Dr Matthew Flannagan holds a PhD in Theology from the University of Otago, a Masters (with First Class Honours) and a Bachelors in Philosophy from the University of Waikato.  In 2009 he completed a post-graduate diploma in secondary teaching at Bethlehem Tertiary Institute.

He is currently an adjunct lecturer in Philosophy for New Zealand’s Laidlaw College and Bethlehem Tertiary Institute.

His area of expertise is Philosophy of Religion, Ethics and Theology. He has formally debated Dr Zoe During (formerly of the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand) and Dr Bill Cooke (then President of the New Zealand Association of Rationalist Humanists). His publications appear in several international journals of philosophy, theology and ethics.

Matt is politically a classical liberal but is theologically conservative. Married to Madeleine, with whom he writes for MandM, he has 4 children, is working towards his brown belt in Karate, enjoys keeping fit and being outdoors.

Matt is seeking full-time academic employment in either Philosophy or Theology or as a Religious Education or Philosophy teacher in the secondary sector and will consider vacancies anywhere in the world; contact Matthew if you are interested in his resume.

Publications and Conference Papers
“Does Evolution Make Belief in God Untenable,” Faithful Science? – Just How Well Do Science and Faith Get Along? Theology and the Natural Sciences in Aotearoa (TANSA) Conference at Northcote Baptist Church Auckland, 1 August 2009.

“The Premature Dismissal of Voluntarism,” Colloquium: The Australian and New Zealand Theological Review, (forthcoming 2009).

“Boonin’s Defense of the Sentence Criteria: A Critique,” Ethics and Medicine: An International Journal of Bioethics, 25:2 (2009) 95-106.

“Abortion and Capital Punishment: A Response to Beverley Harrison,” Think: A Periodical of the Royal Institute for Philosophy, 21 (2009), 99-103.

“God and the Moral Law in C. S. Lewis,” Theological Perspectives on C S Lewis Conference, Carey Baptist College Auckland, 1 July 2008, (publication as a contribution to an edited work forthcoming).

“Abortion and Capital Punishment: No Contradiction,” Think: A Periodical of the Royal Institute for Philosophy, 16 (2008), 87-92.

“A Divine Command Theory of Ethics,” University of Canterbury Post-Graduate Conference, 1998.