Derek Woodard-Lehman

Lecturer | University of Otago

Derek Woodard-Lehman is a Lecturer in the Department of Theology and Religion at University of Otago (New Zealand) where he also serves as Wellington Programme Coordinator for the Centre for Theology and Public Issues. He works broadly in the moral and the theological traditions of Western Christianity, with an emphasis on Karl Barth’s contributions to debates about the relationship between reason and revelation, the role of social practices in scriptural interpretation and ecclesial confession, and the nature of freedom in church and society. His recent and forthcoming publications include “The Law as the Task of the Gospel: Karl Barth and the Possibility of an Apostolic Pragmatism” (Journal of Jewish Ethics, 2016), “The Radical Autonomy of Karl Barth: Modern Moral Philosophy and the Ethics of Divine Command” (Oxford Handbook of Karl Barth, 2018), and Liberating Barth?: From a Theological Critique of Idolatry to a Political Critique of Ideology” (T&T Clark Companion to Political Theology, 2018). He is currently revising a manuscript entitled Confessing Freedom: Karl Barth and the Spirit of Democracy.