Scott Manetsch, PhD

Though born in Seattle, Washington, Dr. Scott Manetsch grew up in the midwestern heartland of the United States. After his theological training, he served as an associate pastor of education and discipleship in a Reformed church near Chicago for three years, before pursuing his doctoral studies in Late Medieval and Early Modern European History at the University of Arizona, under the direction of the renowned Reformation scholar Heiko A. Oberman. It was in graduate school that Scott met his wife, Cathy; they have been married since 1991 and have two adult daughters, Hannah and Melissa (both scientists).  Christ’s itinerary for Scott and Cathy has entailed a great adventure, directing them from the deserts of Arizona; to the pristine mountains of Switzerland; to the green cornfields of Iowa; to the bustling urban space of Chicago; and now, to the natural grandeur of British Columbia. For twenty-six years, Scott served as a professor of church history at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, Illinois), before joining the faculty of TWU in 2026. As a couple, Scott and Cathy enjoy reading books together; camping and hiking in the mountains; taking long walks; playing board games; spending occasional summers in Switzerland; and welcoming international guests into their home.

• PhD in Late Medieval and Early Modern European History (University of Arizona)
• Master of Arts in Christian Thought (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)
• Master of Divinity (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)
• Bachelor of Arts in Political Philosophy (James Madison College, Michigan State University)

Expertise

Dr. Scott Manetsch is a specialist in the history of reformed Protestantism in early modern Europe. The focus of his research is on the theology and ministry of the French reformers John Calvin and Theodore Beza; the history of the pastoral office; and the history of exegesis in the Reformation era.  Since the publication of his dissertation under the title Theodore Beza and the Quest for Peace in France, 1572-1598 (Brill, 2000), Dr. Manetsch has conducted intensive archival research on the theology and practice of pastoral ministry in Reformation Europe, presenting his research findings at scholarly conferences and symposia in Switzerland, Germany, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, and South Korea. Dr. Manetsch’s commitment to explore the intersection of pastoral theory and practice, and to consider ways in which ministry models from the past might resource the contemporary church, found expression in his monograph Calvin’s Company of Pastors, Pastoral Care and the Emerging Reformed Church, 1536-1609 (Oxford, 2012). In addition, since 2005, Dr. Manetsch has served as the associate general editor of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture (InterVarsity Press), a twenty-eight volume commentary series that seeks to retrieve biblical wisdom from early modern commentaries with an eye toward spiritual renewal of the contemporary Christian church. His contribution to this series included producing the volumes devoted to 1 and 2 Corinthians. At the present time, Dr. Scott Manetsch is writing a full-length, critical biography of the largely-forgotten reformer Theodore Beza who, next to Calvin, was the most important French Protestant theologian in the second half of the sixteenth century.