Chris R. Armstrong directs Opus: The Art of Work at Wheaton College, where he also serves on the biblical and theological studies faculty. He holds a doctorate in church history and taught for ten years in higher education.
Chris worked for eight years in business communications and journalism before returning to academia, sparking a personal interest in what his marketplace experience had been “for.”
Chris believes nothing is wasted in the vocational life of a Christian. As founding director of the Bethel Seminary (St Paul) Work with Purpose initiative during 2012-2013, Chris’s old life caught up with his new one, and he worked to bring pastors-in-training to an awareness of the disconnect many Christians experience between faith and marketplace work, and of the kingdom value of ordinary work. He considers his work with Opus at Wheaton a wonderful continuation of those efforts in a strategic new setting.
Chris has written Patron Saints for Postmoderns (IVP, 2009) and Medieval Wisdom: Finding Authentic Faith in a Forgotten Age with C. S. Lewis (Baker Academic, May 2016). He is senior editor of Christian History magazine and founding senior editor of the Patheos Faith and Work channel. He blogs at gratefultothedead.wordpress.com.
Chris loves sharing the joy of European board games with friends, especially games that bring together strong mechanics and interesting themes. He is also a huge fan of C.S. Lewis’ writing and loves brushing shoulders with Lewis scholars.
See Dr. Armstrong’s 2016 chapel talk, "In Praise of Ordinary Work."