John G. West, Ph.D.

Dr. West serves as Distinguished Scholar of American Government and Christian Civic Engagement at Cornerstone University, bringing a direct and active presence to campus through teaching, mentorship, and ongoing engagement with students, faculty, and the broader community. A Vice President at the Discovery Institute, he advances the integration of a sophisticated Christian worldview across the university’s academic experience, drawing on national expertise in constitutional thought, public policy, and the relationship between faith and civic life.

He contributes to The Cornerstone Core™, the university’s groundbreaking general education curriculum, helping shape The Cornerstone Great Works Canon of the American Experience — engaging students with primary sources that illuminate the nation’s founding principles, the influence of Christianity in forming moral citizens, and their enduring importance for sustaining a free society — an approach to general education unlike any other in America.

Dr. West is a leading Christian scholar and cultural commentator whose work has influenced national conversations on science, public policy, and the moral foundations of American civic life, confronting the rise of scientism and materialism in public life. He argues that science alone cannot account for human dignity, moral responsibility, or the foundations of freedom. Grounded in a historic Christian understanding of Scripture, he defends the reliability of the gospels and affirms that human beings are created by God with inherent dignity, purpose, and moral agency — convictions he connects directly to constitutional government, ordered liberty, and the common good.

He engages in robust debate through media conversations on these issues, with coverage in major outlets including Time, Newsweek, USA Today, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, and appearances on CNN, Fox News, and C-SPAN.

His influence is expressed across four areas of impact:

Advancing a National Platform on Science, Faith, and Culture: Through his leadership as vice president and a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute and managing director for its Center for Science and Culture, which he co-founded with Stephen Meyer, Dr. West has advanced arguments that challenge scientism, defend a theistic understanding of human origins and purpose, and bring questions of human dignity, freedom, and responsibility into national debate.

Shaping Public Understanding of Human Dignity and Moral Responsibility: Across his scholarship, films, and public commentary, he has examined how Darwinian thought and materialist assumptions influence law, policy, and cultural institutions — arguing that reducing the human person to biology weakens moral accountability and undermines the foundations of a free society.

Bringing Biblical Truth into Public Life: Dr. West has consistently engaged questions surrounding the authority of Scripture and the reliability of the gospels, contending that a Biblical view of the human person — created in the image of God and revealed in Jesus Christ — is essential for sustaining justice, freedom, and civic responsibility.

Forming Students for Faithful Civic Leadership: Through teaching, public engagement, and his work within The Cornerstone Core™, he equips students to understand how ideas shape institutions and to lead as morally grounded citizens who reflect Jesus Christ in their professions, communities, and civic life.

Dr. West’s academic and public leadership spans both higher education and national media. He previously served as Associate Professor of Political Science and chaired the Department of Political Science and Geography at Seattle Pacific University, and has taught political science and history at California State University, San Bernardino and Azusa Pacific University. Earlier in his career, he served as Managing Editor of Public Research, Syndicated, helping distribute public affairs analysis to more than 700 daily and weekly newspapers nationwide.

His recent book, Endowed by Our Creator, presents that science was misused to undermine the Declaration of Independence’s vision of equality and liberty — and that new discoveries are reversing that trajectory, pointing back to the moral foundations of the American founding. This work informs Cornerstone University’s America at 250 celebrations as part of a broader exploration of these enduring, Biblically grounded principles — equipping students and the community to apply them across industry, ministry, and civic life.

Books and Publications

Dr. West has written or edited 14 books, including:

• Endowed by Our Creator: The Bible, Science, and the Battle for America’s Soul
• Stockholm Syndrome Christianity
• Darwin Day in America: How Our Politics and Culture Have Been Dehumanized in the Name of Science
• The Magician’s Twin: C.S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society
• Walt Disney and Live Action
• Darwin’s Conservatives: The Misguided Quest
• The Politics of Revelation & Reason: Religion and Civic Life in the New Nation
• The Encyclopedia of Religion in American Politics
• The Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, Supplement I
• The Theology of Welfare
• The C.S. Lewis Readers’ Encyclopedia
• Celebrating Middle-Earth: The Lord of the Rings as a Defense of Western Civilization

Documentaries and Media Work

Dr. West has written and directed or contributed to documentaries exploring science, culture, and human identity, including:

• The Story of Everything: A Cosmic Exploration
• Human Zoos
• The War on Humans
• Darwin’s Heretic
• The Privileged Species
• Revolutionary
• The Magician’s Twin: C.S. Lewis and the Case Against Scientism
• The Magician’s Twin: C.S. Lewis and Intelligent Design
• Biology of the Second Reich

He also contributed to the Science Uprising series, bringing questions of science, faith, and human dignity to broad public audiences.