NATHAN A. JACOBS, Ph.D. is Scholar in Residence in the Religion in the Arts and Contemporary Culture program at Vanderbilt Divinity School. He holds advanced degrees in Philosophy, Historical Theology, Systematic Theology, Church History, and Fine Art. Dr. Jacobs has three books—Kant and the Question of Theology (Cambridge University Press, 2017), The Persistence of the Sacred in Modern Thought (University of Notre Dame Press, 2012), In Defense of Kant’s “Religion” (Indiana University Press, 2008)—and over thirty refereed articles to his credit. Dr. Jacobs’ areas of specialization include modern philosophy, with emphasis on Leibniz and Kant; Eastern patristic thought, with emphasis on metaphysics; and the intersection between modern philosophy and patristic metaphysics in the philosophy of religion. In addition to his work in philosophy and religion, Dr. Jacobs is an accomplished artist and film-maker. He is a participant in the Templeton Religion Trust’s “Art Seeking Understanding” program, has appeared on Closer to Truth and PBS, is the writer-director of the college comedy, Killing Poe (2016), and is the writer-director of the feature documentary, Becoming Truly Human (2017), which looks at the rise of the religiously unaffiliated, or “Nones,” and the beliefs of this growing demographic. Jacobs is currently in development on his third feature film.
