Stefana Dan Laing joined the faculty of Beeson Divinity School in 2018 as assistant professor of divinity and theological librarian. In 2022, she was promoted to associate professor. Laing teaches in the area of spiritual formation and history and doctrine and coordinates Beeson's Women’s Theological Colloquium. As theological librarian, she works with the faculty and students to collect the best biblical, historical, theological and pastoral resources available for ministry training as well as instructs divinity students in the effective use of library resources for their studies at Beeson. Laing is the author of Retrieving History: Memory and Identity Formation in the Early Church (Baker, 2017), and her primary area of research is in patristics. She is actively involved in the North American Patristics Society and the Evangelical Theological Society and served as the General Editor for the newly-released CSB Women's Study Bible (B&H Reference, 2026). Prior to coming to Beeson Divinity School, Laing served as theological librarian at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s J. Dalton Havard School for Theological Studies in Houston and taught courses in Christian theology and spirituality, church history and spiritual formation at Houston Graduate School of Theology and Houston Christian University. She is married to John, and they have three children.
Education
- PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
- MSLS, University of North Texas
- MDiv, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
- BA, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Research Interests
- Early Christian spirituality
- Historiography, hagiography
- Theodoret of Cyrus
- Evangelical Ressourcement movement
Involvement
- North American Patristics Society
- Evangelical Theological Society
- American Theological Library Association
Publications & Presentations
Book
Retrieving History: Memory and Identity Formation in the Early Church. Baker Academic, 2017.
Articles/ Chapters/ Edited Works
“Resurrection and Reason: A Patristic Consolation of the Bereaved.” Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care 8:1 (Spring, 2015): 8-27.
“Kingdom Living at Home and Abroad: The Spiritual Legacy of Two Church Mothers,” Worship, Tradition, and Engagement: Essays in Honor of Timothy George, eds. Dockery, Massey, and Smith, 129-148. Pickwick, 2018.
“The Cure of Souls at Antioch: A Response to Robert Hill on Theodoret of Cyrus as Spiritual Director” Fides et Humilitas 5 (Winter, 2019): 36-47.
“The Doctrine of the Future, The Doctrine of God, and Predictive Prophecy," with John D. Laing, Eschatology: Biblical, Historical, and Practical Approaches, eds. D. Jeffrey Bingham and Glenn R. Kreider. Kregel, (May 2016): 77-101
“‘To marry in Christ’: A Theological and Ethical Appraisal of John Chrysostom on Marriage,” with John D. Laing, JETS 63:1 (Mar 2020).
Contributor to Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Zondervan, 2006.
“Lancaster Bible College” and “Bible Study Fellowship," Evangelical America, eds. Paul Shockley and Tim Demy. ABC-CLIO, 2017.
“Eastern Orthodoxy and Politics: 1989-2018.,”Religion and Contemporary Politics. ABC-CLIO, 2019.
Blog Posts
“What Can We Learn From the Ancient Church?” (2018) Access at: Center for Baptist Renewal
“St. Antony: Beginnings and Resolutions in a Long Life with God,” Finkenblog, January 17, 2019.
Podcasts
“Scripture and the Church Fathers,” on Via Media, with Gerald McDermott, Institute of Anglican Studies at Beeson Divinity School. September 4, 2019. Posted September 19, 2019.
Presentations and Sermons
“Prayer in the Early Church.” (Finkenwalde Day, October 11, 2016)
“Perpetua and Felicitas: Prophetic Daughters and Spiritual Handmaids.” (Sept 11, 2018) Sermon delivered in Beeson Chapel.
“Virtue and Vice in the Soul of the Seminarian: Encounters with the Noonday Demon.” (Finkenwalde Day, October 30, 2019)
“The Flipside of Martyrdom: Lessons from St. Antony’s Long Life with God”; Invited plenary: 6th Annual Evangelical Voices in the Academy Lecture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Sponsored by Society for Women in Scholarship and Russ L. Bush Center for Faith and Culture (October 25, 2021). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ExHvw8dXo
Popular Articles
“Andrew, James, and John: The Lives and Afterlives of the Apostles Closest to Jesus,” in “What Happened to the Apostles?” Christian History Magazine 156 (2025): 24-26. https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/uploaded/ch156s.pdf