycle, explores the portrait of God as trickster in Genesis 25-35. A chapter from this book received the Regional Scholar Award from the Society of Biblical Literature. Dr. Anderson's second book, Wrestling with the Untamable God of the Old Testament, is under contract with Smyth & Helwys publishing.
Dr. Anderson has also authored many peer-reviewed and popular level articles, numerous academic book reviews, contributed to several academic reference works and given many conference presentations. He is the founding member and former chair of the Genesis Program Unit for the Society of Biblical Literature. Dr. Anderson is also a pastor, serving a vibrant rural congregation in Woonsocket, South Dakota.
Outside the classroom, Dr. Anderson enjoys professional wrestling, the music of Billy Joel, and 1980s and 1990s video games.