Mathias Zahniser

Scholar in Residence

Year Started at Greenville College: 1978
Phone: (618) 664-6779
Email: matt.zahniser@greenville.edu

What's your favorite thing about working at Greenville College?

The friendship I have formed here among the faculty, staff, administration and students.

What attracted you to the Religion Department, and how do you use it outside of the classroom?

I was attracted to the study of religion by my mentor and professor at Greenville College, Dr. James A. Reinhard. He led me to believe I had what it took to be a theologian. I started my career as a missionary and finished it as a professor of world religions, particularly Islam. Professor Reinhard reinforced my interest in Islam as well.

Education

Bachelor of Arts degree, Greenville College - Greenville, IL - 1960
Management Information Systems degree, American University - Washington DC - 1962
Bachelor of Devinity degree, Asbury Theological Seminary - Wilmore, KY - 1965
Ph. D., John Hopkins University - Baltimore, MD - 1973

Professional Affiliations

American Academy of Religion Wesleyan Theological Society Tyndale House (a research library in Cambridge, UK)

Recent Presentations and Publications

The Mission and Death of Jesus in Islam and Christianity (Marknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2008).

"Wesleyan Synergism and the Dialogue with Muslims," in Gerald H. Anderson and Darrell L. Whiteman, Mission in the Wesleyan Spirit (Franklin, TN: Providence House, 2009), 227-34.

Related Experiences

Professor -Central Michigan University, 1971-78
Professor -Greenville College, 1978-83
Professor -Asbury Theological Seminary, 1983-2000