A Northumbrian by birth and temperament, Joshua studied at Oxford University (BA and MA), Prague (MTh) and Dublin (PhD). He considers it a great privilege to be part of a vibrant and multi-cultural and multi-ethnic learning community at Spurgeon’s College. His experience at Spurgeon’s has taught him that there is no greater blessing as a teacher than seeing students’ lives and ministries being transformed as a result of their studies. The dominating passion of Joshua’s academic calling is his desire to see all his students grow in grace and knowledge of the “boundless riches of Christ” and to realise their full potential in God.
Before starting work at Spurgeon’s in 2013, Joshua worked at Donetsk Christian University (DCU) in Eastern Ukraine before DCU was occupied by armed militants during the Russian army’s invasion of the Donetsk Region in 2014.
Joshua has taught theology and philosophy in Germany, Ireland, the UK and Ukraine. Fluent in German and Russian and proficient in many Slavic languages, he has had an active ministry in Ukraine over many years in his capacity as Chair of Trustees of the charity, Dnipro Hope Mission: www.dniprohopemission.org
His favourite writers are John Milton, William Blake and Fyodor Dostoevsky and his abiding role models growing up were – and still are – Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King Jr. As well as his academic and popular books and articles on the Book of Revelation and social theology, Joshua regularly offers a Christian perspective on current affairs in his articles published on the Christian Today website: www.christiantoday.com/reporter/joshua-searle
Outside his academic interests, Joshua enjoys swimming, golf and running, and in 2016 he completed the London Marathon. As a loyal and long-suffering supporter of Middlesbrough FC, he has had to learn the theological virtue of keeping hope alive, even in the most hopeless circumstances!
A member of Horley Baptist Church, Joshua is a regular preacher and is also glad to receive invitations from other churches to preach and/or to speak about Spurgeon’s College. He is available to preach in English, Russian or German and can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
