Dr Joshua Samuel

Dr Joshua Samuel is from Chennai, India, currently living in New York, USA. He received his Ph.D. in Theology and Interreligious Engagement from the Union Theological Seminary, New York, in May 2017. He has a broad spectrum of teaching experience. He taught briefly in the Department of Theology and Ethics at the United Theological College, Bangalore, India. Prior to this he taught in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the Marymount Manhattan College, New York. At present, he teaches in the D. Min. program at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, New Jersey. He also serves as the instructor for Theology and Mission at the George Mercer School of Theology, Garden City, which is the School of Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. Since 2018 he has been the Visiting Lecturer for Theology, Global Christianity, and Mission at the Episcopal Divinity School at the Union Theological Seminary, New York. His areas of teaching and research include Comparative Theology, Liberation Theology, Dalit Theology, World Christianity, Mission, and Postcolonial Studies.

His first book, Untouchable Bodies, Resistance, and Liberation: A Comparative Theology of Divine Possessions (Leiden: Brill, 2020), is a constructive comparative theology of divine possessions—the phenomena of devotees being chosen as vessels of the divine—as found among Hindu and Christian Dalit (formerly, untouchable) communities in India. His second book (co-authored), Church and Religious Diversity, was published by the Council for World Mission as an introductory resource and study guide for theological students and interested lay members of the church. He has published articles in journals such as Interreligious Studies and Intercultural Theology, Current Dialogue, International Review of Mission, and the Bangalore Theological Forum. He has lectured and presented papers at various fora like the AsiaNetwork Annual conference (for Liberal Arts Colleges), Fall Theological Colloquy at the General Theological Seminary, New York, and “Engaging Particularities” Conference at the Boston College.

At present, he is working on two book projects. He is completing an introductory text to Dalit Theology entitled, Dalit Theology: A Global Introduction to be published by Fortress Press (forthcoming 2023) coauthored with Sunder John Boopalan. His second monograph is Rage, Resistance, and Reconciliation: A Postcolonial Theology of Prophetic Anger to be published by Palgrave Macmillan (forthcoming 2023) which seeks to construct a postcolonial comparative theology of anger by considering the significance and potential of anger/rage within various contexts and religious traditions in the struggle for justice and liberation. The next monograph is an introduction to comparative theology from a postcolonial perspective that looks at the pioneering voices of interreligious theologies in the global south and critical issues in the field today (intended to be published by ISPCK, Delhi, India). He is also working on an essay entitled “Dalit Earth: Listening to the Ecological Wisdom of the Broken People” to be published in the volume Intimacy and Hope: The New Diaspore Responds to the Climate Crisis (Lexington Press) which seeks to learn from the religious resources of Dalit and similar subaltern communities in India to counter the current environmental crisis.

Samuel is an ordained Minister of the Church of South India. At present, he serves in the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island as the Priest in Charge of two diverse congregations in Queens, New York. Samuel believes he is called to be both a teacher and a pastor, and is deeply committed to and passionate about both these vocations.