Mark Lloyd Taylor

Mark Lloyd Taylor is an American theologian, educator, author and Professor Emeritus at Seattle University. His scholarship focuses on Christian theology, liturgical theology, worship, preaching, religion and gender, and the works of Danish thinker Søren Kierkegaard.

Early life and education

Taylor earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, summa cum laude, from Eastern Nazarene College in 1975. He completed a Master of Theological Studies, magna cum laude, at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University, in 1977, where his thesis examined the thought of Rudolf Bultmann and Martin Heidegger.

Academic career

Taylor began his academic career as Assistant Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Eastern Nazarene College. He later joined Vassar College as Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion before becoming Associate Professor of Religion at Seattle Pacific University, where he taught from 1989 to 1995.

In 1996, Taylor joined Seattle University as Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. He was appointed Assistant Professor in the School of Theology and Ministry in 2001, received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2004, became Professor in 2014, and was named Professor Emeritus in 2021.

Research

Taylor's research is grounded in the resources of process theology and feminist and womanist liberation theologies. His work has appeared in journals and edited volumes including The Journal of Religion, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Worship, International Kierkegaard Commentary, and Journal of Childhood and Religion. His scholarship has also explored Karl Rahner’s theology, the spirituality and practice of Christian worship, and Godly Play and child theology.

Professional service

Taylor has held leadership roles in several scholarly organizations. He served on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Religion and was President of the Søren Kierkegaard Society (USA).

Books

• So, Fill Our Imaginations: The Work and Play of a Year of Preaching (2022)
• Loving Yourself as Your Neighbor: A Recovery Guide for Christians Escaping Burnout and Codependency (with Carmen Renée Berry, 1990)
• God Is Love: A Study in the Theology of Karl Rahner (1986)

Selected articles and book chapters

• "Praying at the Edges: Theology of an 'Emergent,' Anglo-Catholic Sunday Evening Eucharist" (with Alissabeth Newton, 2016)
• "Playing with Pictures of Paradox: Children and Christology in Søren Kierkegaard and Godly Play" (with Alissabeth Newton, 2013)
• "The Hermit Emerges Victorious: Contempt for Women in Kierkegaard's Attack upon the (Male) Ecclesiastical Establishment" (2009)
• "A Well-Considered Occasion: Kierkegaard and the Wedding Ceremony Prescribed by the 1830 Danish Altar Book" (2006)
• "Practice in Authority: The Apostolic Women of Kierkegaard's Writings" (2000)
• "Almost Earnestness? Autobiographical Reading, Feminist Re-Reading, and Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript" (1997)
• "Ishmael's (m)Other: Gender, Jesus, and God in Melville's Moby-Dick" (1992)
• "The Boundless Love of God and the Bounds of Critical Reflection: Schubert Ogden’s Contribution to a Theology of Liberation" (1989)