A Short Bio
Dr. Barry Whitney
is Professor of Christianity, Philosophy of Religion
and Religion and Culture. He taught for
21 years in a Department of Religious Studies at the University
of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada where
he served as Department Head. He currently teaches in the
Religion and Culture program at this same university. Dr.
Whitney has taught several thousands of students in more
than 165 courses during the past 31 years. His classes
are popular among students and enrolment has increased
continually to over 500 students in his 2006 courses on "God
and Evil," "God
and Atheism," "Religion
and Culture," and "Justifying
Religious Beliefs." He
has taught over 20 other Religious Studies
courses in Christian Philosophy of Religion and
various other areas, including "World
Religions," "Religion
and Science" and "Process Theology," etc.
He has directed and assessed over two dozen M.
A. theses and Ph.D. dissertations, and has been
active in research and writing, as well as composing
music. His music is being incorporated in small
bits on his podcasts and an album with some of
his music in complete form is planned for future
release on iTunes.
Video
Clips and Dr. Whitney's Podcasts are being made avaliable
(as time permits): 
Teaching has always
been Dr Whitney's priority: he has taken in large numbers
of students each year despite the extra burden of preparations,
administration and counseling which comes with large classes.
When time permitted, he has taught also outside the classroom
in churches (most recently at Pentecostal and AngloCatholic
churches in Windsor) and in more academic settings
(most recently, a graduate course in Theodicy at The Claremont
School of Theology). His has published a dozen Books and
Book Chapters, and is Editor-in-Chief of an internationally
respected academic journal, Process
Studies, for which he has edited 28 issues since
1996. He as also written more than 130
articles and book reviews for academic journals. He is a
member of the International Editorical Advisory Board the
board for the Australian journal, Sophia:
International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Metaphysical
Theology and Ethics, and serves also as the "Religion
and Science' Book Review sub-Editor for Religious
Studies Review'. He
has been a Fellow and Tutor of Admissions for Canterbury
College, Windsor, Lecturer for the Pastoral Care Program
at the Southwestern Reginal Center in Blenheim, Ontario,
a member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue, and a
member of several theological and philosophical
societies. Dr. Whitney remains as active as tim epermits
in the religious community, presenting teachings
on Christianity -- including
the Problem of Reconciling Belief in God with evil and
suffering, Christianity and the New Age, and Biblical Studies.
Dr.
Whitney belongs
to no theological or philosophical school, but has been
engaged in a coherent defense (justification) of traditional
Christianity. Dr. Whitney
holds a unique, modified understanding of process thought
which is consistent with biblical theology and the best
of traditional Christian theism. He
believes that many of the criticisms of process thought
by traditional theists are based on misunderstandings,
often due to the lack of clarity by process thinkers.
At the same time. he believes that many criticisms are
legitimate with respect to versions of process thought
that Dr Whitney does not endorse. As time permits, one
of his current research projects is to publish his defense
of traditional Christian and how the process theism
of Charles Hartshorne (1897-2000), his esteemed teacher
at the University of Texas, can clarify some basic Christian
issues.
Dr Whitney earned an Honours B. A. in
Biblical Studies and Christian Theology and a Honours Ph.D.
in Christian Theology and Philosophy of Religion (with
a minor in Buddhism). He has extensive background
in Eastern religions and the state of contemporary
Christianity amid the cultural conflicts between Christian
theism and both atheistic secular humanism and the New
Age spiritualities which are, in effect, the spiritual
and optimistic side of cynical postmodern deconstructionism).
He has taught and written in the theological/philosophical
field of philosophy of religion and Christian Theology,
with his main expertise in the problem of reconciling
belief in God with evil and suffering.
Besides publishing
over 130 Academic Articles and Reviews, a dozen books and
book chapters and 26 edited issues of Process Studies,
Dr. Whitney has published more than 350 other Articles
and Abstracts for academic journals, and has given dozens
of academic papers, seminars, workshops and public lectures.
He has debated the New Age guru Deepak
Chopra and the controversial Bishop Joseph Sprague
on Vision TV, and has been interviewed on CBC television
and radio (Canada) and in print media, including Time
magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Times, Newsday,
Long Island, The Chicago Tribune, The Ottawa Citizen,
etc.
Dr Whitney earned an Honours B.A. (first
class honours) in both Religion and English Literature
(with courses in Philosophy) from Carleton University (1967-71).
His major in Religion focused on Biblical Studies and Christian
Theology. He received a Ph.D. (first
class honours) from McMaster University (1971-77), in
Christian Theology and Philosophy of Religion, with a
minor in Buddhism and graduate courses in Philosophy.
He received Merit
Awards for scholarships, Canada Council Doctoral Scholarships,
Ontario Graduate Scholarships, and Graduate Teaching Assistantships
during his graduate studies.
He was permitted to skip the M.A. degree
after 4 months in the program and was admitted into the
Ph.D. program. In 1976, he studied with the process philosopher
Professor Charles Hartshorne at the University of Texas.
His doctoral dissertation constructed a theodicy based
on Hartshorne's metaphysics and critically assessed
its merits and shortcomings.
Dr. Whitney has taught
Christianity, Philosophy of Religion, and Religion and
Culture at the University of Windsor since 1976 where he
has received several merit awards, research grants, a Research
Professorship, and promotion (1990) to the
the rank of Full Professor. He has served on and
chaired several Faculty of Arts and University committees,
as well as being elected to the University
Senate. He has served as Head of the Religious Studies
Department and as Tutor of Admissions and Fellow of Canterbury
College in Windsor.
While he has devoted
most of his time to teaching increasingly large numbers
of students, he had continued to write and publish, as
time permits. His major resource book , Theodicy (God
and Evil) remains the standard academic reference work
in the important study of reconciling belief in God with
the world's evil and suffering, a project which took over
seven years of research to complete and two more years
to complete a second (expanded) edition, published in 1998.
He has also co-authored The
Reality of God (1982), and
authored Evil
and the Process God (1985), What
Are They Saying About God and Evil? (1989), Theodicy (1993)
and the revised, expanded version, Theodicy (1998),
as well as many articles, book chapters and published
interviews on the Problem of reconciling (justifying) belief
in God. He was commissioned to write the "Evil,""Theodicy," and
"Paul Tillich" entries in the New
Catholic Encyclopedia (2002). Testimonies to his
work are found on the Theodicy
pages.
Dr. Whitney
has one of the world's largest libraries on Theodicy,
the Problem of God and Evil. His collection includes
1,500 books and over 11,000 photocopied articles. This
is the centerpiece of his 30,000-book theological library.
He also has a large collection of Icelandic books and
recordings. He has composed and recorded various musical
works, from popular songs to more classical works which eventually
will be available on I-tunes. Excerpts from some of these are
available on his "God and Evil" podcast series on I-tunes.
Dr. Whitney
is married to Juliann Whitney (new Blackmore), a former
CTV and CBC (Canada) Television award-winning producer/
reporter/ anchor, and the director of several television
shows and the widely acclaimed Icelandic-Canadian film, A
Saga of Hope: An Icelandic Odyssey.
Juliann is
producing Audio and Video podcasts of Dr Whitney's
lectures and public presentations for I-Tunes.
Dr. Whitney can be reached by email at <whitney@uwindsor.ca>
