Associate Professor of Theology
& Philosophy
Chris was born and raised in Winnipeg, MB. He has a Ph.D. in Theology and Ethics from Duke University; an M.A. and a B.A. in Philosophy from University of Manitoba; and a B.Th. from Canadian Mennonite Bible College.
Prior to coming to CMU, Chris was a part-time instructor in Philosophy at the University of Manitoba; a part-time instructor in Religion and Philosophy at Meredith College; and a part-time instructor in the University Writing Program at Duke University. In his spare time, Chris enjoys riding his bike.
Chris and his wife Rachel Klassen have two children. They attend Charleswood Mennonite Church.
Recent Publications
Books
A Precarious Peace: Yoderian Explorations on Theology, Knowledge, and Identity. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 2006.
Articles
“Between Victory and Victimhood: Reflections on Martyrdom and Culture.” Direction 34:2 (2005): 228-240.
“What Should Mennonites and Milbank Learn from Each Other?” Conrad Grebel Review 23:2 (2005): 9-18.
“Patience, Witness, and the Scattered Body of Christ: Yoder and Virilio on Knowledge, Politics, and Speed.” In A Mind Patient and Untamed: Assessing John Howard Yoder’s Contribution to Theology, Ethics, and Peacemaking, ed. Ben C. Ollenburger and Gayle Gerber Koontz, 56-74. Telford, Pa.: Cascadia Publishing House, 2004.
Favorite Quotations
“Jesus is God’s ‘revelation’ in a decisive sense not because he makes a dimly apprehended God clear to us, but because he challenges and queries an unusually clear sense of God: not because he makes things plainer—on the ‘veil-lifting’ model of revelation—but because he makes things darker.” Rowan Williams
“I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn’t it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailleur? We are getting soft . . . As for me, give me a fixed gear!” Henri Desgrange, founder of the Tour de France