Professor Philip Sheldrake

Professor Philip Sheldrake

Contact Details

Tel: 01223 741000
E-mail: ps220@cam.ac.uk

Location

Westcott House, Cambridge Theological Federation, Jesus Lane, Cambridge CB5 8BP.  Direct office line: 01223 740052.

Job Title

Honorary Professor of the University of Wales

Role in the University

Supervisor of Research Students

Background

Educated at the Heythrop Pontifical Athenaeum (Bacc Phil), the University of Oxford (BA, MA & research BD) and the University of London (Postgraduate Diploma in Pastoral Therology & MTh). Degrees in Philosophy, Modern History & Theology. Director of the Institute of Spirituality, Heythrop College (London University) 1984-1992. Director of Pastoral Studies at Westcott House and Affiliated Lecturer in Church History, Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge 1992-1997. Vice-Principal & Academic Director, Sarum College 1998-2003 (Honorary Professor UWL from 1999). The Leech Professor of Applied Theology at Durham University 2003-2008. Moulsdale Professorial Fellow of St Chad’s College & Honorary Fellow Centre for the Study of Cities Durham University from 2008. Joseph Visiting Professor at Boston College MA 2008-2009. Senior Research Fellow in Cambridge Theological Federation from 2010. Veale Visiting Professor Milltown Institute Dublin 2010-2011.

Member of

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (elected 1998)

Fellow of the Royal Historical Society

International Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality (President 2001-2002)

American Academy of Religion

British & Irish Association of Practical Theology

Academic Interests

Christian Spirituality & Mysticism

Medieval & Early Modern History

Practical/Pastoral Theology

Social & Political Theology

Publications

Books

  • Explorations in Spirituality: History, Theology & Social Practice, Paulist Press 2010
  • A Brief History of Spirituality, Wiley-Blackwell 6th reprint 2010 (2007)
  • Heaven in Ordinary: George Herbert & His Writings, SCM-Canterbury Press 2009

Book Essays

  • “A Spiritual City? The Sacred, Ethics and City-Making” in Gregory Caicco, ed., Architecture, Ethics and the Personhood of Place, University Press of New England, 2007
  • ‘On Becoming Catholic People: Hopes and Challenges’, in Paul Murray, ed., Catholic Learning: Explorations in Receptive Ecumenism. Oxford University Press, 2008
  • ‘Placing the Sacred: Spirituality and the City’. In Hein Blommestijn etc eds., Seeing the Seeker: Explorations in the Discipline of Spirituality (Festschrift for Professor Kees Waaijman, University of Nijmegen). Peeters 2008
  • ‘A Spiritual City: Urban Vision & The Christian Tradition’ in Sigurd Bergmann, ed., Theology in Built Environments, Transaction Publishers 2009.
  • ‘Trinity and Anthropology: The Self, Transformation & Spirituality’, in Declan Marmion & Gesa Thiessen, eds., Trinity and Salvation: Theological, Spiritual and Aesthetic Perspectives. Peter Lang 2009.
  • Garden, City or Wilderness? Landscape and Destiny in the Christian Imagination’  in Jeff Malpas, ed., The Place of Landscape: Concepts, Contexts, Studies,  Boston: MIT Press 2011

Journal Articles

  • ‘Spirituality and the Integrity of Theology’. In Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality (Johns Hopkins University Press), 7/1, Spring. 2007
  • ‘Spirituality and Reconciliation. In Journal of Anglican Studies, 6/1, June 2008
  • Spirituality and Social Change: Rebuilding the Human City’. In Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality (Johns Hopkins University Press), 9/2, Autumn 2009
  • “Spirituality and Healthcare”, Practical Theology, 3/3, Autumn 2010

Additional Information

Current Areas of Research & Collaboration

The City in Christian Thought (interdisciplinary)

The Study of Spirituality (Christian and Comparative)

Urban theologies

Involved in interreligious dialogue as a member of the ongoing international The Guerrand-Hermès Interreligious Forum and as participant in the Building Bridges Christian-Muslim seminar