João Chaves, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of the History of Religion in the Américas Co-Director of the Baptist Scholars International Roundtable (BSIR)
Education
Ph.D., Baylor University, 2017
M.T.S., Truett Theological Seminary, 2012
B.A., Baptist University of the Américas, 2010
B.Th., Centro Batista de Educação, Serviço, e Pesquisa, 2009
Biography
João B. Chaves joined the Department of Religion at Baylor University in the fall semester of 2023. His research focuses on the history of religion in the Américas, the influence of U.S. Protestantism in Latin America, and the development of Latin American/Latinx religious networks in the United States. Dr. Chaves is an award-winning author whose books include Migrational Religion: Context and Creativity in the Latinx Diaspora (Baylor University Press, 2021), The Global Mission of the Jim Crow South: Southern Baptist Missionaries and the Shaping of Latin American Evangelicalism (Mercer University Press, 2022), and Remembering Antônia Teixeira: A Story of Missions, Violence, and Institutional Hypocrisy (Eerdmans, 2023), co-authored with Dr. Mikeal Parsons. Dr. Chaves also co-edited a book with Dr. T. Laine Scales, titled Baptists and the Kingdom of God: Global Perspectives (Baylor University Press, 2023). His peer-review articles appear in several academic journals, such as The International Journal of Latin American Religions, The Journal of Reformed Theology, Political Theology, Review and Expositor, Perspectives in Religious Studies, and Baptist History and Heritage.
Additionally, Dr. Chaves has written opinion pieces about the history of Christianity in Latin America for periodicals and magazines, including the Washington Post and The Christian Century. He serves on the editorial boards of Perspectives in Religious Studies, the HTI Book Series on Religion and Theology En Conjunto (Baylor University Press), and the Perspectives on Baptist Identities manuscript series (Mercer University Press), for which he serves as coeditor. He is also part of a research team working with award-winning filmmakers on a forthcoming documentary exploring the connections between Christian Nationalisms in Brazil and the United States.
Dr. Chaves came to Baylor after holding simultaneous positions as an Associate Director at the Hispanic Theological Initiative at Princeton Theological Seminary (HTI) and an Assistant Professor at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. In his role at HTI, Dr. Chaves helped write several grants, being part of the team who raised over $7.4 million in grants and gifts.
Academic Interests and Research
The History of Religion in the Américas, Influence of U.S. Protestantism in Latin America, Missions History, World Christianity, Latin American/Latinx Religious Networks, Baptist History, Race in the Américas, Immigration History, History of Latin American Theologies, Protestantism in Brazil.
Books
With T. Laine Scales (eds.), Baptists and the Kingdom of God: Global Perspectives (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2023).
With Mikeal C. Parsons, Remembering Antônia Teixeira: A Story of Missions, Violence, and Institutional Hypocrisy (Grand Rapids: Wm.B. Eerdmans, 2023).
The Global Mission of the Jim Crow South: Southern Baptist Missions and the Shaping of Latin American Evangelicalism (Macon: Mercer University Press, 2022).
Migrational Religion: Context and Creativity in the Latinx Diaspora (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2021).
O Racismo na História Batista Brasileira: Uma Memória Inconveniente do Legado Missionário (Brasília: Novos Diálogos, 2020).
Evangelicals and Liberation Revisited: An Inquiry into the Possibility of an Evangelical-Liberationist Theology (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2013).
Edited Journal Issues
Christianity, Race, and Ethnicity: Latinx Critical Conversations on Identity Construction and Religious Participation, Perspectives in Religious Studies, 49/4, Winter 2022.
Contributors: Gerardo Marti, Raimundo Barreto Jr., Robert Chao Romero, Angela Tarango, Jonathan Calvillo, Rodrigo Serrão, Brett C. Hoover, and Jennifer Owens-Jofré
Baptists and Higher Education: Papers from the Baptist Scholars International Roundtable, Perspectives in Religious Studies, 50/1, Spring 2023.
Contributors: Paul Fiddes, Grave Vargas, Fellipe dos Anjos, Keith Mitchell, Sally Nelson, Dumas Harshaw, Perry Hildreth, Kevin Wilhite
Peer-Reviewed Articles
With Godfrey Harold, “Constructing Afro-Descendant Christianties: Towards Hemispheric Histories for Racial and Ethnic Solidarity” in The South African Baptist Journal of Theology, 30 (2021), 172-181.
With Rodrigo Serrão, "Immigrant Evangelicalism in the COVID-19 Crisis: Reactions and Responses from Brazilian Evangelical Churches in Florida" in The International Journal of Latin American Religions 4 (September 2020): 235-249.
“Exporting Holy Fire: Southern Baptist Missions, Pentecostalism, and Baptist Identity in Latin America” in Perspectives in Religious Studies 47.2 (Summer 2020): 203-214.
“Expanding the Fear of the Mongrel: Baptist Missions in Latin America and Transnational Racist Cross-Pollination” in Baptist History and Heritage Journal LIV.2 (Summer 2019): 81-91.
With Douglas Weaver, “Baptists and Their Polarizing Ways: Transnational Polarization Between Southern Baptist Missionaries and Brazilian Baptists” in Review and Expositor 116.2, (2019): 160-174.
“The Servetus Challenge: Eisegesis and the Problematic of Differing Chronologies of Ecclesiastical Corruption,” in Journal of Reformed Theology X (Fall 2016): 195-214.
“Where Should We Go Next?: A Call for the Critical Investigation of Possible Racial Encounters Between Anglo-American and Mexican-American Baptists in Texas During the Pioneer Period” in Baptist History and Heritage Journal XLIX.3 (Fall 2014): 23-38.
Professional Awards and Activities
Co-Facilitator of the “2023 Colloquium of the Association for Public Religion and Intellectual Life (APRIL)—Theme: Memory,” project housed at Auburn Theological Seminary and co-funded by Auburn Seminary and the Association for Public Religion and Intellectual Life, 2023.
Co-Principal Writer (with Joanne Rodríguez and Ángela Schoepf), “What You Need to Know to Engage Latinx Communities,” project housed at Princeton Theological Seminary and funded by Trinity Wall Street - $100,000, 2023-2025.
Co-Principal Investigator (with Raimundo Barreto and Erica Ramirez), “Research for Apocalipse nos Trópicos Documentary,” Spring, 2023.
HTI Book Prize for Migrational Religion: Context and Creativity in the Latinx Diaspora, 2022.
Co-Facilitator of the “2022 Colloquium of the Association for Public Religion and Intellectual Life (APRIL)—Theme: Oppression and Repair,” project housed at Auburn Theological Seminary and co-funded by Auburn Seminary and the Association for Public Religion and Intellectual Life, 2022.
Co-director, Baptist Scholars International Roundtable—2021-present.
Writing team member, “En conjunto! Strengthening the Recruitment, Retention and Graduation of Latinx Masters and PhD Students,” project housed at Princeton Theological Seminary and funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc. - $7.3M, 2021-2027.
Co-Principal Writer (with Joanne Rodríguez and Ángela Schoepf), “Optimizing Latinx Leadership Formation through Curriculum Digitalization and Update,” project housed at Princeton Theological Seminary and funded by Trinity Wall Street - $100,000, 2021-2022.
Co-Investigator (with Dr. Mikeal Parsons), “The Rape of Antonia Teixeira: Racism, Sexism, and Xenophobia at Baylor and Beyond,” project housed at Baylor University and funded by the Dr. Benjamin F. Brown IV Fund for Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Scholarship - $25,000, 2021-2022.
Co-Investigator (with Dr. Erica Ramirez, Lisa Anderson, Dr. Sharon Groves, Rev. Jennifer Bailey, and Dr. Jennifer Harvey), “Readying Black, Latinx, and White Communities of Faith and Moral Courage for the Great Turning,” project housed at Auburn Theological Seminary, 2021.
National Association of Baptist Prof. of Religion Dissertation Fellowship, 2017.
HTI/Lilly Dissertation Fellowship, 2017.
Political Theology Network Dissertation Workshop Award, 2016.
Hilburn Endowed Graduate Research Scholarship, 2016.
Courses Taught at Baylor, Fall 2023
- REL 1350 Christian Heritage