Ben Norquist Ph.D.

A writer, researcher, and educator whose work explores the sacredness of place at intersections of land, justice, and faith. Ben serves with the Bethlehem Institute for Peace & Justice as Director of Communications & Development.

e: b.norquist@bethbc.edu

Ben’s Latest Book

Ben's new book, Every Somewhere Sacred (IVP Academic) explores how Christians can rediscover the spiritual significance of place. Drawing on Scripture, theology, and lived experience, the book invites readers to see land, community, and responsibility with fresh eyes.

Every Somewhere Sacred explores:

  • tools for deeply understanding or “reading” places;

  • interdisciplinary scholarship from Scripture,

  • sociology and theology of land and place;

  • connections between colonialism, race, social class, and American landscapes.

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BIPJ Substack Publications

  • Learning from the Monarchs

    What Borderland Butterflies Teach Us about Following Jesus in the World.

    August 29, 2026
    Ben Norquist

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  • Christianity Today has a Truth Problem When it Comes to Israel

    Over the last three years, I’ve watched Christianity Today repeatedly…

    May 21, 2026
    Ben Norquist

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  • A Book the Church Needs Right Now

    From the Great Lakes of North America to the hills of Palestine, communities have told stories about land…

    June 11, 2026
    Ben Norquist

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Published Articles

  • Lord, When Did We See You Thirsty in Gaza?

    SOJOURNERS

    Israel has turned God’s most essential provision into a weapon….

    READ

  • A Response to Mike Cosper and Christianity Today

    RELIGION NEWS SERVICE

    Jesus is perishing among the 30,000 who have died in Gaza as much as he was those killed on Oct. 7…

    Read

  • My Land Acknowledgment

    THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY

    My family owns a residential plot in suburban Chicago. I decided to find out what used to be there…

    READ

Media Appearances

Christianity Today's Coverage of Gaza with Ben Norquist YouTube

Dr. Norquist talks at Church at the Crossroads 2025 Chicago Conference

What is a “Theology of Place?” Dr. Ben Norquist & Dr. Brian Miller

Full Bio

Dr. Ben Norquist is a writer, researcher, and educator whose work explores the sacredness of place at intersections of land, story, justice, and faith. He serves with the Bethlehem Institute for Peace & Justice and is Co-Director of Church at the Crossroads.Ben’s doctoral research focused on higher education in active conflict zones, culminating in a qualitative case study of Palestinian universities in Bethlehem.

His writing often weaves together personal narrative, settler colonial critique, and theological reflection—most notably in his forthcoming book with InterVarsity Press, Every Somewhere Sacred: Rescuing a Theology of Place in the American Imagination (2026), which examines how American Christians imagine and inhabit the lands around them. A graduate of St. John’s College and Azusa Pacific University, Ben has held appointments and leadership roles at Wheaton College, Bryan College, Churches for Middle East Peace, and now at the Bethlehem Institute for Peace & Justice.

His essays and commentary have appeared in Christianity Today, The Christian Century, Religion News Service, Sojourners, Christians for Social Action, and Baptist News Global. He lives in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, with his wife and three children.

More Books and Chapters by Ben

  • book cover for Being Christian After the Desolation of Gaza

    Passing By on the Other Side: Christianity Today Since October 7,

    Chapter in Being Christian After the Desolation of Gaza

  • On Vocation

    Chapter in Life Questions Every Student Asks: Faithful Responses to Common Issues.

  • Globalization

    Entry in The SAGE Encyclopedia of Higher Education

Accomplishments
& Highlights

Bethlehem Institute for Peace & Justice

Director of Communications & Development:

Ben has served as BIPJ’s Director of Communications & Development since December 2025, helping lead the institute’s communications, fundraising, digital strategy, and public engagement. His work focuses on telling BIPJ’s story, expanding its reach among Christians in the United States and around the world, and building the relationships and resources needed to advance its mission.

Christians for Middle East Peace

Director of Communications

Ben previously served as Director of Academics & Grants at Christians for Middle East Peace, a coalition of 36 Christian denominations and organizations working for peace and justice in the Middle East. He helped develop educational programming, managed a substantial portfolio of grants and partnerships, and co-directed Church at the Crossroads, bringing together hundreds of Christians to explore the relationship between faith, theology, and the realities of the Holy Land..

Christian Higher Education

Early Career in Higher Education

Ben spent his early career in Christian higher education, serving at both Bryan College and Wheaton College. At Bryan, he served as Director of Faith & Mission, helping advance the college’s Christian identity and institutional mission. At Wheaton, he served as Assistant Director of the Center for Faith & Innovation, where he led an interdisciplinary innovation lab bringing together faculty and students to explore creative Christian responses to complex cultural and societal challenges. Across both roles, his work focused on helping Christians connect faith, vocation, intellectual inquiry, and practical engagement with the world.

Education

Masters in XYZ

Ben holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Azusa Pacific University, where my dissertation explored Palestinian higher education in Bethlehem. Ben holds an M.A. in Liberal Education from St. John’s College Graduate Institute and a Certificate in Design Thinking from MIT. His education brings together higher education, interdisciplinary inquiry, and innovation, with a particular interest in how educational institutions can serve communities amid complex challenges.

Academic Publications

Google Scholar Profile

Biblical Studies and Theology

* “Justice in Ecclesiastes (3:16–4:3 and 8:10–17): A Missional Reading from and for Palestine,” in Jione Havea and Peter Lau (eds.), Reading Ecclesiastes from Asia and Pasifika, International Voices in Biblical Studies Series, Atlanta: SBL Press, 2020.

“Paul in Athens (Acts 17:16–34): A Babbler or an Evangelistic Scholar of Religion?” in Martin Accad and Jonathan Andrews (eds.), The Religious Other - A Biblical Understanding of Islam, the Qur'an and Muhammad, Carlisle: Langham, 2020.

“Christian Zionism and Mission: How Does our Understanding of Christianity Impact our Witness in the World?” in Martin Accad and Jonathan Andrews (eds.), The Religious Other - A Biblical Understanding of Islam, the Qur'an and Muhammad, Carlisle: Langham, 2020.

* = peer reviewed publications

Memberships & Affiliations

  • Networking Team Member, The International Fellowship of Mission as Transformation (INFEMIT) – https://infemit.org/

    • Member of the organizing committee of the Stott-Bediako forum

    • Member of the digital presence committee

  • Senior ICETE Academy Fellow – https://icete.academy/

  • Member of the Palestinian Engineers Association

Courses Taught

* “Usability Evaluation of Lexicographic e-Services,” Proceedings of the 16th ACS/IEEE International Conference on Computer Systems and Applications (AICCSA 2019), Abu Dhabi, 2019 [with Diana Alhafi and Mustafa Jarrar].

* “The Graph Signature: A Scalable Query Optimization Index for RDF Graph Databases Using Bisimulation and Trace Equivalence Summarization,” International Journal on Semantic Web and Information Systems (IJSWIS), 11.2, Pages 36-65, DOI: 10.4018/IJSWIS.2015040102, April-June 2015 [with Mustafa Jarrar].

* “Ontology-based Data and Process Governance Framework - The Case of e-Government Interoperability in Palestine,” Proceedings of the IFIP International Symposium on Data-Driven Process Discovery and Analysis (SIMPDA'11), Pages 83-98, ISBN 978-88-903120-2-1, Campione, Italy, June 30, 2011 [with Mustafa Jarrar and Bilal Farraj].

* “Towards Query Optimization for the Data Web - Disk-Based algorithms: Trace Equivalence and Bisimilarity,” Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Intelligent Semantic Web – Services and Applications (ISWSA’10), Pages 131-137, ACM, ISBN 978-1-4503-0475-7, Amman, Jordan, June 2010 [with Ala Hawash, Bilal Farraj, and Mustafa Jarrar].

* “Towards Query Optimization for the Data Web,” Proceedings of the 3rd Palestinian International Conference on Computer and Information Technology (PICCIT’10), Hebron, Palestine, March 2010 [with Bilal Faraj, Ala Hawash, and Mustafa Jarrar].