SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE

Dr. Derek King is the Scholar-in-Residence at Lewis House. He has a Ph.D. in Analytic and Exegetical Theology from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. He teaches as an instructor in Bible, theology, philosophy, and history for Lewis House, and as a part-time instructor in philosophy and classics for the University of Kentucky.

Derek has published several academic articles and books. His recent work was on the nature of attention and the relevance of theology and spirituality to attention, published by Oxford University Press as Theological Attention (2025). This work was the result of a John Templeton Grant in Science-Engaged Theology through New Visions in Theological Anthropology. His doctoral dissertation was a theological response to the philosophical problem of divine hiddenness, published by Routledge as The Church and the Problem of Divine Hiddenness (2022). His popular exploration of related themes is Faith Without Belief (Wipf & Stock, 2024). He has published academic articles in journals such as The Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care, the Journal of Analytic Theology, the European Journal for Philosophy of Religion, and The Journal of Inklings Studies.

In addition to his academic publications, Derek’s work has been featured in popular publications such as Christianity Today, The Hedgehog Review, and Mere Orthodoxy. In December 2024, he gave a Lewis House lecture on attention titled “Good Looking: Why Attention Matters More Than We Think.” 

Derek and his wife, Bethany, were married in 2016. In 2020, they adopted embryos. They have three children: Lewis, Iona, and Margaret. Derek and Bethany are passionate about embryo adoption and encouraging others to consider it. As a couple, they especially enjoy cooking together, taking long walks, traveling, and reminiscing about their time living in Scotland.

In addition to spending time with his family, friends, and theological pursuits, Derek especially enjoys baseball, running, and reading — he’s a White Sox fan, a fair-weather runner with two half-marathons under his belt, and especially enjoys the fiction of Evelyn Waugh and P. G. Wodehouse.