Bio:
Sean is the Dean of Research and Director of New Testament Studies at Whitley. He has spent more than 25 years in theological education, initially in the United Kingdom and, since 2009, in Australia. He has taught at the Universities of Bristol, Oxford, and Birmingham and was Lecturer in New Testament at Northern Baptist College in Manchester from 2000–2008. Prior to coming to Whitley in 2024, Sean spent 16 years in teaching and leadership in the United Faculty of Theology and Pilgrim Theological College, where he was Principal from 2018–2024.
Sean is an ordained Baptist minister. He was in pastoral ministry in the UK from 1994-1999, served in numerous interim ministry positions, and was the Moderator of the Council of the Baptist Union of Great Britain from 2006–2008.
As well as overseeing Whitley’s research program and activities, Sean teaches New Testament subjects, especially the letters and theology of Paul. He has a passion for helping Christian disciples understand how rigorous, informed, and critical engagement with Scripture makes the church more, not less, biblical in its worship, mission, and service.
Qualifications:
- DPhil, University of Oxford, awarded 1997 and supervised by N. T. Wright (‘Worthy of the Gospel of Christ: A Study in the Situation and Strategy of Paul’s Letter to the Philippians’)
- BA(Hons) in Theology and Religious Studies, University of Bristol, awarded 1989.
Recent Publications:
- “The ‘Sending of the Son’ Formula in Paul and John,” Pages 87–101 in Many Believed Because of Her Testimony: Essays Celebrating the Scholarship and Service of Dorothy Lee. Edited by Robert A. Derrenbacker Jr, Christopher A. Porter, and Muriel Porter. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2023.
- “Non-Christian Unity: Jews, Gentiles, and Paul’s Ecumenical Vision.” Uniting Church Studies 25 (2023): 21–28.
- Handasyde, Kerrie, and Sean Winter eds., Seeing Christ in Australia since 1850. Histories of the Sacred and Secular 1700–2000. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024.
- “The Basis of Union: Through Baptist Eyes,” Pages 147–151 in The Present and Future of the Basis of Union. Edited by Geoff Thompson and Ji Zhang. Bayswater: Uniting Academic, 2024.
- Winter, Sean F. “The Wonder and the Work: Reflections on Reading Willie Jennings’ After Whiteness.” Uniting Church Studies 26 (2024): 89–93.
- “Christ as Son and Brother: Jesus in Christos Tsiolkas’ Damascus,” Pages 189–206 in Seeing Christ in Australia since 1850. of Histories of the Sacred and Secular 1700–2000. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024.
Units Currently Teaching:
- 1 and 2 Corinthians: Community, Mission, and Ministry in the New Creation
- Understanding Paul in Context
Supervision Areas:
- All aspects of New Testament studies, especially Paul’s letters and theology
- Contextual and theological hermeneutics
Research Interests:
- Pauline letters and Pauline Theology: especially Philippians and 2 Corinthians
- Gospel of Matthew in Colonial / Imperial Context
- Theological hermeneutics with special focus on the anabaptist/Baptist /dissenting tradition
- Theology and biblical interpretation in Dietrich Bonhoeffer.