"The professors guided my studies with humility and graciousness, equipping me with the truth about God and man so I could come to my own conclusions."
—Dawson Frasier, '17
Dr. Favelo teaches courses in the history of western civilization, Roman history, Greek history, and historical research methods at Patrick Henry College. Prior to coming to Patrick Henry College, he served for ten years as a lecturer at California State University Fresno, teaching history, literature, and Latin.
Dr. Favelo's passion is to facilitate students in their intellectual and spiritual development, primarily through the medium of a rigorous, Biblically-centered classical education, to the greater glory of God. He, his wife, and his four children live on a mountain farm in Loudoun County, VA, where they raise pigs and chickens.
Favelo earned his B.A. from California State University in Fresno before earning three Master’s degrees: One in history from Cal State/Fresno, one in history from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), and one in classics from UCLA. Then he earned his Ph.D. in history at UCLA. He speaks frequently at homeschool conferences on the topic of classical Christian liberal arts education. He also takes PHC students on annual Spring Break trips to Rome and Greece.
Dr. Spinney teaches the U.S. history courses and historiography course. Prior to coming to PHC, he served as a pastor in Tennessee and taught history at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois.
According to Spinney, studying history Christianly will promote spiritual health and maturity. He thinks his ministry as a church pastor was—in critical ways—similar to his ministry as a college professor. He and his wife have five adult children and are almost empty-nesters.
Spinney earned his B.A. from Harvard University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University. He wrote The History of the United States: A Christian Perspective, which is the textbook that PHC students use in Spinney’s U.S. history classes. He also wrote City of Big Shoulders: A History of Chicago and World War II in Nashville: Transformation on the Homefront. He authored a handful of church ministry pamphlets, such as Are You Legalistic? Grace, Obedience, and Antinomianism and Peeking into the Devil’s Playbook: Satan’s Strategies for Tempting Christians to Sin.
