Jennifer Powell McNutt, Ph.D., Fr.Hist.S.

Biography

Rev. Dr. Jennifer Powell McNutt, Ph.D., FrHistS is an award-winning author and professor, who holds the Franklin S. Dyrness Chair of Biblical and Theological Studies and is Professor of Theology and History of Christianity at Wheaton College, Litfin Divinity School. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of St. Andrews (Reformation Studies Institute), M.Div. at Princeton Theological Seminary, and B.A. in Religious Studies (Biblical Languages) from Westmont College. She is director of the M.A. Programs in Theology and in History of Christianity.

Dr. McNutt is a recipient of the Leland Ryken Award for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities at Wheaton College, an elected Fellow in the Royal Historical Society, a Senior Fellow of the Center for Pastor Theologians, a Scholar-in-Residence at the Newberry Library, and past-President of the Calvin Studies Society.

While a doctoral student, she was awarded the Sydney E. Mead Prize for her first academic article by the American Society of Church History. She later received the Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize for her first academic monograph (Calvin Meets Voltaire: The Clergy of Geneva in the Age of Enlightenment, Routledge, 2014). Recent publications include co-editing The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and the Reformation (Oxford University Press, 2025) with Herman J. Selderhuis, co-writing Know the Theologians (Zondervan, 2024) with David W. McNutt (CT Book Awards Finalist in Public Theology 2024), and authoring The Mary We Forgot: What the Apostle to the Apostles Teaches the Church Today (Brazos Press, 2024; ECPA Book of the Year Finalist 2025; Midwest Book Awards Finalist 2025).

Dr. McNutt’s research specializes broadly in the history of Christianity and theology and specifically in Reformation Studies through the Enlightenment, John Calvin and the Reformed tradition, and the history of the Bible. Her work on the French Bible has received numerous grants and fellowships including at Trinity Hall College, University of Cambridge, and the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel, Germany. She has delivered public and named invited lectures at some of the following institutions including Universität Zürich, Calvin University, John Brown University, Westmont College, Denver Seminary, American College of the Mediterranean, Houston Christian University, Hope International University, and more.

 Rev. Dr. McNutt also serves as a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church along with her husband, Rev. Dr. David McNutt. They run a co-ministry called “McNuttshell Ministries,” which serves as a bridge between the church and the academy. She teaches and preaches regularly at church and seminaries across the country and across denominations.

For speaking invitations, contact Dr. McNutt through https://jenniferpowellmcnutt.com or https://mcnuttshellministries.com