I want to help my students see the church in its fullness and diversity; to realize that the gospel works in any time, culture, language or place to transform people into the likeness of Christ. I want to explore with my students the exciting stories of how Christianity has spread and developed through twenty centuries, and how it continues to develop in amazing ways today as God works through people and movements. I see the study of church history as a spiritual discipline—not merely an academic pursuit; that is, by learning how we have been shaped in both our immediate and remote histories, we should become more grateful for those who have gone before us and more humble about our own efforts. Paul told the Corinthian Christians after a history lesson in 1 Cor. 10:12—if you think you are standing, watch out, that you do not fall! ACU is a perfect place to explore this important subject in the context of people who love Christ and the church he established.
My areas of scholarly interest within the discipline of church history include Reformation and modern Christianity, American Christianity, Stone-Campbell Movement history and theology, ecclesiology, and ecumenism. My research and writing has especially focused on the global Stone-Campbell Movement and the concept of Christian unity. I am currently serving as General Editor of a new global history of the Stone-Campbell Movement to be published in 2012, and am writing a biography of Alexander Campbell for the Eerdmans religious biography series.
Position: Professor of Church History; Director, Center for Restoration Studies
Education: B.A., David Lipscomb University
M.A., Scarritt College
Ph.D., Vanderbilt University
Address: ACU Box 29429
Abilene, TX 79699
Phone: 325.674.3795
Email: doug.foster@acu.edu
Research Interests: The Stone-Campbell Movement in American Christianity, the nature of the idea of Christian unity.
