About Lisa

Lisa Powell is a constructive theologian, professor, author, and speaker. She has given invited lectures in the US, the UK, Canada, and Germany.

Dr. Powell's teaching and research examine the contributions of non-dominant communities to the development of Christian thought and action. Her most recent book, The Disabled God Revisited: Trinity, Christology, and Liberation (T&T Clark, 2023), draws from contemporary debates on the theology of Karl Barth and discourse in Black liberation theology, feminist, queer, and disability theology to amplify the theological argument of The Disabled God (1994) by Nancy Eiesland. Dr. Powell's books have been reviewed by numerous academic journals including: The International Journal of Systematic Theology, The Journal of Religious Ethics, and the Journal of Disability & Religion.

Dr. Powell's current research project advances the arguments she made in The Disabled God Revisited to consider what God's eternal identity as one of covenant means for God's relationship with creation and God's determination to bring about reconciliation. Some elements of this research can be seen in her article in Studies in Christian Ethics, entitled "Punishment and Prison: Barth's Doctrine of Reconciliation and the Abolition Spirit." 

Dr. Powell received her Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary, where she also received her M.Div. She currently resides in Iowa with her family, 3 pet snakes, and their rescued Great Pyrenees-mix, Hero. She is an active member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.