Dr. Cambria Kaltwasser Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies; Director of the Northwestern Core
Education:
Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary
M.Div., Princeton Theological Seminary
B.A., John Brown University
712-707-7080
cambria.kaltwasser@nwciowa.edu
VPH 115F
Dr. Kaltwasser teaches courses in historical and doctrinal theology on topics such as election, eschatology, worship, prayer, and the Christian life. She earned her doctorate in systematic theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, where she also completed her Master of Divinity. Dr. Kaltwasser's research focuses on prayer, sanctification, and the Christian life. She is currently completing a book manuscript entitled Karl Barth on Friendship with God.
Dr. Kaltwasser serves as co-president of the Karl Barth Society of North America and as project editor for the Barth Translators' Seminar, which is funded by a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities. She is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In 2013–14, she was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Tübingen, Germany.
BTS250 - Christian Story II: Theological Tradition
(4 credits) This course presents an overview and orientation to Christian theology focusing on its formation, content, role in the Christian faith throughout Church history, and its interpretation of key biblical subjects such as God, Christ, creation, sin, redemption, church, and new creation. This course completes the Christian Story sequence and prepares students for a lifetime of critical thinking and faithful living from a biblical-theological perspective. Students should complete this course by the end of their fourth term. Prerequisite: BTS150. Note: Does not count toward a religion major or minor.
BTS280 - Topics in Hist of Christianity
(4 credits) A survey of the development of Christianity from the apostolic period to the contemporary world. Themes examined will include the separation of Church and Synagogue, Christianity in the Roman Empire, ecumenical councils, missionary expansion of the church in Europe and Asia, monasticism, the church in the High Middle Ages, the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, Confessionalism and the Wars of Religion, Puritanism, Pietism, The Enlightenment, Christianity and European Colonialism, Revivalism, Modernism and Evangelicalism, modern missionary expansion, the ecumenical movement, and Christianity as a global religion.
BTS345 - Theology of Worship
(4 credits; alternate years, consult department) The purpose of this course is to thoughtfully examine the biblical, theological, and historical foundations of Christian worship, as well as the contemporary issues facing pastors and worship leaders in the 21st century. An important part of this discussion will be the exploration of worship skills and practices through reflection and participation, as well as the creation of liturgies for a variety of worship services. Prerequisite: BTS250.
BTS375 - Topics in Theology
(4 credits; alternate years, consult department) A study of one or more standard areas of theology, (such as the doctrines of Revelation, God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, Humanity, Salvation, the Church, and Last Things) from a classical as well as a contemporary perspective. Prerequisites: BTS150 and BTS250. Note: The course may be repeated for credit provided a different topic is studied.
BTS472SR - Bible, Theology and Vocation: Exploring Texts and Contexts
(4 credits) This disciplinary capstone course fulfills both the NWCore Senior Seminar (SR) requirement and a requirement for Religion and CE/YM majors. Building on the basic FYS questions (Who am I? Who are my neighbors? How will we live in the world?), this course will explore the intersection of biblical theology with one's vocation in light of scripture and Christian theological reflection. Students will complete weekly writing assignments, participate in seminar leadership through presiding and lecturing, and complete a major final paper in which they reflect on their college curricular and co-curricular experiences, engage biblical and theological texts in light of a variety of ancient and modern cultural contexts, and reflect on their faith development and sense of vocation. Prerequisites: BTS150, BTS250 and senior class standing. The course is open to students of other majors.
“Karl Barth’s Critique of Deification,” in Paul Gavrilyuk, Andrew Hofer, and Matthew Levering, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Deification (Oxford University Press, August 2024).
“Kenosis and the Mutuality of God,” in Paul T. Nimmo and Keith L. Johnson, eds. Kenosis: The Self-emptying of Christ in Scripture and Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, July, 2022).
“At the Zero-Point’ of Faith: The Clash of Old Man and New in the R merbrief and Barth’s Later Doctrine of Sanctification,” in Christophe Chalamet, Andreas Dettwiler, and Sarah Stewart-Kroeker, eds., Karl Barth’s Epistle to the Romans: Retrospect and Prospect (Berlin, De Gruyter, May 2022).
“Karl Barth on Death” in George Hunsinger and Keith Johnson, eds., The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Karl Barth (West Sussex: Wiley, 2020).
Co-president, Karl Barth Society of North America
Project Editor, Barth Translators' Seminar, Center for Barth Studies, Princeton Theological Seminary
Northwestern Sabbatical Award, Spring 2025
Fulbright Grant for yearlong research in affiliation with Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, supervised by Christoph Schwöbel, 2013–2014.
