24 Facts About Alister McGrath

1.

Alister Edgar McGrath is a Northern Irish theologian, Anglican priest, intellectual historian, scientist, Christian apologist, and public intellectual.

2.

Alister McGrath currently holds the Andreas Idreos Professorship in Science and Religion in the Faculty of Theology and Religion, and is a fellow of Harris Manchester College at the University of Oxford, and is Professor of Divinity at Gresham College.

3.

Alister McGrath was previously Professor of Theology, Ministry, and Education at King's College London and Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture, Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford, and was principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, until 2005.

4.

Alister McGrath holds three doctorates from the University of Oxford: a doctoral degree in molecular biophysics, a Doctor of Divinity degree in theology, and a Doctor of Letters degree in intellectual history.

5.

Alister McGrath is noted for his work in historical theology, systematic theology, and the relationship between science and religion, as well as his writings on apologetics.

6.

Alister McGrath is known for his opposition to New Atheism and antireligion and his advocacy of theological critical realism.

7.

Alister McGrath is the author of a number of popular textbooks on theology.

8.

Alister McGrath was born on 23 January 1953 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and grew up in Downpatrick, County Down, where he attended Down High School.

9.

Alister McGrath went up to Wadham College, Oxford, in 1971 and gained first-class honours in chemistry in 1975.

10.

Alister McGrath was awarded an Oxford Doctor of Philosophy degree for his research in molecular biophysics, and gained first-class honours in theology in June 1978.

11.

Alister McGrath then left Oxford to work at the University of Cambridge, where he studied for ordination in the Church of England.

12.

Alister McGrath was ordained priest at Southwell Minster in September 1981.

13.

Alister McGrath was awarded a BD by Oxford in 1983, for research in historical theology.

14.

Alister McGrath spent the fall semester of 1990 as the Ezra Squire Tipple Visiting Professor of Historical Theology at the Divinity School of Drew University, Madison, New Jersey.

15.

Alister McGrath was elected University Research Lecturer in Theology at Oxford University in 1993 and served as research professor of theology at Regent College, Vancouver, from 1993 to 1999.

16.

Alister McGrath was awarded the Oxford degree of DD in 2001 for his research in historical and systematic theology, and was a founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion.

17.

On 1 September 2008 Alister McGrath took up the Chair of Theology, Ministry and Education in the Department of Education and Professional Studies at King's College London.

18.

In 2010 Alister McGrath was included in "The 20 Most Brilliant Christian Professors" list.

19.

Alister McGrath is married to Joanna Collicutt McGrath and they have two adult children.

20.

In 2014, Alister McGrath was appointed the 32nd Professor of Divinity at Gresham College, a position dating back to 1597.

21.

In 2004 Alister McGrath suggested in The Twilight of Atheism that atheism was in decline.

22.

Alister McGrath has been highly critical of Richard Dawkins, calling him "embarrassingly ignorant of Christian theology".

23.

Alister McGrath has debated with Daniel Dennett, at the Greer-Heard Point-Counterpoint Forum in New Orleans in February 2007, as well as Christopher Hitchens at Georgetown University.

24.

Alister McGrath has debated with David Helfand at the Veritas Forum on whether belief in God is a delusion.