John D. Woodbridge, PhD

John D. Woodbridge is research professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He has taught at Trinity since 1970. He has also served as a senior editor of Christianity Today.

Prior to coming to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Dr. Woodbridge taught at the University of Toulouse, France, and Trinity College. Dr. Woodbridge has also taught as visiting professor of history at Northwestern University and at Hautes Etudes, the Sorbonne, Paris. Dr. Woodbridge has done postgraduate study with fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Studies, and the Herzog August Bibliothek in Germany. In 1965 he was awarded a Fulbright fellowship.

Dr. Woodbridge earned the Doctorat de Troisième Cycle from the University of Toulouse, France, the Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, the Master of Arts in history from Michigan State University, and the Bachelor of Arts in history from Wheaton College. Dr. Woodbridge has done postdoctoral course work at the University of Paris in France.

Dr. Woodbridge's areas of expertise include evangelicalism, fundamentalism, the history of the Bible's authority, the French enlightenment and religion, the French Hugenots, and the origins of higher criticism. He speaks fluent French. Dr. Woodbridge is a member of the American Society of Church History, the American Society of 18th Century Studies, the American Catholic Historical Association, the French Historical Society, and the French-Société française d'etude du 18 siècle.

Dr. Woodbridge's published works include The History of Biblical Authority (Zondervan 1982), The Evangelicals (Abingdon, 1975), and Revolt in Prerevolutionary France: The Conspiracy of the Prince de Conti Against Louis XV (1755-1757) (Johns Hopkins, 1995). He has edited works such as Ambassadors for Christ (Moody, 1994), More Than Conquerors (Moody 1992), Great Leaders of the Christian Church (Moody 1988), and Renewing Your Mind in a Secular World (Moody, 1985). Dr. Woodbridge also frequently writes and edits books with faculty colleague D. A. Carson. Together they have written Letters Along the Way (Crossway, 1993) and edited Scripture and Truth (Zondervan, 1983). Dr. Woodbridge has received four Gold Medallion Awards for his works related to Christian history and biography. He has also coedited scholarly works published in France and Germany by university presses.

Dr. Woodbridge and his wife, Susan, reside in Lake Forest, Illinois. They have three children. In his spare time, Dr. Woodbridge enjoys music.