James S. Spiegel, PhD

Executive Director, Center for Faith & Life 

James S. Spiegel joins Geneva College as executive director of the Center for Faith & Life after nearly three decades of teaching in higher education and program leadership. He previously led the Kalos Center for Christian Education and Spiritual Formation in Columbus, Ohio, where he hosted the Kalos Center Podcast to help audiences think Christianly about culture, vocation, and public life. 

Spiegel’s academic work has explored philosophy of religion, ethics, philosophical theology, virtue epistemology, and aesthetics. He authored or edited 11 books and published more than 100 articles and chapters (see jimspiegel.com for a selected list). Representative titles include Hell and Divine Goodness (Cascade, 2019), Philosophy: Faithful Learning (P&R Publications, 2014), The Making of an Atheist (Moody, 2010), (with Steven Cowan) The Love of Wisdom: A Christian Introduction to Philosophy (B&H Academic, 2009), Gum, Geckos, and God: A Family’s Adventure in Space, Time, and Faith (Zondervan, 2008), and The Benefits of Providence: A New Look at Divine Sovereignty (Crossway, 2005). His research appears in journals such as Metaphilosophy, Philosophia, Faith and Philosophy, Science and Engineering Ethics, and the International Journal for Philosophy of Religion. 

Before coming to Geneva, he taught for nearly three decades, beginning at Minnesota State University (1992–93) and then for more than 25 years on the faculty at Taylor University (1993–2020), and later served as adjunct faculty at Indianapolis Theological Seminary and as a John Templeton Research Fellow at Hillsdale College. Across these roles he focused on integrating biblical truth with the intellectual life and on mentoring students to bring Christian wisdom to their studies and callings. He has also written for wider audiences in outlets including Christianity Today, Touchstone, The Conversation, The Federalist, and Books & Culture. 

Spiegel engages the public through frequent speaking and media appearances; over his career he has delivered hundreds of presentations in academic, church, and community settings and participated in more than 60 radio and podcast interviews. At the Kalos Center he convened classes, public forums, and conversations with guests from medicine, economics, law, the arts, and Christian scholarship, illustrating how Christian faith informs work across the vocations. 

He earned a BS from Belhaven University, an MA in philosophy from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a PhD in philosophy from Michigan State University. His lifelong commitment to faith and learning integration, faculty formation, and public discipleship directly supports the Center for Faith & Life’s work of equipping students and serving the church and broader community.