Ryan Patrick Budd

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How to order:

 Salvation Stories: Family, Failure, and God’s Saving Work in Scripture – St. Paul Center (stpaulcenter.com) 

See my interview with my friend and mentor, Dr. Scott Hahn:  If you think your family is messy watch this! (youtube.com) 

THE STORY OF SCRIPTURE IS THE STORY OF GOD’S FAMILY. ­God’s family, like our families today, has had its share of hardships, moral failings, betrayals—as well as dramatic transformations. In Salvation Stories: Family, Failure, and God’s Saving Work in Scripture, author Ryan Budd explores the profound humanity of Old Testament figures like Abraham, Jacob, Tobit, Judith, as well as St. Joseph in the New Testament, to show how God made His merciful love evident in their sufferings and their joy. What Salvation Stories reveals is that the families in Scripture are dealing with many the same issues we face in our own families, and God is with us just as He was with them. Just as God shaped their stories for His glory and their good, so He does for each of us.

 “Ryan Budd tells the biblical story as a history of families—a riotous history of dysfunctional families. With bigamy, adultery, divorce, and even murder, his chapters often read like soap opera treatments. But the author brings the whole tangled tale to a  credible resolution. While human families are treacherous to  each other and to God, God himself is faithful to his promises. Our heavenly Father is raising a family of families, all of us flawed  and needy. Salvation Stories is highly recommended for anyone  who has ever lived in a family.” 

SCOTT HAHN, Author, Catholics in Exile,  Founder and President of the St. Paul Center 

“This is the most hopeful book you’ll read this year. No matter how messed up your family is, it’s probably not as messed up as  these biblical households. And God can work miracles through your family as he worked through them. Budd’s book is a fascinating read—in the way that watching many different train wrecks is fascinating. But it’s also consoling, inspiring, and strangely beautiful. The takeaway is this: No family is too dysfunctional  to become glorious. Not your family, not mine.” 

MIKE AQUILINA, Author, Africa and the Early Church  

 "Ryan Budd's book masterfully correlates families in Scripture with families and individuals today in a fresh and enlightened way. It is a magnificent read for anyone desiring to develop a deeper connection and a greater understanding of the humanity of the persons of the Bible. I would highly recommend this book to my college students to help them live and breathe the Scriptures more fully!"

COLLEEN CRISTE, Director of Programs and Development for Campus Ministry, West Virginia University

“Budd provides far-reaching reflections on how various family  situations are present in the great figures of Sacred Scripture.  This  work will be of great assistance to families of all kinds seeking to  sanctify family life and bring God into situations both beautiful  and messy.”  

FR. MICHAEL CASEY, Pastor,  St. Francis of Assisi Parish, New Britain, CT

 “‘By his wounds, we have been healed’ (Isa 53:5). In the eternal  Son’s Incarnation, God has transcended his own transcendence  and truly taken upon himself our experience of brokenness and  pain, precisely in order to heal and elevate us. Ryan Budd’s reflections offer us a glimpse at how that saving work of Jesus was  prefigured in the lives of various Old Testament families precisely  in the midst of their very messiness, and how this same healing  grace is on offer to us as well in Christ.” 

MSGR. MICHAEL HEINTZ, Academic Dean,  Mount St. Mary’s Seminary 

 “Written with verve and a gift for storytelling, Ryan Budd has  given families a trove of wisdom and encouragement in his  new book. He explores well-known Bible stories—sometimes  exposing a new and surprising twist—to get at solid wisdom and  practical help. Easy to read, thoroughly enjoyable, and edifying  throughout!” 

WILLIAM BALES, Associate Professor  of Sacred Scripture, Mount St. Mary’s Seminary  

“A thoughtful and prayerful meditation on the Bible’s varied and  sometimes intimate depictions of family life. Budd shows that  whatever your family background or family situation, you can  always find relevant precedents and practical guidance in these  inspired histories.” 

JOHN-MARK MIRAVALLE, Professor,  Mount St. Mary’s Seminary  

See Ryan's recent articles: 

 The first “eucharistic procession” and the centrality of the liturgy – Catholic World Report 

 Helplessness, Prayer, and Renewal: Nehemiah’s Guide - Crisis Magazine 

What’s Missing in the Eucharistic Revival - Crisis Magazine 

 Truth in Crisis ~ The Imaginative Conservative 

Ryan has the following major publications:

"Being Helpless," New Polity (forthcoming) (a two-part study of biblical stories of weakness and zeal focusing on the Prophet Isaiah and Phinehas the priest)

“Another Look at Silence and Knowledge of God in Ignatius to the Ephesians,” Nova et Vetera 21:2 (Spring, 2023)

“John Henry Newman’s 'Universality Principle,' William James, and Religious Assent,” Newman Studies Journal 18:1 (2021)

“Apples to Apples: Yes, There Is (Or Can Be!) a Unified Approach to RLUIPA Ripeness,” The Urban Lawyer 46:4 (2014)

Ryan lives in Steubenville, Ohio, where he is research assistant to Dr. Scott Hahn at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. Before coming to Steubenville, Ryan was pastoral associate at St. James the Greater parish in Charles Town, West Virginia, where he was director of the parish's 42-acre retreat center and led the parish youth group. Before that, he pursued seminary formation after practicing law with the firm of Knott & Knott, LLC, in Cheshire, Connecticut.

 Ryan has been described by close friends as a "hobbit"; his idea of a great evening involves a good meal with close friends, preferably ending amid clouds of pipesmoke. He loves hearing and telling stories. 

Ryan first wanted to be a history professor; he went to law school instead, eventually finding his way to biblical research at the St. Paul Center. He retains a love of law, history, and classic literature, which deeply forms his approach to Scripture. 

His current areas of research include the lives of Biblical heroes, the restoration of Jerusalem under Ezra and Nehemiah, Scripture's political narratives, and the message of the biblical wisdom literature. He is also an attentive pupil of St. Paul the Apostle. 

Ryan holds a M.Div. from Mount Saint Mary's Seminary (2021), an S.T.B. from the Dominican House of Studies (2021), and a J.D. from Quinnipiac University School of Law (2014).