Noted historian David S. Hogg has been named as professor of church history and director of library services at Phoenix Seminary, president Brian Arnold announced Thursday, June 3rd, 2021. As our head librarian, Hogg’s primary work will be to lead the library, building on the excellent foundation current Director of Library Services, Doug Olbert and his team have prepared. He will also teach Phoenix Seminary students in the area of Church History.
“Dr. Hogg is exactly what we look for in a faculty member—he has established himself throughout his career as a gifted church historian, particularly in the medieval period, which is often neglected by evangelicals. In addition, Dr. Hogg has proven himself as an administrator, having served as an associate dean at Beeson Divinity School, and we’re delighted that he’ll be leading our efforts to grow an already influential theological library in the Southwest. Lastly, Dr. Hogg embodies our motto, “scholarship with a shepherd’s heart,” as someone who has, in addition to his academic credentials, years of pastoral ministry experience. I am thrilled for our students who will grow in their knowledge of God under his teaching in the classroom and through his service in the library.
Hogg expressed his excitement to be part of the vision to build and elite seminary in the Southwest.
“From the very first conversation I had with Brian Arnold it was hard not to be excited about the prospect of joining a team of people who are committed to growing, serving the church, and becoming the premiere seminary in the southwestern United States,” Hogg said.
“The faculty at Phoenix Seminary is relatively small by comparison to other seminaries in the country, but it’s a faculty that has the ability to punch well above its weight. This is a school that is poised and well positioned to accomplish great things. To be called by God to be a part of such a work is exciting.”
From 2015–2020, Hogg served as senior pastor of Christ Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. Before that time, he served first as associate professor of theology and medieval studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and then as associate dean of academic affairs at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. While David has been involved in ministry in various capacities throughout his life, he has served as a pastor in either a part time or full time capacity for 11 years.
J. Michael Thigpen, provost and professor of Old Testament said, “As an experienced professor with a distinguished publishing record, David brings a wealth of knowledge to his role as the Director of Library Services. He understands the practical needs of students and faculty and how they engage with libraries. His time in the pastorate will enable him to mentor our students as they head into ministry. He knows what it means to shepherd the flock and to preach the word faithfully.”
Dr. Hogg is a native Canadian who was raised in a Christian home and grew up attending an Associated Gospel Churches of Canada congregation in Toronto, Ontario. He credits a gift his parents gave him as a boy with cultivating in him a love for ancient Christianity. “My love for church history grew unexpectedly when my parents gave me a book on church leaders throughout the ages,” Hogg said. “I was immediately gripped by the wonder and strangeness of these different people, places and contexts. I had to know more.”
Whether serving as a pastor or answering the call to teach or lead in academic settings, Hogg has continued to write and publish. His area of specialty Anselm and by extension the history and theology of the central Middle Ages. He is the author of St. Anselm of Canterbury: The Beauty of Theology (Ashgate, 2004), and he contributed a chapter entitled “Sufficient for All, Efficient for Some: Definite Atonement in the Medieval Church” in From Heaven He Came and Sought her: Definite Atonement in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective (Crossway, 2013). He is currently producing a chapter entitled “Anselm, the Perfect Being, and Nicene Trinitarianism” in The Orthodox Doctrine of the Trinity: What’s at Stake in the Recent Debates edited by Matthew Barrett (IVP Academic, 2022)
Hogg holds a doctor of philosophy degree from St. Mary’s School of Divinity at St. Andrews University in Scotland, a masters of divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a bachelor of arts in history from the University of Toronto.
He and his wife Sarah have three boys: Thomas (20) Oliver (17) and Edward (14).
Hogg will begin his role at Phoenix seminary on July 1.
