Rate My Professor Susan Patterson

Susan Patterson is a theologian with a robust academic background anchored at the University of Otago, where she earned her PhD, Bachelor of Divinity, and Bachelor of Arts degrees. She further obtained a New Zealand Certificate in Adult and Tertiary Education from the Open Polytechnic. Ordained as a Deacon in 1988 and as a Priest in 1989 within the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin, Patterson advanced her scholarly pursuits as a Post Ordination Scholar at St John’s College, Auckland from 1990 to 1991. Her accolades include the Harriette Jenkins Award from the New Zealand Federation of University Women in 1991, a Fulbright Scholarship in 1993-94, and membership in the Princeton Center of Theological Inquiry starting in 1993.

Patterson's research specializations encompass realist Christian theology, metaphor and revelation, theological language, eschatology, reconciliation, and the intersections of theology with health care, disability, and contemporary social issues. Serving as faculty at Bishopdale College, she has made significant contributions through key publications. Her major books are Realist Christian Theology in a Postmodern Age (Cambridge University Press, 1999) and Word, Words and World: How a Wittgensteinian Perspective on Metaphor-Making Reveals the Theo-logic of Reality (Peter Lang, 2013). Notable articles include ‘Word, Words and World’ in Colloquium (1991), ‘Gratuitous Truth: Metaphor and Revelation’ in Colloquium (1992), ‘Janet Martin Soskice, Metaphor and a Theology of Grace’ in Scottish Journal of Theology (1993), ‘Eschatological Apologetics’ in Anvil (2004), and ‘Becoming Church in the 21st Century’ in Church of Ireland Gazette (2007). She has contributed essays to volumes such as Christ and Context (1993), Theological Fragments (1994), Beyond Mere Health (1996), More than a Single Issue (2000), The Theology of Reconciliation (2003), The Authority of Scripture (2006), Spirituality and Cancer (2015), and Theology and the Experience of Disability (2016), as well as forthcoming chapters in the T & T Clark Companion to Colin Gunton. Patterson also provides ongoing review articles for the Journal of Theological Studies. Her scholarship bridges philosophy and Christian doctrine, exerting influence across systematic theology and public theological discourse.