Beaver Falls, PA - Geneva College announces James Spiegel, PhD as the new executive director of the Center for Faith & Life beginning August 25, 2025. 

Spiegel brings more than three decades of experience in Christian higher education and institutional leadership. He most recently served as executive director of the Kalos Center for Christian Education and Spiritual Formation and as a John Templeton Research Fellow at Hillsdale College; earlier roles include head of school at Lighthouse Christian Academy in Bloomington, IN and adjunct professor at Indianapolis Theological Seminary. Prior to these appointments, Spiegel spent over 25 years at Taylor University, advancing from assistant to full professor of philosophy and religion, and he began his career teaching philosophy at Minnesota State University. 

His areas of academic specialization include philosophy of religion, ethics, philosophical theology, and Berkeleyan idealism. He holds a PhD in philosophy (1993) from Michigan State University, having earned his MA in philosophy (1988) from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a BS in biology (1985) from Belhaven University. 

Geneva College President Calvin L. Troup, PhD says, “The Center for Faith & Life positions Geneva as a leader in the integration of biblical truth for Christian educators nationally. We welcome Dr. Jim Spiegel and are confident that his experience cultivating faculty excellence and engaging diverse communities in the wider church and public square equips him to champion those efforts, while also serving our students as they pursue wisdom and prepare for faithful lives of service under Christ and His word.” 

Spiegel is a prolific scholar and author with books from leading Christian and academic presses, including Hell and Divine Goodness: A Philosophical-Theological Inquiry (Cascade, 2019), coedited volumes of Idealism and Christianity (Bloomsbury, 2016), The Making of an Atheist: How Immorality Leads to Unbelief (Moody, 2010), the co-authored (with Steve Cowan) The Love of Wisdom: A Christian Introduction to Philosophy (B&H, 2009), and The Benefits of Providence: A New Look at Divine Sovereignty (Crossway, 2005). His next book, A Thing of Beauty: How Everything is Art and Art is Everything, is forthcoming from Cascade in 2026. He has published dozens of chapters and articles across ethics, philosophy of religion, and philosophical theology. Recent peer-reviewed work appears in journals such as International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Science and Engineering Ethics, and Metaphilosophy. He has also served as referee for 20 different scholarly journals. 

Spiegel’s career is marked by engagement across a wide spectrum of Christian and public contexts, providing leadership in interdenominational settings, and publishing for both mainstream and Christian audiences. At the Kalos Center, he hosted the Kalos Center Podcast to help audiences think Christianly about culture, vocation, and public life. As coach of Taylor University’s Ethics Bowl team, he led the program to five regional championships, two national finals appearances, and the 2015 national title. He has also launched and led nonprofit initiatives and academic programs that connect scholarship with the Church and cultural engagement. Spiegel speaks regularly at professional conferences, colleges, and churches, and is often interviewed for podcasts and radio programs. For more information on his work, visit his website at https://jimspiegel.com/. 

He and his wife and fellow author, Amy Spiegel, have four adult children. Together, they run a blog titled Wisdom and Folly. Jim is an elder in the Presbyterian Church of America and has served in many local churches since his conversion to Christianity as a young adult. 

Spiegel says, “I could not be more exhilarated about the prospect of pursuing the multi-faceted initiatives of the Center for Faith & Life. Through our work I believe we will generate a vigorous public presence that boldly engages culture with a Christian faith perspective in ways that innovatively deploy Geneva faculty and students.” 

The mission of the Center for Faith & Life is to prepare students in every academic program to walk a biblical view of life and the world into the marketplace. At Geneva, Spiegel will lead the Center for Faith & Life to develop faculty thought-leadership, support core curriculum and major-specific commitments to faith and learning integration, partner with mission-aligned learning communities to advance faith and learning, and convene conferences and symposia that build the College’s national reputation for biblically grounded scholarship and vocation. Discover more at Geneva.edu/cfl. 

Geneva College provides an academically excellent, Christ-centered education in Beaver Falls, PA. Students are inspired to discover a faith-life calling in service to God and neighbor through purposeful learning in a diverse community. The outcomes of a Geneva College education are clear, with graduates serving as faithful and fruitful leaders across the globe.