Philip Ryken

Philip Graham Ryken, DPhil

Professor of Theology, President

On Faculty since 2010

Biography
Education
Areas of Expertise
Select Books
Select Publications
Affiliations
Links

Dr. Ryken has served as Wheaton’s eighth President and as Professor of Theology since 2010. During his presidency, Wheaton has advanced the strategic priorities of Deepening Ethnic Diversity, Promoting Liberal Arts Excellence, Enhancing Music and the Performing Arts, and Globalizing a Wheaton Education. Positive results include a new general education curriculum (“Christ at the Core”), a more diverse campus community (one-third are students of color from the United States, and international students have come from nearly 100 countries), the state-of-the-art Armerding Center for Music and the Arts, and nearly $300 million in new giving for student scholarships and other priorities.

A Wheaton native and the son of longtime professor Dr. Leland Ryken and Mary Graham Ryken, President Ryken attended Wheaton as an undergraduate, majoring in English literature and philosophy. He met his wife Lisa during their first few days at the College, and they were married before their senior year. The Rykens have five children—Josh (’15), Kirsten (’18), Jack (’23), Kathryn (’24), Karoline ('28)—and two grandchildren.

Dr. Ryken preached at Philadelphia’s historic Tenth Presbyterian Church from 1995 until his appointment at Wheaton in 2010.

University of Oxford
DPhil, Historical Theology, 1995

Westminster Theological Seminary (PA)
M.Div., 1992

Wheaton College (IL)
B.A., English Literature, 1988

Homiletics, especially preaching Christ from the Old Testament
Pastoral Theology in the Reformed tradition
Christianity and Culture
Theology of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien
Higher Education Leadership

Thomas Boston as Preacher of the Fourfold State (Paternoster, 1999)
Jeremiah and Lamentations, Preaching the Word (Crossway, 2001)
The Message of Salvation, The Bible Speaks Today (InterVarsity, 2001)
The Doctrines of Grace (Crossway, 2002)
Galatians, Reformed Expository Commentary (P&R, 2005)
Exodus, Preaching the Word (Crossway, 2005)
Ryken’s Bible Handbook (Tyndale, 2005)
Art for God’s Sake (P&R, 2006)
The ESV Literary Study Bible (Crossway, 2007)
Luke, Reformed Expository Commentary (P&R, 2009)
Ecclesiastes, Preaching the Word (Crossway, 2010)
1 Kings, Reformed Expository Commentary (P&R, 2011)
Pastors in the Classics (Baker, 2011)
Liberal Arts for the Christian Life (Crossway, 2012)
Christian Worldview: A Student’s Guide (Crossway, 2013)
The Messiah Comes to Middle Earth (InterVarsity, 2017)
The Love of Loves in the Song of Songs (Crossway, 2019)
2 Kings, Reformed Expository Commentary (P&R, 2019)

“Winsome Evangelist: The Influence of C. S. Lewis,” in C. S. Lewis: Lightbearer in the Shadowlands, ed. by Angus J. L. Menuge (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1997), pp. 55-78

“Scottish Reformed Scholasticism,” in Reformed Scholasticism: Essays in Reassessment, ed. by Carl R. Trueman and R. S. Clark (Carlisle, UK: Paternoster, 1999), pp. 196-210

“Pastoral Ministry in Union with Christ,” in The Practical Calvinist: An Introduction to the Presbyterian and Reformed Heritage, ed. by Peter Lillback (Fearn, Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2002), pp. 445-62

“Thomas Boston,” in New Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004)

“Oliver Bowles and the Westminster View of Gospel Ministry,” in The Westminster Confession into the 21^st Century: Essays in Remembrance of the 350^th Anniversary of the Westminster Assembly, ed. by Ligon Duncan iii (Fearn, Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2004), pp. 409-27

“Human Nature in its Fourfold State by Thomas Boston (1676-1732),” in The Devoted Life: An Invitation to the Puritan Classics, ed. by Kelly M. Kapic and Randall C. Gleason (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004), pp. 270-84

“Preaching that Reforms,” in Preach the Word: Essays on Expository Preaching: In Honor of R.Kent Hughes, ed. by Leland Ryken and Todd Wilson (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007), pp. 190-205

“The Believer’s Union with Christ,” in John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine & Doxology, ed. by Burk Parsons (Reformation Trust, 2008), 191-200

“A Great Door for Spreading the Gospel,” in Preaching Like Calvin: Sermons from the 500^th Anniversary Celebration, Calvin 500, edited by David W. Hall (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2010), pp. 69-84

“C. S. Lewis as the Patron Saint of American Evangelicalism,” in C. S. Lewis and the Church: Essays in Honour of Walter Hooper, edited by Judith Wolfe and Brendan N. Wolfe (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 2011), pp. 174-85

“Justification,” in The Gospel as Center: Renewing Our Faith and Reforming Our Ministry Practices, edited by D. A. Carson and Timothy Keller (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), pp. 151-69

“We Cannot Understand the World or Our Faith without a Real, Historical Adam,” in Four Views on the Historical Adam, ed. by Matthew Barret and Ardel B. Caneday (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013), pp. 267-79

“Inerrancy and the Patron Saint of Evangelicalism: C. S. Lewis on Holy Scripture,” in The Romantic Rationalist: God, Life, and Imagination in the Work of C. S. Lewis, ed. by John Piper and David Mathis (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014), pp. 39-64

“Thomas Boston as Pastor Theologian,” in Becoming a Pastor Theologian: New Possibilities for Church Leadership, ed. by Todd Wilson and Gerald Hiestand (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2016), 93-107

“A New Heaven and a New Earth,” in Coming Home: Essays on the New Heaven & New Earth, ed. by D. A. Carson & Jeff Robinson, Sr., The Gospel Coalition (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017), 119-38.

“Christ-Centered Presidency: The Threefold Office of Christ as a Theological Paradigm for Leading a Christian College,” in Christian Scholar’s Review, XLVII:2 (Winter, 2018), 107-25.

Christian College Consortium (CCC) – member
Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) – board member
Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) – member
The Gospel Coalition – Council member
The Lausanne Movement – board member
National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) – board member

Faculty Profiles

Philip Graham Ryken, DPhil