Scott A. Kirkland teaches and researches at the intersection of political theology, philosophy, and theological ethics. He is also the Research Coordinator at Trinity College Theological School.

After completing his PhD at the University of Newcastle Scott published his first book, Into the Far Country: Karl Barth and the Modern Subject (Fortress, 2016). Since the publication of his first book, Scott has co-edited two volumes, Correlating Sobornost: Conversations Between Karl Barth and the Russian Orthodox Theological Traditions (Fortress, 2016) and Kenotic Ecclesiology: Select Writings of Donald M. MacKinnon (Fortress, 2017). He is currently the co-editor of the book series Dispatches (Fortress, 2017-). He recently completed his second book co-authored with John C. McDowell, Eschatology (Eerdmans, 2018). Scott has published in a number of international journals including, New Blackfriars, Heythrop Journal, and Irish Theological Quarterly, as well as having contributed to a number of edited volumes and dictionaries.

Scott’s current research is at the intersection of the contemporary crisis of debt and resurgent political nationalisms. The conditions for the current crises of debt find their roots in many of the ways political sovereignty now functions, particularly in the way neoliberal forms of governmentality discipline citizens into participation in the market. This research looks to find resources for resistance to this in the work of Franz Kafka, Giorgio Agamben, Walter Benjamin, and in recent political theological appropriations of Pauline messianism. A monograph considering these problems is currently in preparation.

Scott teaches various courses in modern theology and philosophy. Currently he teaches Atheism for Christians; The End of History: Apocalypse, Economy, and Ecology; and Foundations for Theological Study.

Scott has written for The Conversation, The Melbourne Anglican, and has appeared recently on ABC’s God Forbid. He is open to media requests relating to his field of research.

Scott is an Anglican and attends St Mary’s North Melbourne.

University Appointments