Professor
Dr. Jennifer Powell McNutt is the Franklin S. Dyrness Chair of Biblical and Theological Studies and Professor of Theology and History of Christianity at Wheaton College's Litfin Divinity School (Press Release). She is program director of the M.A. programs in Theology and History of Christianity and has been teaching at Wheaton College since 2008. Dr. McNutt specializes in Reformation history and theology with a focus on Reformed History, Theology, and the French Bible.
Dr. McNutt holds her Ph.D. in History from the University of St. Andrews (Reformation Studies Institute) as well as a Master of Divinity (2003) from Princeton Theological Seminary and a B.A. in Religious Studies from Westmont College (2000). In 2014, she was elected Fellow to the Royal Historical Society. Dr. McNutt also received Wheaton College’s Leland Ryken Award for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities (2013-2014) and was awarded one of Westmont College’s 80th Anniversary Alumni Award (2017).
As a scholar, her research has received international grants including the Andrew W. Mellon Research Fellowship (2015-2016) at the Huntington Library, the Huntington-Trinity Hall Exchange Fellowship at the University of Cambridge (2015-2016), The American College of the Mediterranean Research Fellowship (Summer 2022), H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies' Meeter Family Research Fellowship (Summers 2021, 2023), and a Short-Term Research Fellowship at the Herzog August Bibliothek (Summer 2024). She is also a Scholar-in-Residence at the Newberry Library in Chicago since 2022.
Research Fellowships
Research Fellowships enhance and fuel the content of my teaching, writing, and speaking. My research and writing have flourished thanks to the support of research fellowships and residencies at various universities and libraries.
Pastor
Rev. Dr. McNutt is an ordained Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian church for more than a decade. She and her husband, the Rev. Dr. David McNutt, are Fellows with the Center for Pastor Theologians and run a co-ministry that they co-founded called, McNuttshell Ministries. Their ministry seeks to serve as a bridge between the church and the academy through teaching, speaking, and writing. Their co-written book, Know the Theologians (Zondervan, 2024) is a useful resource for classrooms and churches. Rev. Dr. Jennifer McNutt is also a founding Board Member for the Center for Women in Ministry at Beeson Divinity School.
Author
Dr. McNutt is the first scholar to have received two prestigious writing awards from the American Society of Church History: the Sidney E. Mead Prize (2005) for her first academic journal article and the Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize (2014) for her first monograph, Calvin Meets Voltaire: The Clergy of Geneva in the Age of Enlightenment, 1685-1798 (Routledge, 2014). She is the author of the The Mary We Forgot: What the Apostle to the Apostles Teaches the Church Today (Brazos Press, 2024), the co-author with David McNutt of Know the Theologians (Zondervan, 2024), and co-editor with Herman Selderhuis of the Oxford Handbook of the Bible and the Reformation (Oxford University Press, 2025).
In 2017, Rev. Dr. McNutt also participated as an expert for the Reformation documentary, A Call for Freedom, which won three regional Emmy awards including “Outstanding Historical Documentary” (Press Release). She has also written many articles for Christianity Today. In 2017, she was awarded first place in Christianity Today’s Science Essay Contest (2017) for “Forgotten Figures: How Pastors of the Enlightenment Helped Advance Modern Science.” She also co-wrote the cover story, The First Christian, for the Dec. 2019 issue with Rev. Dr. Amy Peeler. The 2024 CT Book Awards named Know the Theologians the finalist in Public Theology
Find the books on Jennifer's Amazon Author page and subscribe to THE MCNUTTSHELL on Substack.
Invite Dr. McNutt!
Dr. Jennifer Powell McNutt has been serving in the academy and the church for close to two decades. She is available to give lectures at your institution and meet with students. She regularly speaks at colleges, universities, seminaries, and conferences. She presents on topics pertaining to the history of the Reformation, the Bible, women in church history, and John Calvin, as well as her new book on Mary Magdalene. Rev. Dr. McNutt accepts invitations for preaching at churches, teaching adult education classes, or leading women's retreats. Her speaking and teaching in the church engages with Scripture, theology, church history, and contemporary culture for the purpose of edifying Christians, enriching minds, and inspiring faithful following of Jesus Christ. This form may also be used for Podcast interview requests and guest writing invites.