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Jennifer Powell McNutt
Assistant Professor of Theology and History of Christianity
On faculty since 2008

Office: BGC 219
Phone: 630-752-5331
Jennifer.McNutt@wheaton.edu
Education

Ph.D. History: Reformation Studies, University of St. Andrews, 2007
M.Div., Princeton Theological Seminary, 2003
B.A. Religious Studies, Westmont College, 2000

These degrees include additional studies at the University of Oxford, Jerusalem University College, Université de Genève, Institut Catholique de Paris, and Universität Heidelberg.

 
Professional and Personal Interests
My research seeks to explore the history of the developments of Christianity in its thought and practices within the social, cultural, political, and economic contexts of Europe and America during the early modern period. My doctoral work was completed at the University of St. Andrews in the Modern History Department’s Reformation Studies Institute. This project, entitled “Church and Society in Eighteenth-Century Geneva, 1700-1789”, was based upon research of the primary source documents located at Geneva’s university and state archives.

After spending five fruitful and enjoyable years in the United Kingdom, including a year of teaching at the University of Cambridge, England, it is a pleasure to be back in the United States and to be teaching in the Christian liberal arts context of Wheaton College. I am also an ordination candidate in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In these ways, I have dedicated my life to sharing my passion for the history and theology of the church through the teaching and care of students as they develop intellectually and spiritually while discerning God’s calling upon their lives.

When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time with my husband, David, and our daughter, Priscilla. In addition to reading, travelling, and engaging with the arts, I also enjoy a good round of golf, thanks to my time in the birthplace of golf.

Courses Taught

  • The Reformation
  • The Theology of John Calvin
  • Historical Theology
  • History of the Reformed Tradition in America
  • Religion & Science: Galileo to Darwin

Membership in Professional Societies
  • American Society of Church History
  • American Academy of Religion
  • Sixteenth Century Society
  • Reformation Studies Institute, University of St. Andrews
  • Centre for French History and Culture, University of St. Andrews

 

Research

  • Early Modern European History, 16th – 18th century
  • Church and Society in Geneva, 16th-18th century
  • The Reformations
  • Life, work and influence of John Calvin
  • Religion and the age of Enlightenment in Europe and America
  • Religion and Science

Publications and Presentations

“Theocracy” article in New Dictionary of Theology (IVP, forthcoming)

“‘The Science of Salvation’: Preaching during the Genevan Enlightenment” – paper presented at the University of Cambridge, Church History Seminar (28 Feb. 2007)

“Calvin and Knox: Religion & Politics in Sixteenth-Century Europe” – guest lecture at Westmont College, Political Science Department (12 Jan. 2007)

“Église et Société dans la Genève du XVIIIe siècle” – paper presented at the Université de Genève, Institut d’Histoire de la Reformation (24 Oct. 2006)

“Hesitant Steps: Acceptance of the Gregorian Calendar in Eighteenth-Century Geneva” in Church History Journal 75:3 (Sept. 2006), pp. 544-564.
*Awarded the Sidney E. Mead Prize by the American Society of Church History

Book review of Katherine Crawford’s Perilous Performances: Gender and Regency in Early Modern France in The Sixteenth Century Journal 37:2 (Summer 2006)

Book review of Matthew Glozier’s Scottish Soldiers in France in the Reign of the Sun King in The Sixteenth Century Journal 37:2 (Summer 2006)

“French Palaeography, 15th century -18th century” – guest lecture at the University of St. Andrews (2 March 2006)

“Hesitant Steps from the Reformation to the Enlightenment: Protestant Acceptance of the Gregorian Calendar in Eighteenth-Century Geneva” – paper presented at the University of Oxford for the British Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies Conference (5 Jan. 2006)

“The Changing Face of Calvin’s ‘ Prudish Republic’: A Study of Religion & Enlightenment in the Context of Eighteenth-Century Geneva” – paper presented at the University of St. Andrews, Reformation Studies Institute Seminar (8 Dec. 2005)

“ Ecclésiastique” – translation for the University of Michigan’s Collaborative Online Translation Project of Diderot and D’Alembert’s Encyclopedia, www.hti.umich.edu (July 2005)

“An Enlightened Utopia? Exploring the Theatre Controversy of Eighteenth-Century Geneva” – paper presented at the Scottish Universities’ Church History Conference (26 Feb. 2005) and American Society of Church History Conference in Seattle (9 Jan. 2005)

“Ministers and Philosophes: Church and Society in Eighteenth-Century Geneva” – paper presented at the University of St. Andrews, Reformation Studies Institute Seminar (4 Nov. 2004)

“ Formulaire” - translation for the University of Michigan’s Collaborative Online Translation Project of Diderot and D’Alembert’s Encyclopedia, www.hti.umich.edu (Nov. 2004)