Paul P. Parker is a Professor and the Chairperson of the
Department of Theology and Religion in Elmhurst College
where he has taught since 1987. He also holds the Baltzer
Distinguished Chair in Theology and Religion.
In small liberal arts colleges professors often teach broadly
outsider their fields, and Paul is no exception. Although his
area is Christian theological ethics, he has taught such courses
as Christian ethics, Christianity and human sexuality, economic
options and religious faith, biblical literature, comparative
religions, religions of India, and religion in America. As a result
of appropriate and good-natured prodding from several of his
students, since the mid 1990′s Paul has been working to develop a
deeper understanding of Islam and American Muslims.
Paul has written numerous articles on suffering, coercion, and God,
as well as edited two books, Dialectic Faith and the Holocaust and
Standing with the Poor: Theological Reflections on Economic
Reality. His enduring area of scholarly concern is the moral
influence of beliefs about and faith in God. He is currently
researching the moral influence of religious experience for Jews,
Christians, and Muslims in Israel and Palestine.
