SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE

Dr. Derek King is the Scholar-in-Residence at Lewis House. His role is both ministerial (he hangs with students) and academic (he hangs with nerds). He has a Ph.D. in Analytic and Exegetical Theology from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. His first book—The Church and the Problem of Divine Hiddenness (Routledge, 2023)—is academic and ridiculously expensive. His second book, Faith Without Belief, will be released in 2024—and will be much more readable and much cheaper.

Derek joined the University of Kentucky Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) staff after participating as a student until he graduated in 2011. He took his first-ever theology class with CSF’s Christian Studies Center. While on staff at CSF, he completed a Masters of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary. He’s published on a variety of topics, including Gregory of Nyssa, divine hiddenness, the nature of theology, and C. S. Lewis. He’s also written on heaven, the sacraments, technology, the relationship between the Church and the academy, and justice and mercy for the “least of these.”

Derek and his wife, Bethany, were married in 2016. In 2020-2021, they adopted embryos. They have two children: a son Lewis and a daughter Iona. 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 one half marathon under his belt, and especially enjoys the fiction of Dostoevsky, Waugh, and Wodehouse.