A Short Bio
Dr. Barry Whitney
is Professor of Christian Studies (Theology and Philosophy
of Religion) and Religion and Culture. He has taught for
33 years at the University of Windsor (in Windsor,
Ontario, Canada) -- 21 of those years in the Department
of Religious Studies where he served as Department Head,
and for the past several years in the Religion and
Culture program located in the Department of Languages,
Literatures and Cultures. Dr. Whitney has been on an extended
leave since 2007. He has taught several thousands of students
in more than 165 courses since 1976. His classes are popular
among students and enrolment has increased continually,
with over 500 students in his 2006 courses on "God
and Evil," "God
and Atheism," "Religion
and Culture," and "Justifying
Religious Beliefs." He
has taught over 25 different courses in Christian
Philosophy of Religion and various other areas,
including "World
Religions," "Religion
and Science," "Process Theology," "Religion
and Literature," and etc. He
has directed and assessed over two dozen M.A. theses
and Ph.D. dissertations, and has been active in
research and writing, as well as composing music.
His music is being incorporated in small bits on
his podcasts, and an album with complete versions
of some of his music is planned
for future release on iTunes and elsewhere.
Video
Clips and Dr. Whitney's Podcasts are being made avaliable
(as time permits)
Teaching has always
been Dr Whitney's priority: he has taken in large numbers
of students each year despite the extra burden of preparations,
administration and counseling which comes with large classes.
When time permitted, he has taught also outside the classroom
in churches (most recently at Pentecostal and Anglo Catholic
churches in Windsor) and in more academic settings
(most recently, a graduate course in Theodicy at The Claremont
School of Theology). His has published a dozen Books and
Book Chapters, and was Editor of the international academic
journal, Process
Studies for 14 years, editing 28 issues from 1996-2009
and serving that journal previously as Abstracts Editor
and Dissertations Abstracts Editor (1990-97). He has
also written more than 130 articles and book reviews for
academic journals. and is a member of the International
Editorical Advisory Board the board for the Australian
journal, Sophia:
International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Metaphysical
Theology and Ethics, and served also as the "Religion
and Science' Book Review sub-Editor for Religious
Studies Review. He
has been a Fellow and Tutor of Admissions for Canterbury
College, Windsor, Lecturer for the Pastoral Care Program
at the Southwestern Regional Center in Blenheim, Ontario,
a member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue, and a
member of several theological and philosophical
societies. Dr. Whitney remains as active as time permits
in the religious community, presenting teachings
on Christianity -- including
the Problem of Reconciling Belief in God with Evil and
Suffering, Christianity and the New Age, and Biblical Studies.
Dr.
Whitney belongs
to no theological or philosophical school, but has been
engaged in a coherent defense (justification) of traditional
Christianity. Dr. Whitney
holds a unique, modified understanding of process thought
which is consistent with biblical theology and the best
of traditional Christian theism. He
believes that many of the criticisms of process thought
by traditional theists are based on misunderstandings,
often due to the lack of clarity by process thinkers.
At the same time. he believes that many criticisms are
legitimate with respect to versions of process thought
that Dr Whitney does not endorse. As time permits, one
of his current research projects is to publish his defense
of traditional Christian and how the process theism
of Charles Hartshorne (1897-2000), his esteemed teacher
at the University of Texas, can clarify some basic Christian
issues.
Dr Whitney earned an Honours B. A. in
Biblical Studies and Christian Theology, an Honours B.A.
in English Literature, and a Ph.D. in Christian Theology
and Philosophy of Religion (with a minor in Buddhism).
He has extensive background in Eastern religions and the
state of contemporary Christianity amid the cultural conflicts
between Christian theism and both atheistic secular humanism
and the New Age spiritualities which are, in effect, the
spiritual and optimistic side of cynical postmodern deconstructionism).
He has taught and written in the theological/philosophical
field of philosophy of religion and Christian Theology,
with his main expertise in the problem of reconciling
belief in God with evil and suffering.
Besides publishing
over 130 Academic Articles and Reviews, a dozen books and
book chapters and 28 edited issues of Process Studies,
Dr. Whitney has published more than 350 other Articles
and Abstracts for academic journals, and has given dozens
of academic papers, seminars, workshops and public lectures.
He has debated the New Age guru Deepak`
Chopra and the controversial Bishop Joseph Sprague
on Vision TV, and has been interviewed on CBC
television and radio (Canada) and in print media,
including Time
magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Times, Newsday,
Long Island, The Chicago Tribune, The Ottawa Citizen, etc.
Dr Whitney earned an Honours B.A. (first
class honours) in both Religion and English Literature
(with courses in Philosophy) from Carleton University (1967-71).
His major in Religion focused on Biblical Studies and Christian
Theology. He received a Ph.D. (first
class honours) from McMaster University (1971-77), in
Christian Theology and Philosophy of Religion, with a
minor in Buddhism and other graduate courses in Philosophy.
He received Merit
Awards for scholarships, Canada Council Doctoral Scholarships,
Ontario Graduate Scholarships, and Graduate Teaching Assistantships
during his graduate studies.
He was permitted to skip the M.A. degree
after 4 months in the program and was admitted into the
Ph.D. program. In 1976, he studied with the process philosopher
Professor Charles Hartshorne at the University of Texas.
His doctoral dissertation constructed a theodicy based
on Hartshorne's metaphysics and critically assessed
its merits and shortcomings.
Dr. Whitney has taught
Christianity, Philosophy of Religion, and Religion and
Culture at the University of Windsor since 1976 where he
has received several merit awards, research grants, a Research
Professorship, and promotion (1990) to the
the rank of Full Professor. He has served on and
chaired several Faculty of Arts and University committees,
as well as being elected to the University
Senate. He has served as Head of the Religious Studies
Department and as Tutor of Admissions and Fellow of Canterbury
College in Windsor.
While he has devoted
most of his time to teaching increasingly large numbers
of students, he had continued to write and publish, as
time permits. His major resource book , Theodicy (God
and Evil) remains the standard academic reference work
in the important study of reconciling belief in God with
the world's evil and suffering, a project which took over
seven years of research to complete and two more years
to complete a second (expanded) edition, published in 1998.
He has also co-authored The
Reality of God (1982), and
authored Evil
and the Process God (1985), What
Are They Saying About God and Evil? (1989), Theodicy (1993)
and the revised, expanded version, Theodicy (1998),
as well as many articles, book chapters and published
interviews on the Problem of reconciling (justifying) belief
in God. He was commissioned to write the "Evil," "Theodicy," and
"Paul Tillich" entries in the New
Catholic Encyclopedia (2002) and "the Problem of
Evil" entry in the New Westminster
Dictionary of Christian Theology. Testimonies to
his work are found on the Theodicy
pages.
Dr. Whitney
has one of the world's largest libraries on Theodicy,
the Problem of God and Evil. His collection includes
1,500 books and over 11,000 photocopied articles. This
is the centerpiece of his 15,000-book theological library.
He also has a large collection of Icelandic books and
recordings. He has composed and recorded various musical
works, from vocal and guitar songs to classical works
(instrumental spiritual meditations), some of which combiine
biblical texts with music). These will all eventually
be available on this website and other venues like I-tunes.
Some of his lectures are now on his "God
and Evil" podcast series on I-tunes and on this website.
Work on these projects is proceding slowly, as time permits
-- Dr. Whitney is a full-time university professor, a career
that has consumed the majority of his time. He is currently,
unfortunately, on a prolonged medical leave. Your prayers and
well-wishes are always appreciated.
Dr. Whitney
is married to Juliann Whitney (new Blackmore), a former
CTV and CBC (Canada) Television award-winning producer/
reporter/ anchor, and the director of several television
shows and the widely acclaimed Icelandic-Canadian film, A
Saga of Hope: An Icelandic Odyssey.
Juliann is
the producer of Dr. Whitney's podcasts.
Dr. Whitney can be reached by email at <whitney@uwindsor.ca>
