Robert F. Schwarzwalder, Jr., Ph.D.
Bio
Before coming to Regent, Schwarzwalder was senior vice president at the Family Research Council for more than seven years, and previously served as chief of staff to two members of Congress. He was also a communications and media aide to a U.S. senator and senior speechwriter for the Hon. Tommy Thompson, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For several years, he was director of communications at the National Association of Manufacturers. While on Capitol Hill, Schwarzwalder served on the staffs of members of both Senate and House Armed Services Committees and the Senate Committee with oversight of federal healthcare policy. Schwarzwalder also writes a weekly column for The Washington Stand.
“We can fill our students’ minds with valuable and professionally practical information, and help them learn to evaluate their workplace demands with honesty and thoroughness. We can then send them out ready to be productive employees or entrepreneurs whose eventual financial success will redound to the credit of the university. These are good and honorable things. But unless we also send them out with a recognition that Christianity is true; that Christ is not interested in having a place in our lives but demands and deserves to be Lord of the full circumference of them; and that His priorities and His values should govern how we use our time, knowledge, and energy; then we will have equipped our students only to be capable materialists,” says Schwarzwalder.
Raised in Washington state, Schwarzwalder lived with his family in the suburban Washington, D.C. area for nearly 25 years until coming to Regent in the summer of 2016. His research interests include theology, politics and history. As of June 2024, he and his wife Valerie, with whom he has three adult children, will have been married for 43 years.
Credentials
- Ph.D. history, University of Aberdeen.
- Graduate coursework in U.S. diplomatic history, University of Washington (1989-90) and George Washington University (1992).
- Master of Arts, theology, Western Seminary, Portland, OR (1983).
- Bachelor of Arts, communication, Biola University, La Mirada, CA (1979).
Publications
Articles
“C.S. Lewis as Christian Political Philosopher: The Politics of Skepticism and Liberty,” The Evangelical Review of Theology and Politics, Vol. 8, 2020
“Marx's New Religion,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 2019, Volume 62, Issue 4
“Conservatives and the Constitution,” Public Discourse, January 24, 2014 (http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2014/01/11940/)
“Does the Democratic Party Have a Future?” The American Spectator, December 11, 2014
“The Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage Isn't an Excuse to Attack Churches,” TIME Magazine, July 1, 2015 (http://time.com/3943511/same-sex-marriage-churches/)
“Sexual Madness and the Image of God,” Canon and Culture, May 31, 2016 (https://erlc.com/resource-library/articles/sexual-madness-and-the-image-of-god)
“What The Filibuster Debate Says About Our Razor’s Edge Politics,” The Federalist, June 23, 2017 (http://thefederalist.com/2017/06/23/debate-filibuster-shifted-old-arguments/)
Book Reviews
Bauman, Michael and David Hall. God and Caesar: Selected Essays from the 1993 Evangelical Theological Society’s Convention at Washington, D.C. (R. Schwarzwalder). Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (JETS) 40/3 (1997), 489-490
Wells, D. F. Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Recover Its Moral Vision (R. Schwarzwalder). JETS 44/4 (2001), 141-142
Grudem, Wayne. Politics according to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture (R. Schwarzwalder). JETS 47.1 (2011), 189-192
Grudem, Wayne and Barry Asmus. The Poverty of Nations: A Sustainable Solution (Rob Schwarzwalder). JETS 57/1 (2014), 215-219
Affiliations
- Evangelical Theological Society, Member
- Custer Battlefield Historical & Museum Association, Member
Awards
- Lincoln Fellow in Constitutional Government, 1996-98
