Jason Barnhart is Assistant Professor of Historical Theology. Previously, he served as the Director of Brethren Research and Resourcing for the Brethren Church National Office in Ashland, Ohio. He has over a decade of pastoral experience in congregations in Ohio. He served for three years (2014-2017) as the University Chaplain at Ashland University in Ashland where he was also an adjunct instructor in Bible.
Jason is the author of the forthcoming book, Word-Spirit Communal Revelationalism: The Brethren-Evangelical Theological Epistemology of J. Allen Miller (2022). He was also co-editor of A Brethren Witness for the 21st Century (2014) and a follow-up primer for the work, A Brethren Witness Primer (2015), that was geared towards youth and young adults. He also served as the editor of A Brethren Way: Rediscovering our Distinct Posture and Witness (2016).
From 2017-2019, Jason worked on a DVD curriculum series to help viewers understand exactly who the Brethren are, and how they have practiced their faith since arriving in America. He has authored several articles many of which bring the theological witness of the Ashland Brethren into conversation with the larger world of American evangelicalism.
Jason serves on the Brethren Encyclopedia Board and the Brethren Journal Association, which oversees the publication, Brethren Life & Thought, and serves on the North Central Regional Leadership Team of the Brethren Church. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (2004) in Religion and Ethics from Ashland University, a Master of Divinity (2008) from Ashland Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Theology (2019) in Brethren historical theology from La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Jason has a deep love and appreciation for Brethren historical theology and works to bring it into engagement with our present day. Alongside his love of Brethren thought, he has a deep interest in the theology of Karl Barth, Anabaptist thought, political theology, Thomas Merton and monasticism, and spiritual formation.
Jason resides in Ashland with his wife, Allison, two children, Miles and Clementine, and their rambunctious miniature dachshund, Golly. In his free time Jason enjoys readings, working outside and discussing theology (both in career and a hobby.
PUBLICATIONS
Books
- “Word-Spirit Communal Revelationalism”: The Brethren-Evangelical Theological Epistemology of Dr. J. Allen Miller (1866-1935). Eugene: Wipf & Stock, forthcoming.
- The Life of Faith: An Exposition on the Second Half of A Centennial Statement. Ashland: The Brethren Church, forthcoming.
- Editor, A Brethren Way. Ashland: The Brethren Church, 2018.
- Co-editor, A Brethren Witness Primer. Ashland, The Brethren Church, 2015.
- Co-editor, A Brethren Witness for the 21st Century. Ashland: Bookmasters Publishing, 2014.
- Sunday Asylum: Being the Church in Occupied Territory with Stanley Hauerwas. Louis: The House Studio, 2011.
Book Chapters
- “Palm Sunday,” In Faith & History Lenten Devotional, Waco: Baylor University Press, 2021.
- “Busyness,” Fireside Chats. Kansas City: Burlap Media, 2020.
- “Anger,” Fireside Chats. Kansas City: Burlap Media, 2020.
- “Friendship,” Fireside Chats. Kansas City: Burlap Media, 2020.
- “Conversionary Discipleship: The Brethren-Evangelical Relationship in the Era of Billy Sunday.” In Brethren Intersections: History, Identity, Crosscurrents—Sixth Brethren World Assembly, ed. Jared S. Burkholder (Philadelphia: Brethren Encyclopedia, Inc., 2020): 113-135.
- “Values of a Brethren University.” In Brethren Beliefs: Ashland University Edition. Ashland: The Brethren Church, 2019.
- “Holy Saturday.” In Come Back to Jesus: A Lenten Devotional by the Readers and Authors of The Pietist Option, edited by Christopher Gehrz, 52. Mountain View, CA: Creative Commons, 2018.
- “Promise.” In A World Unbroken: Hope and Healing for a Shattered World, ed. Chris Folmsbee (St. Louis: Barefoot Ministries, 2011).
Articles
- “‘Do This in Remembrance of Me’: A Brethren Understanding of the Lord’s Supper as Alternative Political Witness.” Anabaptist Witness 8, no. 1 (April 2021): 53-74.
- “A Christ Centered Education: The Pedagogical Posture of J. Allen Miller.” Brethren Life & Thought 64, no. 2 (Fall 2019/Winter 2020): 58-65.
- “Lament Amid Covid,” letter to the editor, Ashland Times Gazette, April 4, 2020.
- “Creating a Spiritual Epidemic,” Brethren Church website (brethrenchurch.org), March 26, 2020.
- “Brethren to America: Alexander Mack, Jr. (1712-1802) and the Poetic Imagination of a Pilgrim People.” Anabaptist Witness 6, no. 2 (October 2019): 11-23.
- “A Curmudgeon Looks as Worship,” Brethren Church website (brethrenchurch.org), October 17, 2018.
- “J. Allen Miller: A Brethren Prototype.” The Brethren Evangelist, 140, no. 1 (March 2018): 12-17.
- “Memories of Billy Graham,” Brethren Church website (brethrenchurch.org), February 26, 2018.
- “What’s Wrong with the World,” Brethren Church website (brethrenchurch.org), January 19, 2018.
- “Advent as Resistance,” Brethren Church website (brethrenchurch.org), December 19, 2017.
- “The Dialectic of Peace,” Brethren Church website (brethrenchurch.org), December 14, 2017.
- “The Educational Ideal of J. Allen Miller.” Brethren Life & Thought 62, no. 1 (Spring 2017): 22-42.
Book Reviews
- Review of The Violence of the Biblical God: Canonical Narrative and Christian Faith, by L. Daniel Hawk, Brethren Life & Thought 64, no. 1 (Summer 2019): 94-97.
Videos
- “Brethren & Nonresistance.” Filmed at the Korean War Memorial, Washington, D.C., August 2020.
- “A Tale of Two Elections.” Filmed at the U.S. Capitol, Washington. D.C., August 2020.
- Brethren in America Series: “Brethren and Elections.” Filmed at the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C., August 2020.
- Quarantined Theology, “Dale Stoffer on Brethren and the 1918 Influenza Pandemic,” April 2020.
- Quarantined Theology, “Cherith Fee-Nordling on the Role of the Spirit,” May 2020.
- Quarantined Theology, “Allan Bevere on Politics and the Church,” May 2020.
- Quarantined Theology,” Dan Hawk on Violence in the Old Testament,” May 2020.
- Quarantined Theology, “Will Willimon on Karl Barth and Pietism,” April 2020.
- Quarantined Theology,” Howard Walters and Interpreting Data as Christians,” April 2020.
- Quarantined Theology, “Michael Gorman on Cruciform Spirituality,” April 2020.
- Lenten Devotional Series. Park Street Brethren Church, Ashland, OH. Lent 2020.
- Interview with Paul Mundey, moderator for the Church of the Brethren (2019-2020), “The Christocentric Word,” Baltimore, MD (February 27, 2020).
- “You’re Going to Need a Break,” with Gary Diehl at Our Lady of Gethsemane Monastery, Trappist, KY, November 2019.
- “Brethren in America” small group video curriculum, Summer 2019.
- Brethren in America Series (with Nate Bebout): “Brethren and the Bible.” Filmed at the Museum of the Bible, Washington, D.C., May 2019.
- Brethren in America Series: “The Brethren Peace Witness.” Filmed at the Vietnam War Memorial, Washington, D.C., May 2019.
- “Footwashing in Berlin, Pennsylvania,” May 2018.
- Brethren in America Series: “Brethren and Religious Freedom.” Filmed in Washington, D.C., April 2018.
- Whiteboard Wednesday, “Denominationalism, Pt. 2,” May 2018.
- Whiteboard Wednesday, “Denominationalism, Pt. 1,” April 2018.
- Whiteboard Wednesday, “Sustaining a Tradition, Pt. 2,” March 2018.
- Whiteboard Wednesday, “Sustain a Tradition, Pt. 1,” February 2018.
- Whiteboard Wednesday, “Word and Spirit,” January 2018.
- Brethren in America Series (with Steven Cole): “The Colonial Brethren.” Filmed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA. November 2017.
