The Theology of Conversion: Thomas Dove at LATC 2025

I’m eagerly looking forward to this paper at the 2025 L.A. Theology Conference (register here!). Thomas Dove is working on the doctrine of conversion, and this paper is a great opportunity to hear some of his analysis of this important doctrine. Here’s our interview:

Q: LATC 2025’s theme is Receiving Redemption, and it focuses on how salvation is received by human persons and communities. Why did this aspect of soteriology catch your attention and make you propose a paper on it?

A: For as much of my Christian life as I can remember, I’ve been interested in how the gospel effects change among individuals, communities, and societies. A few years back this interest—unexpectedly—led me to the doctrine of conversion, which I now think is a kind of “ground zero” for exploring the relation between grace and change in the Christian life. To my mind, claims how redemption is received in conversion shapes claims about the ongoing Christian life. Also, my hunch is that conversion has something of an uneasy place in modern theology and the Christian imagination today—it has received very little dogmatic attention lately—hence, this paper proposal!

Q: The title of your paper is “Confessing conversion: the astonishing reality of Christian existence.” How will you be approaching the conference theme in this paper?

A: The discipline of ‘conversion studies’ is vast and essentially focuses on the phenomenonof conversion, which implies a number of things about what conversion is and is not. This paper approaches conversion as a dogmatic topic and focuses on the initial event of ‘Receiving Redemption’ and its bearing for the human being. In particular, I draw from Karl Barth’s theology to develop what it means to speak of conversion as a divine event that the Holy Spirit effects at the heart of human existence, and which results in a fundamental turnaround in the life of a human creature. The result is an affirmation of the ‘astonishing reality’ of Christian existence.

Q: Can you describe how this paper fits in with your previous theological work, or with your recent scholarship?

A: I am currently finishing my doctoral thesis—’The doctrine of conversion: with and beyond Karl Barth’—through the University of Aberdeen, under the supervision of Paul T Nimmo. It develops a dogmatic account of conversion and argues for a fourfold characterization of conversion on the basis of the biblical witness. This paper develops one of the chapters of the thesis, which addresses the work of the Holy Spirit in conversion.

Q: What are you looking forward to at the conference? Are there any papers or theological issues that have especially caught your eye?

A: Generally, I’m very much looking forward to interacting with others thinking through this important aspect of Christian theology and wish I could go to all the papers! I’m particularly looking forward to hearing Cambria Kaltwasser’s paper, because it bears a close relation to my own research.