When Dr. Gregory Lee arrived at Wheaton College in 2011, he had never heard of Lawndale in Chicago, and by his own admission “wasn’t very interested in social justice.” Four years later, the assistant professor of theology gave a chapel message in remembrance of Martin Luther King, Jr. 

“You cannot love neighbor unless you have physical proximity to neighbor,” Dr. Lee said. 

He was speaking from experience. In 2012, his wife Jeanette’s work at Lawndale Christian Legal Center brought them to live in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood, where crime is among the highest in the country. 

Dr. Lee says their move to Lawndale has clarified his academic thinking. His book, Today When You Hear His Voice: Scripture, the Covenants, and the People of God (Eerdmans, 2016), employs New Testament theology and church history to show how the book of Hebrews interprets Scripture as God’s voice for “today.” 

“In some ways my conclusions in the book dovetail with my experience at my church in Lawndale,” Dr. Lee says. “People like St. Augustine and John Chrysostom were preaching to diverse congregations, addressing wealth and poverty.”

NAME: DR. GREGORY LEE

DEPARTMENT: ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY AND SENIOR FELLOW AT THE WHEATON CENTER FOR EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES

YEARS: 5

EDUCATION: PH.D. IN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGICAL STUDIES, DUKE UNIVERSITY; M.DIV., TRINITY EVANGELICAL DIVINITY SCHOOL; B.A. IN PHILOSOPHY, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

FUN FACT: DR. LEE ROWED HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE CREW AND STILL LOVES TO WORK OUT ON “THE DREADED ‘ERG.’”