Meet Dr. Travis Buchanan
Degrees and Experience
- Ph.D., Theology, Imagination and the Arts (University of St Andrews)
- M.Litt., Theology, Imagination and the Arts (University of St Andrews)
- M.Div., emphasis in Biblical Communication (Phoenix Seminary)
- B.A., English, emphasis in Literary Studies (University of Denver)
Biography and Professional Achievements
Dr. Travis Buchanan's Ph.D. thesis concerned relating the mythopoeic thought and fiction of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien with a broad and reinvigorated understanding of sacramental theology.
Since 2015, he has taught for CCU’s College of Adult and Graduate Studies in their Master of Arts in Theological Studies program. Since 2021, he has also taught in the College of Undergraduate Studies at the Lakewood campus, particularly in the Augustine Honors program.
From 2006 to 2008, he served as the assistant editor for research on The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), an intensive and rewarding project working alongside the General Editor researching and editing over 20,000 exegetical notes and over 50 topical theological articles comprising this landmark 2-million-word publication.
Prior to this, Dr. Buchanan served for several years in pastoral ministry at a larger Bible church in the Phoenix area, teaching and leading mainly college students, young professionals, and singles.
His scholarly interests are lively and broad, though chiefly drawn toward the intersection of Christian theology with other disciplines, especially literature, imagination, and the arts. Of particular interest is an imaginative approach to theology resourced by aesthetics and the arts, particularly as found in the thought of "The Inklings" and their works, influences, and associates. That is, of C. S. Lewis and his circle of literary friends, especially J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, Dorothy L. Sayers, as well as influences like George MacDonald, G. K. Chesterton, myth, Romanticism, Christian Platonism, the "Great Tradition," and "Mere Christianity."
He is married to the lovely Jessica, and they have two sons and two daughters.
Publications
- Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution. By Carl R. Trueman. Book review in the CCU Review of Books, Culture, Media, and Life (Fall 2023).
- Christ the Tragedy of God: A Theological Exploration of Tragedy. By Kevin Taylor. Book review in the Anglican Theological Review (2023).
- “Christianity and Culture: Approaching Theological Aesthetics in Conversation with C. S. Lewis.” Conference paper read at the Far West Regional Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (Colorado Christian University, April 23, 2021).
- Buchanan, Travis. "P. H. Brazier's Five-Volume Series, C. S. Lewis: Revelation and the Christ: A Major Review Essay." VII: An Anglo-American Literary Review 33 (2016). An over 8,000-word major review essay.
- Buchanan, Travis. Truth Incarnate: Story as Sacrament in the Mythopoeic Thought and Fiction of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. PhD Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2015.
- Buchanan, Travis. “Joseph Pearce, Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G K Chesterton. Review." The Journal of Inklings Studies 2, no. 2 (October 2012).
- Buchanan, Travis." Gospel Echoes in Fantastic Fiction: Part 1 of 2." Mythprint 48, no. 2 (February 2011): 3-4.