Professor Jeff Astley
Revd Jeff Astley, MA (Cambridge),
DipTh (Birmingham), PhD (Durham)
Director - North of England Institute for Christian
Education
Honorary Professorial Fellow in Practical Theology and
Christian Education in the Department of Theology and Religion
at Durham University
Biography
I have been an honorary lecturer in the University of Durham
since 1981, and Honorary Professorial Fellow in Practical Theology
and Christian Education since 1997.
I read Natural Sciences (specializing in the biological
sciences) and then Theology at the University of Cambridge, and
continued my theological studies at the University of Birmingham
while training for ordination at The Queen’s College,
Birmingham.
I was ordained in the Church of England in 1970 and served as an
assistant curate in South Staffordshire before moving to Durham as
a College Chaplain and Lecturer in Divinity in St Hild’s College,
later the College of St Hild and St Bede. While in Durham I began
working part-time for my PhD in the philosophy of religion (on the
religious epistemology of Ian T Ramsey; awarded 1979).
From 1977 to 1981 I was Principal Lecturer and Head of Religious
Studies at Bishop Grosseteste College, Lincoln and Associate Tutor
at Lincoln Theological College, responsible for a joint degree in
Theology and Ministry of the University of Nottingham, taught at
the two colleges.
I returned to Durham in 1981 as Founding Director of the
ecumenical and independent North of England Institute for Christian
Education, whose primary task is to create links between Christian
theology and education, particularly by promoting research in
Christian learning in all its aspects, but especially within
congregations.
For details of NEICE, its work and related publications, see
www.durham.ac.uk/neice.
I am the author or editor of over thirty books in Christian
education, practical theology or religious faith, including
academic monographs, such as The Philosophy of Christian
Religious Education (1994) and Ordinary Theology: Looking,
Listening and Learning in Theology (2002); readers and edited
collections, such as Theological Perspectives on Christian
Formation (1996) and The Idea of a Christian
University (2004); student texts, such as Choosing Life?
Christianity and Moral Problems (2000), Exploring
God-Talk: Using Language in Religion (2004) and the SCM
Studyguide to Christian Doctrine (2010); and works on popular
theology and spirituality, such as Beyond the Here and Now
(1996) and Christ of the Everyday (2007). My 90-odd
journal articles, chapters in books and research reports, cover a
similarly wide field.
I have a range of research interests within Christian education
and practical theology, including conceptual research in the
philosophy and theology of Christian learning and moral and
spiritual education, and the concept of ‘ordinary theology’. I also
undertake both qualitative and quantitative empirical studies among
churchgoers, teachers and students.
Within the field of Theology and Religion my main academic
interests are in the Philosophy of Religion and the Science and
Religion debate, and I have taught at undergraduate level
in the Department in both areas. I have collaborated with
colleagues in the production of a series of six undergraduate
readers on key issues in Theology and Religious
Studies. I offer a module in ‘Christian Formation, Faith
Development and Critical Education’ for the taught MA.
From time to time I am able to supervise research students
within the fields of Christian Education and Practical Theology, or
other areas of Theology and Religion and Theology and Ministry.
Because of my other commitments, however, this is not always
possible. Prospective students should contact me directly at
North of England Institute for Christian Education
18 North Bailey
Durham City
DH1 3RH
0191 33 43331
Jeff.Astley@durham.ac.uk