Greylyn R. Hydinger

  • Assistant Professor
    Philosophy/Theology Department

Greylyn Hydinger is a philosopher, theologian, and scholar of religion. He earned his Ph.D. from Boston University in comparative theology, philosophy, and religion, under the direction of Robert C. Neville, Robert A. Hill, Francis X. Clooney, and Wesley J. Wildman. His main topics of inquiry include questions about ultimate reality, obligation, the nature of the self, the engagement of others, and the meaning of life. He develops hypotheses about these topics from a multidisciplinary and comparative base, drawing most heavily on South Asian and West Asian lines of thought-practice, evolutionary biology, and contemporary physics.
His interests in philosophy include metaphysics, philosophical cosmology, theories of inquiry, philosophy of religion, aesthetics, and American Pragmatism. His interests in theology include philosophical theology, comparative theology, Christian systematic theology (especially Platonic and Johannine lines of thought), Hindu systematic theology (especially as developed in the darsanas of Sa?khya, Advaita, and Kashmir Saivism and in the commentarial traditions), ground of being theologies, process theologies, and religious naturalisms. His interests in religious studies include comparative religions & world religions, theory of religion, New Testament studies, Bhagavad Gita & Mahabharata studies, theories of religious symbolism, and religion & science.

Research Languages:

Sanskrit

Greek (Koine and Classical)

Biblical Hebrew

Classical Latin

German

THEO 101 Foundations of Theology and Morality
THEO 285: Global Theology
THEO 260: The Bible
GTHEO 610: The Bible
PHIL 237: Ethics
PHIL 260: Environmental Ethics
PHIL 244: Metaphysics
PHIL 283: American Philosophy

American Academy of Religion (2013–present)
Boston Theological Society (2019–present)
The Charles S. Peirce Society (2017–present)
Comparative Theology Unit, AAR (2013–present)
The Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought (2022–present)
The Metaphysical Society of America (2022–present)
The North American Paul Tillich Society (Related Scholarly Organization to the American Academy of Religion) (2019–present)
Northeast Ohio Naturalists (2010–present)
Society of Biblical Literature (2024–present)
Society for Hindu-Christian Studies (2018–present)
Theology Without Walls, AAR Affiliate Unit (2018–present)
Theta Alpha Kappa National Honor Society for Religion & Theology

He has several book-length projects in the works. He is currently writing a book on Ultimacy and Existence in the Bhagavad-Gita and Fourth Gospel, editing The Critical Neville, and writing commentary on Paul Tillich’s writings on Interreligious Encounters as part of the Collected Works of Paul Tillich in English project. He is writing one book chapter on comparative process theologies, and another on Charles Peirce and Duns Scotus. He will present a paper that develops a Tillichian Axiology of Nature in Boston in November 2025. He is collaborating on an article focused on Charles Peirce’s theory of abduction.
He is the conference organizer for the 2025 Annual Meeting of the North American Paul Tillich Society; the meeting’s theme is Tillich and Nature. He is the program chair for the 2026 Annual Meeting if the Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought on Experience: Philosophical Topics from Dewey for Inquiry with Other Pragmatists, Process Philosophers, Naturalists, and Religious Liberals. The Call for Papers can be found here: https://www.iarpt.org/?page_id=525.

Recent Conference Papers

“Naturalistic Approaches to Suffering in Comparative Perspective: Ethical Implications of the Metaphysics of Bliss and the Beauty of Suffering.” Conference presentation. The Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought (IARPT), Annual Meeting. St. Stephen’s United Church of Christ, Harrisonburg, VA. June 17, 2025.
“Scotistic Inquiry, Love, Purpose, and Apophasis in Peirce’s Neglected Argument.” Conference Presentation for Charles S. Peirce’s Neglected Argument for the Reality of God: Contemporary Perspectives. Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. June 10, 2025.
“Robert Neville’s Transformation of Tillich’s System of Categories through Comparison in Strange, Surprising, Sure.” Book Panel. Conference Presentation. North American Paul Tillich Society. Annual Meeting in Conjunction with the American Academy of Religion. San Diego, CA. November 22, 2024.
“Naturalistic Theories of Learning and Inquiry in Comparative Perspective.” Conference presentation. The Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought (IARPT), Annual Meeting. Community Congregational Church of Manitou Springs, Manitou Springs, CO. June 19, 2024.
“Two Types of Systematic Theology Without Walls.” Conference Presentation in the Theology Without Walls Group, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting. San Antonio, TX. November 19, 2023.
Panelist. “Book Panel: Benjamin J. Chicka, Playing As Others: Theology and Ethical Responsibility in Video Games.” North American Paul Tillich Society. Annual Meeting in Conjunction with the American Academy of Religion. San Antonio, TX. November 17, 2023.
“Religious Boundaries: Arbitrary and Metaphysical.” Conference Presentation. The Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought (IARPT), Annual Meeting. Catholic Academy of Berlin. Berlin, Germany. June 14, 2023.
Panelist. “Book Panel: Ronald Stone, The Ethics of Paul Tillich.” North American Paul Tillich Society. Annual Meeting in Conjunction with the American Academy of Religion. Denver, CO. November 18, 2022.
“God: A Peircean Index to the Ground of Being and Depths of Nature.” Conference Presentation. The Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought (IARPT), Annual Meeting. The University of Utah. Salt Lake City, UT. June 21, 2022. Paper submitted for possible publication with the American Journal of Theology and Philosophy, IARPT’s affiliated journal.
“American Pragmatism and the Trump Era: The Contrasting Positions of Pragmaticism and Neo-Pragmatism on Truth.” Presentation in the Pragmaticism and Empiricism in American Religious Thought Unit, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting. San Antonio, TX. November 20, 2021.

Professional Service
2024–2027: Member of the Board of Directors, The Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought
2023–Present: President Elect, The North American Paul Tillich Society (Two November—November terms)
2024–2025: Committee Member, AI and University Academic Policy Group, Gannon University
2023—Present: Co-Treasurer with Benjamin J. Chicka, The North American Paul Tillich Society
2023—2028: Steering Committee Member, Pragmatism and Empiricism in American Religious Thought Unit of the American Academy of Religion (January 1—December 31 term)
2022–2023: Vice President, The North American Paul Tillich Society (November—November term)
2019–2022/2023: Board of Directors, The North American Paul Tillich Society (Term Extended to 2023 Due to COVID-19)

Greylyn         R. Hydinger

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Office: PC 3206H

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