A graduate of Laidlaw, AUT University, and Otago University, Myk has taught theology for a number of schools and universities in NZ and abroad and is Head of Theology and a senior lecturer in Theology at Laidlaw College.

Myk has a passion to teach theology—the great doctrines of the Christian faith, founded in Scripture, forged in tradition, applied to culture, and lived out in experience. Myk’s teaching and research centre around constructive contemporary theology and moral theology (ethics). He has a special interest in pneumatology and is a world-leading scholar of Third Article Theology, theosis, Spirit Christology, the theology of Thomas F. Torrance, Evangelical Calvinism, and the theological interpretation of Scripture. Myk is Associate Pastor, and his wife is Senior Pastor at Albany Baptist Church, and they have two children. Myk regularly preaches at churches across New Zealand.  

Research & Supervision Interests

Myk is available to supervise advanced research students in the areas of Trinity, Christology, Pneumatology, Soteriology, Reformed Theology, Moral Theology, Spirit Christology, theosis, the theology of Thomas F. Torrance, Evangelical Calvinism, the works of C.S. Lewis, and Third Article Theology. 

Current Research Projects

•  Theosis in the Theology of C.S. Lewis
• Anointed Ministry: Jesus and the Practices of Pastoral Leadership
• Theosis in recent thought
• Thomas F. Torrance and Evangelical Reception
• Free Will: A Christological Correction
• Psychologizing Christ: Why Not?
• An Introduction to Third Article Theology (T&T Clark)

Select Publications

Monographs

• Theosis in the Theology of Thomas Torrance. Ashgate New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies. Farnham: Ashgate, 2009.
• The Anointed Son: A Trinitarian Spirit Christology. Princeton Theological Monograph Series 129. Eugene, OR.: Pickwick Publications, 2010. 
• Theology in Transposition: A Constructive Appraisal of T.F. Torrance. Minneapolis: Fortress Press Academic, 2013.
• Heaven: An Inkling of What’s to Come. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2018. 
• The Progressive Mystery: Tracing the Elusive Spirit in Scripture and Tradition. Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2019

Edited Books

• The Spirit of Truth: Reading Scripture and Constructing Theology with the Holy Spirit. Ed. Myk Habets. Eugene, Or.: Pickwick Publications, 2010. 
• Trinitarian Theology After Barth. Princeton Theological Monograph Series 148. Eds. Myk Habets and Phillip Tolliday. Foreword by John Webster. Eugene, OR.: Pickwick Publications, 2011. 
• Reconsidering Gender: Evangelical Perspectives. Eds. Myk Habets and Beulah Wood. Eugene, OR.: Pickwick Publications, 2011.
• Gospel, Truth and Interpretation: Evangelical Identity in Aotearoa New Zealand. Archer Studies in Pacific Christianity. Ed. Tim Meadowcroft and Myk Habets. Forewords by Derek Tidball and David Bebbington. Auckland: Archer Press, 2011.
• Evangelical Calvinism: Volume 1: Essays Resourcing the Continuing Reformation of the Church. Princeton Theological Monograph Series. Ed. Myk Habets and Robert Grow. Foreword by Alasdair Heron. Eugene, OR.: Pickwick Publications, 2012. 
• Kiwimade Narrative Sermons: The Drama is the Doctrine. Viva Voce: Carey School of Preaching Series Volume One. Edited by Myk Habets. Auckland: Archer Press, 2014.
• Doing Integrative Theology: Word, World, and Work in Conversation. Edited Philip Halstead and Myk Habets. Auckland: Archer Press, 2015. 
• Theology and the Experience of Disability. Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Voices Down Under. Foreword by Marva Dawn. Edited by Andrew Picard and Myk Habets. London: Routledge/Ashgate, 2016. 
• What We Love: Reflections on Ministry, Leadership, and Mission. Ed. by Myk Habets & John Tucker, 2017. 
• The Art of Forgiveness. Lanham: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2018. (with Philip Halstead)
• T&T Clark Companion to Thomas F. Torrance. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2019. (with Paul Molnar)
• T&T Clark Companion to Colin E. Gunton. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2021. (with Andrew Picard and Murray Rae)
• Torrance and Evangelical Theology: A Critical Evaluation. Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2022. (with R. Lucas Stamps)

Book Chapters

1. ‘Reforming Theosis.’ In Theosis: Deification in Christian Theology. Princeton Theological Monograph Series, 52. Edited by S. Finlan and V. Kharlamov. Eugene. OR.: Pickwick Publications, 2006, 146-167. 

2. ‘Reading Scripture and Doing Theology with the Holy Spirit.’ In The Spirit of Truth: Reading Scripture and Constructing Theology with the Holy Spirit. Ed. Myk Habets. Eugene, Or.: Pickwick Publications, 2010, 89-104.

3. ‘Theosis, Yes; Deification, No.’ In The Spirit of Truth: Reading Scripture and Constructing Theology with the Holy Spirit. Ed. Myk Habets. Eugene, Or.: Pickwick Publications, 2010, 124-149.

4. ‘Beyond Henry’s Nominalism and Evangelical Foundationalism: Thomas Torrance’s Theological Realism.’ In Gospel, Truth and Interpretation: Evangelical Identity in Aotearoa New Zealand. Archer Studies in Pacific Christianity. Ed. Tim Meadowcroft and Myk Habets. Forewords by Derek Tidball and David Bebbington. Auckland: Archer Press, 2011, 205-240. [ISBN: 978-0-473-19216-7]

5. ‘Filioque? Nein. A Proposal for Coherent Coinherence.’ In Trinitarian Theology After Barth. Princeton Theological Monograph Series 148. Eds. Myk Habets and Phillip Tolliday. Foreword by John Webster. Eugene, OR.: Pickwick Publications, 2011, 161-202. [ISBN: 978-1-60899-490-8]

6. ‘Theologia Reformata et Semper Reformanda. Towards a Definition of Evangelical Calvinism.’ Myk Habets and Robert Grow. In Evangelical Calvinism: Essays Resourcing the Continuing Reformation of the Church. Princeton Theological Monograph Series. Eds. Myk Habets and Robert Grow. Foreword by Alasdair Heron. Eugene, OR.: Pickwick Publications, 2012. [ISBN: 978-1-60899-857-9]

7. ‘“There is no God behind the back of Jesus Christ:” Christologically Conditioned Election.’ In Evangelical Calvinism: Essays Resourcing the Continuing Reformation of the Church. Princeton Theological Monograph Series. Eds. Myk Habets and Robert Grow. Foreword by Alasdair Heron. Eugene, OR.: Pickwick Publications, 2012. [ISBN: 978-1-60899-857-9]

8. “‘Suffer the little children to come to me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Infant Salvation and the Destiny of the Severely Mentally Disabled.’ In Evangelical Calvinism: Essays Resourcing the Continuing Reformation of the Church. Princeton Theological Monograph Series. Eds. Myk Habets and Robert Grow. Foreword by Alasdair Heron. Eugene, OR.: Pickwick Publications, 2012, 287-328. [ISBN: 978-1-60899-857-9]

9. ‘Getting Beyond the Filioque with Third Article Theology.’ In Ecumenical Perspectives on the Filioque for the Twenty-first Century. Ed. Myk Habets. London: Bloomsbury/T&T Clark, 2014, 211-230.

10. ‘Mere Christianity for mere gods. Lewis on Theosis.’ In A Myth Re-told: Re-encounering C. S. Lewis as Theologian. Edited by Martin Sutherland. Eugene, OR.: Pickwick Publications, 2014, 110-129.

11. ‘The Drama is the Doctrine.’ In Kiwimade Narrative Sermons: The Drama is the Doctrine. Viva Voce: Carey School of Preaching Series Volume One. Edited by Myk Habets. (Auckland: Archer Press, 2014), 3-15.

12. ‘The Surprising Third Article Theology of Jonathan Edwards.’ In The Ecumenical Edwards: Jonathan Edwards and the Theologians. Ed. Kyle Strobel. Farnham: Ashgate, 2015, 195-211.

13. ‘Disability and Divinization: Eschatological Parables and Allegations.’ In Theology and the Experience of Disability. Perspectives from Voices Down Under. Eds. Andrew Picard and Myk Habets. London: London/Ashgate, 2016, 212-234.

14. ‘“The Essence of Evangelical Theology.” Critical Introduction to Thomas F. Torrance, The Trinitarian Faith: The Evangelical Theology of the Ancient Catholic Church. In Thomas F. Torrance, The Trinitarian Faith: The Evangelical Theology of the Ancient Catholic Church Cornerstones Series. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2016, vii-xxxii.

15. “That was Then, This is Now: Reading Hebrews Retroactively.” In Hearing the Voice of God in the Text of Scripture. Explorations in Constructive Dogmatics. Eds. Oliver D. Crisp and Fred Sanders. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016, 94-111.

16. Spirit Christology: The Future of Christology? In Third Article Theology: A Pneumatological Dogmatics, ed Myk Habets. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2016, 207-231.

17. “In Him we live and move and have our being”: A Theotic Account of Ethics. In Third Article Theology: A Pneuamtological Dogmatics, ed Myk Habets. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2016, 397-419.

18. “Crossing the Epistemological Impasse: Thinking out of a centre in God and not out of a centre in ourselves.” In Evangelical Calvinism, Volume 2: Dogmatics & Devotion, ed Bobby Grow and Myk Habets. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2017, 17-29.

19. “Christ and Culture: Toward a Contextual Theology.” In Evangelical Calvinism, Volume 2: Dogmatics & Devotion, ed Bobby Grow and Myk Habets. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2017, (with Eric Flett and Andrew Picard).

20. “Priests of Creation, Mediators of Order: Taking God to Work.” (with Peter McGhee). In Faith and Work: Christian Perspectives, Research and Insights into the Movement. Advances in Workplace Spirituality: Theory, Research and Application Series. Edited by Timothy Ewest. Charlotte, NC.: Information Age Publishing, 2018, 77-96.

21. “On Finishing Well: The Deification of Nature.” In Creation and Hope: Reflections on Ecological Anticipation and Action from Aotearoa New Zealand. Ed. Nicola Hoggard Creegan and Andrew Shepherd. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2018, 175–191.

22. “‘To Err is Human to Forgive is Divine’: The Ontological Foundations of Forgiveness.” In The Art of Forgiveness, ed. Philip Halstead and Myk Habets. Lanham: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2018, 3-16.

23. “Spirit, Self, and Salvation.” In Being Saved: Explorations in Soteriology and Human Persons.  Ed. S. Mark Hamilton, Marc Cortez, Josh Farris. London: SCM Press, 2018, 143-156.

24. “Spirit Christology and the Power of Jesus.” In T&T Clark Companion to Christology. Ed. Chris Tilling and Darren Sumner. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, forthcoming.

25. “Theologia is Eusebia: Torrance’s Church Homiletics.” T&T Clark Companion to Thomas F. Torrance. Ed. Myk Habets and Paul Molnar. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2019.

26. “The Spirit Cannot Be Ignored’: Gunton on Pneumatology.” T&T Clark Companion to Colin Gunton. Ed. Myk Habets, Andrew Picard, Murray Rae. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2020, 121-136.

27. “‘As far as our capacity allows.’ A Baptist Doctrine of Theosis.” In With All the Fullness of God: Engaging Deification Across Christian Traditions. Ed. Jared Ortiz. Bellingham: Lexington/Fortress Academic, 2019, 155-176.

28. “‘We Played the Flute for You and You did not Dance’: A Theology of Play.” 9-27. In Sports and Play in Christian Theology. Edited by John Tucker and Philip Halstead. Lanham: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2021. 

29. “Levinas and Lewis on Loving the Other in Organizations.” In Love and Organizing. Edited by Michael Pirson. (with Peter McGhee).

30. “Recent Anglican and Protestant Approaches.” In The Oxford Handbook of Deification. edited by Andrew Hofer, Matthew Levering, and Paul Gavrilyuk. (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

31. “The Global Theology of Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen: A Free Church View from Down Under.” The Dialogic Evangelical Theology of Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen: Exploring the Work of God in a Diverse Church and a Pluralistic World. Ed. Amos Yong, Patrick Oden, Peter Heltzel. Lanham: Fortress Press/Lexington Books, 2022, 121-134.

Journal Articles

1. ‘Veni Cinderella Spiritus.’ Journal of Pentecostal Theology 10 no. 1 (2001): 65-80.

2. ‘Spirit Christology: Seeing in Stereo.’ Journal of Pentecostal Theology 11 no. 2 (2003): 199-235.

3. ‘Developing a Retroactive Hermeneutic: Johannine Theology and Doctrinal Development.’ American Theological Inquiry 1 no. 2 (2008): 77-89.

4. ‘The Doctrine of Election in Evangelical Calvinism: T.F. Torrance as a Case Study.’ Irish Theological Quarterly 73 no 3-4 (2008): 334-354.

5. ‘“The Dogma is the Drama”: Dramatic Developments in Biblical Theology.’ Stimulus 16 no. 4 (November 2008): 2-5.

6. ‘T.F. Torrance: Mystical Theologian Sui Generis.’ Princeton Theological Review 14 no.2 Issue 39 (Fall 2008): 91-104.

7. ‘Naked but not Disembodied: A Case for Anthropological Duality.’ Pacific Journal of Baptist Research 4 no.1 (2008): 33-50.

8. ‘“Reformed Theosis?” A Response to Gannon Murphy.’ Theology Today 65 no. 4 (January, 2009): 489-498.

9. ‘On Getting First Things First: Assessing Claims for the Primacy of Christ.’ New Blackfriars 90 no.1027 (2009): 343-364.

10. ‘How “Creation is Proleptically Conditioned by Redemption”.’ Colloquium 41 no.1 (2009): 3-21.

11. ‘Walking In mirabilibus supra me: How C.S. Lewis Transposes Theosis.’ Evangelical Quarterly: An International Review of Bible and Theology in Defence of the Historic Christian Faith 82 no.1 (January, 2010): 15-27.

12. ‘The Primacy of Christ and Election.’ PJBR 8 no. 2 (2013): 14-30.

13. ‘The Fallen Humanity of Christ. A Pneumatological Clarification of the Theology of Thomas F. Torrance.’ Participatio 5 (2015): 18-44.

14. Review Essay. Paul D. Molnar, “Faith, Freedom and the Spirit: The Economic Trinity in Barth, Torrance and Contemporary Theology,” Heythrop Journal 57 no. 6 (2016): 1030-1034.

15. “TGIF! A Theology of Workers and Their Work.” Evangelical Review of Theology 41 no. 1 (2017): 32-47. (With Peter K. McGhee).

16. “Jesus, the Spirit, and the Unforgivable Sin: A Contribution from Spirit Christology.” Journal of Theological Interpretation 12 no. 1 (2018): 39-57.17. 

17. “The Proof is in the Providence.” Stimulus 27 no. 2 (2020): NP. https://hail.to/laidlaw-college/article/mElfkRb

18. “Hearts and Mindfulness.” Stimulus 27 no. 4 (2020): NP. https://hail.to/laidlaw-college/publication/emCooni/article/QJFZNqj 

19. “Theological Theological Interpretation of Scripture.” IJST 23 no. 2 (2021): 235-258.

20. “You Wonder Where the Pneumatology Went? Thomas F. Torrance and Third Article Theology,” Participatio (forthcoming).