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BIPJ Substack Publications
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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
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Lord, When Did We See You Thirsty in Gaza?
SOJOURNERS
Israel has turned God’s most essential provision into a weapon….
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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… -
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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…
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
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Passing By on the Other Side: Christianity Today Since October 7,
Chapter in Being Christian After the Desolation of Gaza
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On Vocation
Chapter in Life Questions Every Student Asks: Faithful Responses to Common Issues.
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Globalization
Entry in The SAGE Encyclopedia of Higher Education
Accomplishments& HighlightsBethlehem 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
Degrees and Certificates
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
Norquist, B. (2025) Passing By on the Other Side with Moral Clarity: Christianity Today’s Coverage Since October 7 in Fisk, Bruce and Ross Wagner, Eds. Being Christian After the Desolation of Gaza. Cascade.
Norquist, B. (2024). Higher education resisting settler colonial transfer in Palestinian Bethlehem. Comparative Education Review, 68(4).
Norquist, B. and Miller, B. (2024). Holy cities and suburbs: Explaining the clustering of evangelical protestant organizations in four cities. In Brian Miller, Sanctifying Suburbia: How the Suburbs Became the Promised Land for American Evangelicals. Oxford University Press.
Norquist, B. (2022). “In the Land of Our Birth”: Higher Education, Settler Colonial Space, and Epistemological Resistance in Palestinian Bethlehem. [Ph.D. Dissertation, Azusa Pacific University]. ProQuest Dissertation Publishing.
Miller, B. & Norquist, B. (2021) Christian colleges in the locational wilderness: The locations of CCCU institutions, Christian Higher Education, 20:4, 223-239, DOI: 10.1080/15363759.2020.1806141
Alayan, A. & Norquist, B. (2020). Vocational discernment themes in popular Christian literature. Journal of Psychology and Christianity 39(3). 198-213.
Collins, C. & Norquist, B. (2019) “Globalization and higher education.” In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Higher Education, Volume 5. SAGE Publishing.