Douglas Bushman's teaching and writing in theology has been shaped especially by the Church Fathers' spiritual reading of Scripture, the theological methodology of St. Thomas Aquinas, and the pastoral orientation of the Second Vatican Council, as interpreted and implemented by St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI. He has exercised the gift of theology in service to the Church at virtually every level of the Church's life: parish, diocese (including programs of formation and courses for adults, catechists, permanent deacons, Catholic educators, and seminarians), Catholic schools, RCIA, and undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Bushman has served as Lay Theologian for the parish of St. Charles Borromeo (Minneapolis), Director of Parish Mission for the Church of St. Joseph (West St. Paul), Director of Education (Diocese of Duluth), Director of the Institute for Religious and Pastoral Studies (University of Dallas), and Director of the Institute for Pastoral Theology (Ave Maria University). His last academic position was with the Augustine Institute (Denver), where he was St. John Paul II Professor of Theology for the New Evangelization. Currently Prof. Bushman's research and publishing focuses on the pastoral theology of the Second Vatican Council, the New Evangelization, and Catholic Spirituality.

Following his B.A. in Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy (College of St. Thomas, St. Paul), he studied under the Dominican Pontifical Faculty of Theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, who imparted a vibrant Thomism incorporating the study of Scripture, the Church Fathers, the best of the ressourcement theologians of the 20th century, Vatican II, and the best among post-Conciliar theologians.

Bushman is the author of The Theology of Renewal for His Church: The Logic of Vatican II's Renewal in Paul VI's Encyclical Ecclesiam Suam, and Its Reception in John Paul II and Benedict XVI (Wipf and Stock, 2024) among other works, he has contributed to the translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church into English, and his articles have appeared in numerous Catholic publications including Nova et Vetera, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Lay Witness, Magnificat, Catholic World Report, Catholic Faith, Catholic Dossier, and The Catholic Servant.