About Kelly

Summary

Kelly M. Kapic (PhD, King’s College London) is professor of theological studies at Covenant College, where he has taught since 2001. 

Kapic has written and edited numerous books, focusing on the areas of systematic, historical, and practical theology.  His recent works include You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News (Brazos, 2022) and Embodied Hope: A Theological Mediation on Pain and Suffering (IVP Academic, 2017), each of which won awards, including the Christianity Today Book of the Year award in the category of Theology/Ethics.   Most recently he released a devotional called You Were Never Meant to Do it All: A 40-Day Devotional on the Goodness of Being Human (Brazos, 2025).

His other books include Becoming Whole: Why the Opposite of Poverty isn’t the American Dream (w Yale-trained Economist Brian Fikkert, 2019), Reading Christian Theology in the Protestant Tradition (ed. w. Hans Madueme (Bloomsbury/T & T Clark, 2018) and The God Who Gives: How the Trinity Shapes the Christian Story (Zondervan, 2018). 

Some of his earlier books include Sanctification: Explorations in Theology and Practice (IVP Academic, 2014), Dictionary of the Reformed Tradition (w. Wesley Vander Lugt, IVP Academic, 2013 – translated into Korean and Romanian), A Little Book for New Theologians (IVP Academic, 2012 – currently translated into Portuguese, Aramic, Romanian, Indonesian, etc.), The Ashgate Research Companion to John Owen’s Theology (ed. w. Mark Jones, Ashgate, 2012), Mapping Modern Theology (ed. w. Bruce L. McCormack, Baker Academic, 2012, trans. Into Korean), God So Loved He Gave (w. Justin Borger, Zondervan, 2010), Communion with God: The Divine and the Human in John Owen’s Theology (Baker Academic, 2007 – translated into Portuguese); Communion with the Triune God (ed. w. Justin Taylor, Crossway, 2007), Overcoming Sin and Temptation (ed. w. Justin Taylor, Crossway, 2006), and The Devoted Life: An Invitation to the Puritan Classics (ed. w. Randal Gleason, IVP, 2004, trans. into Korean).

Kapic has also published articles in various journals and books, such as the International Journal of Systematic Theology, Conversations in Religion and Theology, Westminster Theological Journal, Evangelical Quarterly and Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care.  A sample of his published essays include,  “The Son’s Assumption of a Human Nature: A Call for Clarity,” IJST, “Trajectories of a Trinitarian Eschatology,” in Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology (ed. by Paul L. Metzger, T & T Clark, 2005), “‘Evangelical Holiness’: Assumptions in John Owen’s Theology of Christian Spirituality,” in Life in the Spirit: Spiritual Formation in Theological Perspective (ed. Jeffrey P. Greenman and George Kalantzis, IVP Academic, 2010), 97-114, “Psalm 22: Forsakenness and the God who Sings,” in Theological Commentary (ed. Michael Allen, T & T Clark, 2011), 41-56, “Typology, the Messiah, and John Owen’s Theological Reading of Hebrews,” in Christology and Hermeneutics: Hebrews as an Interdisciplinary Case Study (ed. Dan Treier and Jon Laansma, T & T Clark/Continuum, 2012), 136-155.

Kapic regularly speaks at conferences, schools, and Churches where he seeks to help God’s people better understand their faith.  Kelly and his wife, Tabitha, live on Lookout Mountain.  They have two adult children: Jonathan and Margot.

Vocational Vision

  • To educate and equip believers with biblically informed Christ-centered theological instincts so that they may live faithfully and serve sacrificially.
  • To provide accessible scholarship that is theologically rich, historically informed, relevant to the present, and helpful for the future. This includes writing and speaking in the areas of systematic, historical, and practical theology.
  • To promote collaboration because I believe our theology is sharpened and the community is better served when robust communication and relationships accompany teaching and scholarship.

Family

Kelly and Tabitha Kapic were both originally Californians, but after getting married in 1993 they spent a few years outside of Chicago and then three years in Orlando before moving overseas. During their years in London they both completed further degrees while Tabitha also worked at the US Embassy. Since 2001, they have lived on Lookout Mountain, GA. Kelly teaches at Covenant College and Tabitha works at the Chalmers Center. They have two adult children, Jonathan and Margot Kapic. Most recently Jonathan married his college sweetheart, Juliette.

Education

KING’S COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, London, UK                                    June 2001

• Ph.D. in Systematic and Historical Theology

REFORMED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, Orlando, FL                                                       May 1998

• Master of Divinity        

CENTER FOR MEDIEVAL & RENAISSANCE STUDIES, Oxford University, UK      June – August 1997

• Tutorial with Dr. Alister E. McGrath

WHEATON COLLEGE, Wheaton, IL                                                                                     May 1995• Bachelor of Arts, Double Major: Philosophy and History, magna cum laude