Carl R. Trueman
Fellow
Carl R. Trueman is a fellow in EPPC’s Evangelicals in Civic Life Program, where his work focuses on helping civic leaders and policy makers better understand the deep roots of our current cultural malaise. In addition to his scholarship on the intellectual foundations of expressive individualism and the sexual revolution, Trueman is also interested in the origins, rise, and current use of critical theory by progressives. He serves as a professor at Grove City College.
Carl R. Trueman is a fellow in EPPC’s Evangelicals in Civic Life Program, where his work focuses on helping civic leaders and policy makers better understand the deep roots of our current cultural malaise. In addition to his scholarship on the intellectual foundations of expressive individualism and the sexual revolution, Trueman is also interested in the origins, rise, and current use of critical theory by progressives. He serves as a professor at Grove City College.
Trueman is the author of the best-selling, award-winning 2020 book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to the Sexual Revolution. Born and raised in England, Trueman is a graduate of the Universities of Cambridge (M.A.) and Aberdeen (Ph.D), and has taught on the faculties of the Universities of Nottingham and Aberdeen before moving to the United States in 2001 to teach at Westminster Theological Seminary (PA). In 2017-18 he was the William E. Simon Visiting Fellow in Religion and Public Life in the James Madison Program at Princeton University. Since 2018, he has served as a professor at Grove City College in the Calderwood School of Arts and Humanities.
Trueman’s earlier academic work focused on Reformation and post-Reformation Protestantism, particularly the reception of Martin Luther’s thought in the English context and also the use of late medieval philosophy by seventeenth century Reformed thinkers. More recently, he has studied the rise of modern therapeutic culture, specifically as it shapes popular attitudes to sexual morality, gender identity, and freedom of speech and religion.
Trueman’s latest book, the best-selling The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, explores the nature of the sexual revolution against the background of the development of expressive individualism. It has been described by Rod Dreher, writing in the Wall Street Journal as “one of the most important religious books of the decade” and by Ben Shapiro as “the most important book of our moment.” A concise version of his argument, Strange New World, is due to be published in February 2022, with a foreword authored by EPPC President Ryan T. Anderson.
Trueman has published widely, with scholarly articles in books from Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Brill. His commentaries on contemporary issues appear regularly in First Things, where he is a contributing editor, and he has also published in Public Discourse, Deseret News, and Catholic World Report. Trueman has had a longstanding interest in Marxist theory and he is currently working on a book examining the origins of critical theory in the western Marxist tradition of the early twentieth century.
What gives me hope in the new year
Carl R. Trueman
Psalm 128 and the blessing of grandchildren.
Articles
WORLD Opinions / January 2, 2023
Remembering Benedict XVI
Carl R. Trueman
The late pope emeritus offered a brilliant and compelling analysis of secularism.
Articles
WORLD Opinions / December 31, 2022
Identity Politics on the Right
Carl R. Trueman
The tawdry Achord affair has revealed an ugly side to a certain part of the American Christian world.
Articles
First Things / December 8, 2022
David French and the Future of Orthodox Protestantism
Carl R. Trueman
I welcome the clarity of David French’s stand on the Respect for Marriage Act even as I disagree with him.
Articles
First Things / November 25, 2022
Whatever happened to John Wesley’s Methodism?
Carl R. Trueman
The theological battle is now over what it means to be human.
Articles
WORLD Opinions / November 15, 2022
The Age of Ingratitude
Carl R. Trueman
In gratitude we acknowledge that we are not isolated, autonomous individuals but are dependent upon others, a dependency in which we find joy and for which we are thankful.
Articles
First Things / November 10, 2022
Into the Anthropological Chaos
Carl R. Trueman
To stay with Revoice is not merely to legitimate more than subtle distinctions about sexual identity.
Articles
WORLD Opinions / October 27, 2022
Gay Vs. Queer
Carl R. Trueman
The winners and losers may change, but the game is always the same.
Articles
First Things / October 27, 2022
Pride, Promiscuity, and Preventable Illness
Carl R. Trueman
When public health collides with identity politics.
Articles
WORLD Opinions / October 20, 2022
Why Bros Failed at the Box Office
Carl R. Trueman
The genre of romantic tragedy depends upon a specific moral framework. So does the genre of romantic comedy.
Articles
First Things / October 13, 2022