Justin Nickel

• Ph.D., Religion and Society, Princeton Theological Seminary
• M.Div., Luther Seminary
• B.A., English Literature, University of Colorado, Boulder

The Rev. Dr. Justin Nickel is an assistant professor of Lutheran studies. He teaches courses in theology, Lutheran confessions and Lutheran theology and ecclesiology. Nickel joined the faculty of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in 2020 as the first Baxter and Frances Weant Chair in Lutheran studies.

Nickel was ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 2010 and served congregations in Colorado and Pennsylvania. His research and teaching interests focus on Lutheran theology in its confessional, constructive and moral forms. He has a particular focus on bringing Lutheran theology to bear on contemporary ecclesiastical and social problems. He views his classes as communities in which intellectual and spiritual friendships form. Cultivating these communities is central to his work as a professor and person.

Nickel’s work is featured in Studies in Christian Ethics, The Journal for the Society of Christian Ethics and Lutheran Forum. In 2020, he published a book, “The Work of Faith: Divine Grace and Human Agency in Martin Luther's Preaching.”