Gavin Ortlund

Gavin Rutherford Ortlund (born June 30, 1983) is an American theologian,^[2] professor, author, and Christian apologist.^[3] Operating through his public ministry Truth Unites, Ortlund is known for defending theologically conservative evangelical Protestantism^[4] from an irenic perspective, engaging with proponents of Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, atheism, and liberal Protestantism.

Gavin Ortlund
Born	(1983-06-30) June 30, 1983 (age 42) Scotland
Education	University of Georgia (BA) Covenant Theological Seminary (MDiv) Fuller Theological Seminary (PhD)
Occupations	Christian apologist professor
Spouse	Esther Ortlund
Children	5
Father	Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.
Relatives	Ray and Anne Ortlund
Theological work
Tradition or movement	Reformed Baptist
Notable ideas	Theological triage[1]
Website	truthunites.org

Ortlund is Theologian-in-Residence at Immanuel Nashville^[5][a] and Visiting Professor of Historical Theology at Phoenix Seminary.^[6] He won Christianity Today's 2024 Book of the Year award for his work What It Means to Be Protestant: The Case for an Always-Reforming Church.^[7][4]

Early life and education

Ortlund was born on June 30, 1983 in Scotland to parents^[8] Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.,^[9] and Jani Ortlund.^[10] He is the youngest of 4 children.

In 2006, Ortlund earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religion from the University of Georgia. In 2009, he earned a Master of Divinity from Covenant Theological Seminary. He went on to earn a Doctor of Philosophy from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2016, concentrating in historical theology.^[11] From 2017 to 2018, Ortlund performed post-doctoral research at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School through the Carl F. H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding, where he conducted research on Augustine's doctrine of creation.^[12]

Career

Preparation for ministry

Ortlund discloses in his writings that he came from and appreciated his Presbyterian background, writing

I was baptized as an infant in the Church of Scotland. After my family moved back to the United States, I was raised in various Presbyterian churches, eventually working at two Presbyterian churches during college and then attending a Presbyterian seminary. As I look back, I have nothing but gratitude for my time among Presbyterians; in fact, I often miss that world!^[13]

He goes on to write that he was "propelled... out of Presbyterianism" because of the doctrine of infant baptism (paedobaptism), and that after a period of intensive study, his "convictions had solidified against [it], and I (somewhat reluctantly) changed my church affiliation and was baptized [again] (dunked in a river, to be precise)."^[13] He went on to receive his ordination from the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.^[14]

Pastoral ministry

In 2010, Ortlund began serving as the youth pastor for Sierra Madre Congregational Church (CCCC).^[15] He also served there on the church board of elders beginning in 2015.^[16] In 2018, he became Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Ojai (ABCUSA), in Ojai, California.^[17][18] In 2023, he announced his departure from the church and move to Nashville to focus on his Truth Unites ministry and become Theologian in Residence at Immanuel Nashville,^[19][20] an Acts 29 Network affiliated church.^[21]

Membership

Ortlund has also been a fellow or member at various Christian institutions:

• Fellow, The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics;^[22]
• Fellow, The Center for Baptist Renewal;^[23]
• Fellow, Credo, 2023 to present;^[24][25]
• Member, The Center for Pastor Theologians (St. Basil Fellowship);^[26]
• Visiting Scholar at Reasons to Believe;
• Editorial Board, Themelios (2016–2021);^[27]
• Evangelical Theological Society;^{[citation needed]}
• International Association for Anselm Studies;^{[citation needed]}

Public engagement

Ortlund has debated Trent Horn (a member of Catholic Answers) on several issues, including purgatory and baptismal regeneration.^[28][29] He has criticized John MacArthur and others for oversimplifying matters in deciding how churches in California ought to respond to governmental COVID restrictions. Gavin suggested that MacArthur had prioritiz[ed] worship over loving your neighbor, obedience to government, and maintaining a good witness.^[30][31][32]

Views

• Ortlund has defended the doctrine of divine simplicity and the Thomistic view of the beatific vision.^[33][34]
• Ortlund has defended the view that Noah's flood was a regional event and not a global event, arguing that such a position is consistent with "an effort to take seriously the meaning of the text, which involves what the original author meant the original readers to take from it in its original context."^[35] This claim has caused controversy within Evangelicalism and ignited accusations of theological liberalism, which he has denied.^[36][37]
• Ortlund also holds to the position of biblical inerrancy. He identifies as a theologically conservative Christian in accordance with traditional historic Protestant positions. "I'm an evangelical Christian. I believe in biblical inerrancy. I think the Scripture is fully trustworthy. I think if people were to go down the line on...the average sort of testing issues of our times, they'd find me pretty conservative, pretty classically Christian in my instincts."^[37]

Bibliography

Ortlund has written a variety of books surrounding various biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical studies:

• 1–2 Kings: A 12-Week Study (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017)^[38]
• Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals: Why We Need Our Past to Have a Future (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019)^[39]
• Finding the Right Hills to Die On: The Case for Theological Triage (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020)^[40][b]
• Anselm's Pursuit of Joy: A Commentary on the Proslogion (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2020)^[41]
• Retrieving Augustine's Doctrine of Creation: Ancient Wisdom for Current Controversy (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2020)^[42]
• Why God Makes Sense in a World That Doesn't: The Beauty of Christian Theism (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2021)^[43]
• Humility: The Joy of Self-Forgetfulness (Wheaton, IL: Crossway 2023)^[44][c]
• What It Means to Be Protestant: The Case for an Always-Reforming Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2024)^[4]
• The Art of Disagreeing: How to Keep Calm and Stay Friends in Hard Conversations (Epsom, England: The Good Book Company, 2025)^[45]

Personal life

Ortlund is married to his wife, Esther, and they have five children.^[5] He has two brothers: Dane Ortlund, author of Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers,^[46] and Eric Ortlund, who serves as a Lecturer in Old Testament and Biblical Hebrew at Oak Hill College in London.^[47]

Further reading

• Christian News Now Staff (August 4, 2020). "John MacArthur Appears on Fox News at Night; "We Are the Most Essential Reality in the World"". Christian News Now. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
• Robinson, Jeff (April 16, 2021). "Written to Christians or Almost Christians? Mohler and Schreiner Debate Warning Passages at TGC21". Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
• Dash, Darryl (August 3, 2021). 8 Habits for Growth: A Simple Guide to Becoming More Like Christ. Moody Publishers. ISBN 9780802499745.^{[page needed]}
• Lee, Justin (May 20, 2022). "Takeaways from the Debate over Tim Keller's "Third Way"". First Things. Retrieved August 14, 2022. In addressing the James R. Wood-David A. French debate, Ortlund tweeted, "[A]voiding tribalism and seeking winsomeness is NOT a strategy that can be discarded once we arrive in a ‘negative world,’ It is a biblical commandment" (as quoted here by Lee).
• Vincent, Benjamin (July 20, 2022). "Why We Shouldn't Practice Liturgy 'A La Carte'". Christianity Today. Retrieved August 9, 2022. Article discusses the Ortlund book, Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals: Why We Need Our Past to Have a Future.

Notes

1. Immanuel Nashville is a church in Nashville, TN.
2. Co-published with The Gospel Coalition.
3. Co-published with Union School of Theology.