Overview

Jonathan Hill joined the Theology and Religion department as Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion in 2013. He was previously a researcher at the University of Oxford, after completing his PhD in Philosophy at the National University of Singapore.

His research in philosophy of religion and analytic theology has focused mainly on the doctrine of incarnation. He co-edited The metaphysics of the incarnation (together with Anna Marmodoro of Oxford University), published by OUP in 2011. He has also worked on the doctrine of heaven, recently completing a monograph, Eternal in the heavens: time, heaven, and resurrection, forthcoming with Wipf & Stock. Finally, he has done some work on extending the methodology of analytic theology to Wiccan belief and practice.

He also has research interests in early modern philosophy, particularly the philosophy of Leibniz and the interactions between Cartesian and sceptical philosophers, especially on the subject of belief (religious and otherwise).

Jonathan is also interested in the history of doctrine, especially in the early church and the Middle Ages. He is the author of Dictionary of theologians: to 1308 (Cambridge: Lutterworth 2010), and an introduction to the history of the early church, The crucible of Christianity (Oxford: Lion 2010, re-issued as Christianity: the first 400 years in 2013).

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Research

My background is in both philosophy and theology: my master's is in theology and my PhD is in philosophy, and I've followed both paths (and the middle ground between them) in my research since.

My main research area is philosophy of religion and analytic theology (the attempt to apply the methodology of analytic philosophy to religious topics), particularly the doctrines of incarnation and heaven. I have also done some work on applying these methods and concepts to neo-pagan belief and practice, something I hope to continue ion the future.

I also have an interest in theological history, particularly the early church, and also medieval theology. I'm especially interested in bringing together these different approaches, in order to do philosophy of religion from a position of deep understanding of and engagement with the "classical" theologians - and also to do history of theology from a position of philosophical engagement with the thinkers in question. Finally, I have a background in seventeenth-century philosophy. I have published on the philosophy of Leibniz and of a number of sceptical philosophers.

I'm happy to supervise research students working on any of these areas.

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Publications

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| 2024 | 2023 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |

2024

• Hill J. (2024) Eternal in the heavens: time, heaven, and resurrection, Wipf & Stock.

2023

• Hill J. (2023) And Was Made Man: Mind, Metaphysics, and Incarnation, RELIGIOUS STUDIES, DOI:10.1017/S0034412523000963. [PDF]
• Hill J. (2023) Compositionalism, Nestorianism, and the principle of no co-member parts, Religious Studies, volume 59, no. 2, pages 261-275, DOI:10.1017/S0034412522000233.

2020

• Hill J. (2020) “I Am the Gracious Goddess”: Wiccan Analytic Theology, The Journal of Analytic Theology, DOI:10.12978/jat.2020-8.091413070811.

2019

• Hill JC. (2019) Should a Christian be an occasionalist?, Divine action and providence, Zondervan.
• Hill JC. (2019) The Platonic tradition, The Cartesian mind, Routledge.
• Hill JC. (2019) Eternal life, boredom, and divine infinity, Philosophy and the spiritual life, Routledge.

2018

• Hill J. (2018) Does Scepticism Presuppose Voluntarism?, International Journal for the Study of Skepticism, volume 7, pages 31-50, DOI:10.1163/22105700-00001226.
• Hill J. (2018) 'His death belongs to them': An Edwardsean participatory model of atonement, Religious Studies, volume 54, no. 2, pages 175-199, DOI:10.1017/S0034412516000457.

2017

• Hill JC. (2017) The self-giving power of God: Dunamis in early Christianity, Divine Powers in Late Antiquity, Oxford University Press, 140-162.

2013

• Graziosi B, Pelling C, Allan W, Kelly A, Stroup S, Harrison S, Longley G, Ash R, Whitmarsh T, Peirano I. (2013) The Author's Voice in Classical and Late Antiquity, Oxford University Press.

2012

• Hill JC. (2012) Aquinas and the unity of Christ: a defence of compositionalism, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, volume 71, no. 2, DOI:10.1007/s11153-011-9289-2.
• Hill JC. (2012) Incarnation, timelessness, and exaltation, Faith and Philosophy, volume 29, no. 1, pages 3-29, DOI:10.5840/faithphil20122911.

2011

• Hill JC. (2011) Introduction, The Metaphysics of the Incarnation, Oxford University Press, 1-19.
• Hill JC, Leftow B, Crisp O, Flint T, Senor T, Davis S, Rea M, Swinburne R, Jedwab J, Cross R. (2011) The Metaphysics of the Incarnation, Oxford University Press.
• Hill JC. (2011) Berkeley's missing argument: the sceptical attack on intentionality, volume 19, no. 1, pages 47-77, DOI:10.1080/09608788.2011.533011.

2010

• Hill JC. (2010) The Crucible of Christianity, Lion.
• Hill JC. (2010) Did Evagrius Ponticus (AD 346-99) have obsessive-compulsive disorder?, Journal of Medical Biography, volume 18, no. 1, pages 49-56, DOI:10.1258/jmb.2009.009056.
• Hill JC, Marmodoro A. (2010) Composition models of the incarnation: unity and unifying relations, Religious Studies: an international journal for the philosophy of religion and theology, volume 46, no. 4, pages 469-488, DOI:10.1017/S0034412510000119.
• Hill JC. (2010) Maximum effect, minimum outlay: the coherence of Leibniz’s fruitfulness criterion, History of Philosophy Quarterly, volume 27, no. 4, pages 335-358.
• Hill JC, Marmodoro A. (2010) Peter Abelard's metaphysics of the incarnation, Philosophy and Theology, volume 22, no. 1-2, pages 27-48, DOI:10.5840/philtheol2010221/22.

2009

• Hill JC. (2009) Dictionary of Theologians to 1308, James Clarke Lutterworth.
• Hill JC. (2009) Probabilism today: permissibility and multi-account ethics, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, volume 87, no. 2, pages 235-250, DOI:10.1080/00048400802215687.
• Hill JC. (2009) Gregory of Nyssa, material substance, and Berkeleyan idealism, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, volume 17, no. 4, pages 235-250, DOI:10.1080/09608780903135014.

2008

• Hill JC. (2008) The Big Questions, Lion Books.
• Hill JC. (2008) Leibniz, relations, and rewriting projects, History of Philosophy Quarterly, volume 25, no. 2, pages 115-136.
• Hill JC, Marmodoro A. (2008) Modeling the metaphysics of the incarnation, Philosophy and Theology, volume 20, no. 1-2, pages 99-128, DOI:10.5840/philtheol2008201/25.

2007

• Hill JC, McGuckin J, Howells E, Chibuko P, Louth A, Knowles A, Steeves P, Zepp I, Abrams L, Weinandy T. (2007) The New Lion Handbook: The History of Christianity, Lion Books.

2005

• Hill JC. (2005) What Has Christianity Ever Done For Us?, Lion Books.

2004

• Hill JC. (2004) Faith in the Age of Reason, Lion Books.

2003

• Hill JC. (2003) The History of Christian Thought, Lion Books.

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External impact and engagement

In addition to my research publications, I've published a number of books aimed at a general readership on church history, the history of theology, and philosophy of religion. Some of these have found their way onto academic courses in various institutions, both religious and secular, which is very gratifying - but their main purpose is to introduce these subjects to interested, non-specialist lay people. One thing I've tried to convey in my popular writing is just why the study of theology and philosophy of religion is so interesting. It's a chance to tell some great stories.

I have given talks on religious history to non-specialist audiences in Treadwell's, an independent bookshop in London.

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