Carl R. Trueman

Carl R. Trueman (born March 18, 1967, in Dudley, England) is an English Reformed theologian, ecclesiastical historian, and author, currently serving as Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Grove City College in Pennsylvania. Previously, he held the Paul Woolley Chair of Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia).

Early Life and Education

Trueman was born in Dudley, in England’s West Midlands, in 1967. He earned an M.A. in Classics from St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge, and a Ph.D. in Church History from the University of Aberdeen.

Academic Career

• 1991–1993: Tutorial Assistant in Church History, University of Aberdeen
• 1993–1998: Lecturer in Theology, University of Nottingham
• 1998–2001: Senior Lecturer in Church History, University of Aberdeen
• 2001–2018: Professor of Historical Theology and Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary, Pennsylvania (holding the Paul Woolley Chair)
• 2017–2018: Visiting Fellow in Religion and Public Life at Princeton University’s James Madison Program
• 2018–present: Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies Grove City College

Ministry and Affiliations

Trueman is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and formerly served as pastor of Cornerstone OPC in Ambler, Pennsylvania. He is also a council member of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals and a fellow in the Ethics & Public Policy Center’s “Evangelicals in Civic Life” Program.

Writing and Public Engagement

An accomplished author and editor, Trueman has written or edited over a dozen books. Notable works include:

• John Owen: Reformed Catholic, Renaissance Man
• The Creedal Imperative
• Fools Rush In Where Monkeys Fear to Tread: Taking Aim at Everyone
• Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative
• The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution (2020), widely regarded as his most influential work
• Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution (2022), a condensed adaptation.

He served as editor of the theological journal Themelios from 1998 to 2007 and contributes regularly to First Things and Reformation21. Additionally, he co-hosts the podcast The Mortification of Spin. He also appeared in the 2022 documentary What Is a Woman?  .

Research Interests

Trueman’s scholarship spans Reformation history, ecclesiastical historiography, and contemporary culture—particularly cultural conceptions of selfhood influenced by thinkers like Charles Taylor and Philip Rieff.