John P. Burgess (PhD, University of Chicago) is James Henry Snowden Professor of Systematic Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books, including Holy Rus': The Rebirth of Orthodoxy in the New Russia, Encounters with Orthodoxy: How Protestant Churches Can Reform Themselves Again, and Why Scripture Matters: Reading the Bible in a Time of Church Conflict. His experience as a Fulbright Scholar to Russia and as a Luce Fellow in theology fueled his research on the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in shaping a new national identity for post-communist Russia.