Simon is a historian who focuses on Christian education, as well as the intersections between Christianity, legal thought, and political thought. He is working on a project at AC in the School of Education entitled "Christian Education, Virtue, and Wisdom", which extends his previously published work on Christian worldview education. Along with his work at AC, Simon is a Senior Research Fellow at the T. C. Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland, a Non-resident Fellow at the Danube Institute, and he teaches at Lachlan Macquarie Institute, Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, and Queensland Theological College. Simon has held visiting fellowships at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium and the Danube Institute, both in Budapest. He is widely published in top scholarly journals, has published two books, and is a sought-after writer and speaker.
Qualifications
PhD (The University of Queensland) 2018
Bachelor of Arts (Honours summa cum laude) (Monash University) 2012
Bachelor of Arts (Monash University) 2009
Field of Research
Specialist Studies in EducationBooks
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2024
- Kennedy, S. (2024). Against Worldview: Reimagining Christian Formation as Growth in Wisdom. Lexham Press.
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2022
- Kennedy, S. (2022). Reforming the Law of Nature: The Secularisation of Political Thought, 1532–1688. Edinburgh University Press.
Book Chapters
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2020
- Kennedy, S. (2020). Johannes Althusius’s cosmopolitan defence of local politics In Lee Ward, Cosmopolitanism and Its Discontents (pp. ). Lanham: Lexington Books.
Journal Articles
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2024
- Kennedy, S. (2024). The Australian Constitutional Framers and the Language of Virtue. Australian Journal of Politics & History, 70, no. 4 641–657.
- Kennedy, S. (2024). Christian Worldview and Cosmic War: Contexts and origins of a religious combat concept. Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture, 93, no. 1 63–84.
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2022
- Kennedy, S. (2022). The Decalogue, Resistance, and Political Obedience in Early Protestant Thought. Journal of Religious History, 46, no. 1 143–159.
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2020
- Kennedy, S. & Saunders, B. (2020). History and Constitutional Interpretation: Applying the ‘Cambridge School’ Approach to Interpreting Constitutions. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 40, no. 3 591–618.
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2019
- Kennedy, S. (2019). Rethinking consociatio in Althusius’s Politica. Journal of Markets and Morality, 22, no. 2 306–316.
- Kennedy, S. (2019). Richard Hooker as Political Naturalist. The Historical Journal, 62, no. 2 331–348.
- Kennedy, S. and Saunders, B. (2019). Popular Sovereignty, “the People”, and the Australian Constitution: A Historical Reassessment. Public Law Review, 30, no. 1 36–57.
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2018
- Kennedy, S. and Saunders, B. (2018). Characterizing the Two Kingdoms and Assessing Their Relevance Today. Calvin Theological Journal, 53, no. 1 161–173.
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2015
- Kennedy, S. (2015). Abraham Kuyper: Calvinist Anti-Revolutionary Politician and Political Thinker. Australian Journal of Politics and History, 61, no. 2 169–183.
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2013
- Kennedy, S. (2013). Abraham Kuyper and his Political Thought: Calvinist and Pluralist. Reformed Theological Review, 72, no. 2 73–85.
Presentations
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2025
- Interview on Against Worldview (2025), Educating Humans podcast, 01 Jul 2025
- Christianity in Australia (2025), Brisbane Dialogues, 01 Jun 2025
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2024
- Interview about Against Worldview (2024), The Flaneur and the Philosopher podcast, 01 Dec 2024
- Reformed Natural Law and the Christian Magistrate (2024), Hale Institute Symposium on Natural Law, New Saint Andrews College, 02 Nov 2024
- Johannes Althusius on the Family and the Commonwealth (2024), L'actualité de la Politique de Johannes Althusius, Paris, 01 Nov 2024
- Worldview and Christian Education (2024), New Saint Andrews College, 01 Nov 2024
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2022
- ‘Held together by one leading thought’: Herman Bavinck’s Philosophy of History (2022), Bavinck Centennial Conference, Brisbane School of Theology, 01 Dec 2022
- The History and Idea of Christian Worldview (2022), Presbyterian Theological College research seminar, 01 Jul 2022
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2021
- Christian Worldview and Combat Concepts (2021), Symposium on Twentieth Century Evangelicalism and Intellectual Authority, Australian Catholic University, 01 Jul 2021
- Wisdom and Worldview (2021), Transform Conference, Reformed Theological College, 01 May 2021
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2019
- The Fifth Commandment and Submission to the Magistrate in the Political Theology of the Reformers (2019), Political Theology Seminar, University of Divinity, 01 Nov 2019
- Intellectual History and Interpreting the Australian Constitution (2019), 2019 Meeting of the International Society for Intellectual History, International Society for Intellectual History, 05 Jun 2019
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2017
- Politics as Conventional and Soteriological: The Argument for an Augustinian Thomas Hobbes (2017), 1st Australian Political Theory and Philosophy Conference, Australia, 01 Feb 2017
- Harbinger of Liberalism?: Johannes Althusius’s pactio and Social Contract Theory (2017), 2017 Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, Southern Political Science Association, 01 Jan 2017
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2016
- Johannes Althusius Father of Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Founder of Animal Rights, and Radical Foucauldian Existentialist: A Case of Mistaken Identity Perspectives on Identity (2016), University of Queensland, University of Queensland, 01 Nov 2016
Engagement Publications
Journal Articles
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2019
- Kennedy, S. (2019). The Strangeness of the Past and the Self: Rowan Williams on History and Identity. ABC Religion & Ethics, July 2019.
Popular Articles
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2025
- Kennedy, S. (2025). W-w Reformed. American Reformer, February 2025.
- Kennedy, S. (2025). The Revealed and the Hidden: Reconceiving Western Civilisation. ABC Religion & Ethics, October 2020.
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2024
- Kennedy, S. (2024). Rethinking Worldview with Biblical Wisdom. American Reformer, October 2024.
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2023
- Kennedy, S. (2023). Theology and History in the Methodology of Herman Bavinck: A Review. Ad Fontes, November 2023.
- Kennedy, S. (2023). In Search of True History. Quadrant, November 2023.
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2021
- Kennedy, S. (2021). The Revealed and the Hidden: Reconceiving Western Civilisation. The Imaginative Conservative, April 2021.
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2020
- Kennedy, S. (2020). The Problem of Submission to Civil Authority: What Can the Reformers Teach Us?. ABC Religion & Ethics, January 2020.
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2019
- Kennedy, S. (2019). Christian Humility and the Task of History: Recovering the Legacy of Herbert Butterfield. ABC Religion & Ethics, January 2019.
Current Supervision
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Current
- Harrison, W, Conditional Cessationism: A revised doctrine of cessationism for the Reformed Tradition (PhD thesis)
Completed Supervision
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2025
- Dennis Gibson, David Hume’s History of England and constitutional jurisprudence (Doctoral Thesis)
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2024
- Joanne Lee, John Calvin’s jurisprudence of usury (Doctoral Thesis)
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