Paul Fine

Supervisor:

Canon Professor Mark D. Chapman

Research Interests:

History of American Religion; the Cold War; Intellectual History; Reformation History; Transatlantic Mysticism.

Biography:

I am reading for the DPhil at Wolfson College where I study the United States Government’s use of overt and covert means to engineer religion both at home and abroad as a method to combat global Communism. I contend that the civil religion developed by the Eisenhower Administration contributed to the rise of religious pluralism in America during the 1960s and to the modern-day rhetoric of American Christian Nationalism. Before pursuing a career in academia, I spent ten years serving in the United States Marine Corps and the U.S. Foreign Service. I am a Postgraduate Member at the Rothermere American Institute and a Middle Reader at the Canterbury Institute.

Educational Background:

University of Oxford: DPhil Candidate
Westminster Seminary California: Historical Theology, MA
University of Pennsylvania: BAAS

Select Publications:

“Cold War Crusaders: Paul Tillich’s Influence on Religious Anti-Communism,” Journal for the History of Modern Theology / Zeitschrift für Neuere Theologiegeschichte, forthcoming (2026).
“The ‘New’ Christian Nationalism,” Mere Orthodoxy, (2024). Link.
“After the Fall: A Christian’s Confession of His Role in Afghanistan,” Providence Magazine (2024). Link.