William Roberts

Professor
Full-Time Faculty
College of Arts and Sciences: Religious Studies

Profile

Dr. Roberts is a member of the Catholic Theology Society of America and the College Theology Society. His teaching fields of concentration are Catholic theology and Christian marriage and family. He has taught at the high school and college level and has taught classes in the OSHER Lifelong Learning Institute at UD. He has written or edited fifteen books and is the author of eighty articles and book reviews.

Dr. Roberts is a member of Alpha Sigma Nu (the Jesuit Honor Society) since 1968, the College Theology Society since 1981, the Catholic Theological Society of America since 1981, and was an associate member of the Canon Law Society of America from 1986 to 1992. He has presented, co-convened and served as an invited participant in numerous symposia and conventions concerning Christian marriage, youth ministry and religion in the family, throughout the United States and Canada.

Dr. Roberts is currently a member of the University of Dayton Human Rights Committee. He is married to Challon O'Hearn Roberts, and they have three adult daughters and one granddaughter.

Teaching Experience

  • 1980-present Professor of Theology, University of Dayton     
  • 1975-1980 Adjunct Faculty Member, UD Religious Studies Graduate Program
  • 1975-1980 Associate Professor/Professor of Theology and Chair of Religious Studies Dept., Edgecliff College, Cincinnati
  • 1971-1975 Director, Teacher of Religious and Adult Education, Precious Blood Parish, Dayton
  • 1967-1971 Assistant Professor of Theology and Chair of Religious Studies Dept., Wheeling Jesuit College
  • 1956-1959 Teacher, Latin, English, Religion, Gonzaga High School, Washington, D.C.
Visiting Teaching Appointments
  • 1982 - 1987 Kino Institute, Phoenix and Tucson
  • 1981 - 1983 Archdiocese of Cincinnati Lay Pastoral Ministry Program
  • 1978 - 1980 St. Leonard Seminary
  • 1976 - 1980 Active Spirituality for A Global Community Program, Cincinnati
  • 1975 - 1980 University of Dayton Summer Graduate Program
  • 1975 - 1980 Inter-community Novitiate Program, Cincinnati
  • 1968 - 1971 Bethany College
  • 1968 - 1969 West Liberty State College
  • Summer, 1967 Lewis College

Degrees

  • Ph.D., Theology, Marquette University, 1968
  • S.T.L., Weston School of Theology, 1963
  • M.A.T., English, Fordham University, 1957
  • PH.L., Loyola Seminary, Shrub Oak, NY, 1956
  • B.A., English, Fordham University, 1955

Professional Activities

  • Member, 1968-present, Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit Honor Society
  • Member, 1981-present, College Theology Society
  • Member 1981-present, Catholic Theological Society of America
  • Associate Member, Canon Law Society of America, 1986-1992

Research Interests

  • Developments in theology

Selected Publications and Presentations

BOOKS

Marriage: It’s A God Thing (Cincinnati: Saint Anthony Messenger Press, 2007).

A Sacramental Life: A Festschrift Honoring Bernard Cooke, co-editor with Michael H. Barnes (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2003).

Prayers for Reflective Christians (Dayton, OH: University of Dayton Printing and Design, 2003).

Thorny Issues: Theological and Pastoral Reflections (Huntington, NY: Troitsa Books, a division of Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 2001).

Christian Marriage and Family: Contemporary Theological and Pastoral Perspectives, co- editor with Michael G. Lawler (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1996).  (First place, family life category, Catholic Press Association 1997 Book Award).

Divorce and Remarriage: Religious and Psychological Perspectives, editor (Kansas City, MO: Sheed and Ward, 1990).

Partners in Intimacy: Living Christian Marriage Today, coauthored with Challon O'Hearn Roberts (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1988).

Marriage: Sacrament of Hope and Challenge, revised and expanded edition (Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1988).

Commitment to Partnership: Explorations of The Theology of Marriage, editor (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1987).

Encounters with Christ: An Introduction to The Sacraments (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1985).

Touchstones for Prayer (Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1983).

Marriage: Sacrament of Hope and Challenge, original edition. (Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1983).

The Prophets Speak Today (Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1981).

At The Door Knocking (Dayton: Pflaum Publishing Co., 1975).

Teach Us To Pray (Liguori, MO: Liguorian Publications, 1972).

The Quakers as Type of A Spirit-Centered Community: A Roman Catholic View (Manasquan, NJ: Catholic and Quaker Studies, 1971).

BOOKLETS

"Adult Participation: Answering The Call To Minister." Chair, coauthoring committee (Cin- cinnati: Archdiocesan Office of Religious Education, 1977).

"Sex Can Be Sacramental" (St. Meinrad, IN: Abbey Press, 1991).

BOOK CHAPTERS

“Christian Marriage” in From Trent to Vatican II: Historical and Theological Investigations, Raymond F. Bulman and Frederick J. Parrella, editors (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 209-226.

“Christian Marriage: A Divine Calling” in Marriage and the Catholic Tradition, Todd A. Salzman, Thomas M. Kelly, and John O’Keefe, editors (New York: Crossroad Publishers, 2004), pp. 98-108.

“The Family as Church of the Home: An Approach to a Contemporary Sacramental Familial Spirituality” in A Sacramental Life: A Festschrift Honoring Bernard Cooke, Michael H. Barnes and William P. Roberts, editors (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2003), pp. 287-306.
 
"The Family as Domestic Church: Contemporary Implications," pp. 79-90, and "Toward A Post-Vatican II Spirituality of Marriage," pp. 125-140, in Christian Marriage and Family: Contemporary Theological and Pastoral Perspectives, Michael G. Lawler and William P. Roberts, co-editors (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1996).

"Marriage and Divorce Twenty-five Years after Vatican II" in The Church in the Nineties, Pierre M. Hegy, editor (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1993).

“Theology of Christian Marriage” in Alternative Futures for Worship, Volume 5, Christian Marriage, Bernard Cooke, editor (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1987), pp. 47-66.

Eighty articles and book reviews