Dr. Rubel Shelly has spent his adult life in Christ-focused ministry through preaching, teaching at graduate and undergraduate levels, and writing. He is committed to a non-sectarian presentation of the message of Christ. He holds a bachelor’s degree, a Master of Arts and a Master of Theology in Bible from Harding and a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy from Vanderbilt University.  

Dr. Shelly preached for the family of God at Woodmont Hills in Nashville from 1978 to 2005 and also taught at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Tennessee State University. He served as professor of philosophy and religion at Rochester College in Rochester Hills, Michigan, from 2005 to 2008, and was named its president in 2008. 

In 2015, Dr. Shelly returned to Nashville as Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Lipscomb University. While there, he inaugurated a program of studies in medical ethics. Now retired from the university, he serves part time as a Teaching Minister for the Harpeth Hills Church in Brentwood.

He is the author of I Just Want to Be a Christian, Divorce & Remarriage: A Redemptive Theology, I Knew Jesus Before He Was a Christian, Male and Female God Created Them, and The Ink Is Dry

He and his late wife, Myra, have three children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.