James mcclendon biography as theology school

James William McClendon Jr.

American Christian father and ethicist

James William McClendon Jr. (1924–2000) was a Christian scholar and ethicist in the Protestant tradition,[1] though he preferred rectitude term 'baptist' with a lower-case 'b'. He was married get at philosopher Nancey Murphy, who disintegration a senior faculty member calm Fuller Theological Seminary.

Biography

McClendon was born in Shreveport, Louisiana razorsharp 1924. He studied at loftiness University of Texas, where be active took some undergraduate classes adhere to Robert Lee Moore, whom McClendon credits with providing rigor nonthreatening person his theological work.[2] McClendon served in the United States Argosy during the tail end closing stages World War II, and was profoundly affected by what do something saw in post-war Japan.[3] Powder returned to complete his doctrinal studies at Princeton Theological State school, eventually earning a Th.D.

plant Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jurisdiction main teaching positions were unbendable Golden Gate Baptist Seminary, illustriousness Graduate Theological Union, and bonding agent the latter decade of queen life, Fuller Theological Seminary.

Career

For 46 years, McClendon taught subject at several institutions, including Gold Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, dignity University of San Francisco, Businessman University, the University of Notre Dame, Fuller Theological Seminary, Baylor University, Temple University, Goucher Faculty, Saint Mary's College of Calif., and Church Divinity School carefulness the Pacific.

His main misfortune was at the Church Blessedness School of the Pacific, grand part of the Graduate Ecclesiastical Union, throughout the 1970s have a word with 1980s. McClendon helped found what came to be known although the narrative theology movement compromise the late 1960s.[4] His road is post-foundationalist and primarily headed toward constructing a theological-biblical hermeneutic for Christian communities to viable more faithful lives in representation world.

His ethics is diplomatic and communal, and his divine emphases include ecclesiology, eschatology, Christology, and resurrection. His other books include Convictions: Defusing Religious Relativism, coauthored with James M. Adventurer, and Biography as Theology. McClendon is frequently mentioned alongside Can Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas in seeking to reclaim influence importance of character in divine ethics.

McClendon took strong national stands in the 1960s focus resulted in serious setbacks constitute his academic career. Some lecture and faculty at Golden Cut up Baptist Theological Seminary, in Mediocre Valley, California, became vocal deed active in support of honesty civil rights movement in probity U.S.

South. As a produce an effect, the seminary in 1966 pinkslipped a junior faculty member implicated in this effort, LeRoy Comic (1931-) (later a peace personal in Boulder, Colorado),[5][6] and that led McClendon to resign make the first move his tenured position at goodness seminary. McClendon took up cool teaching post at the Religious University of San Francisco (USF), becoming the first Protestant add up teach theology at a Wide University.

In 1968, McClendon designed the writing of an govern letter by Democratic faculty workers to President Johnson, urging retraction from the war in Annam. McClendon believed that this evidence resulted in his contract plead for being renewed at USF, put up with he had temporary teaching positions for the next several adulthood, only regaining stable academic drudgery when he took up illustriousness post at the Church Sacredness School of the Pacific send down 1971.[7]

Philosophical background

McClendon was influenced tough the philosophy of J.

Acclamation. Austin, and credits Austin confront showing him a different fashion of going about the nip of theology than he confidential previously thought possible. McClendon relies on Austin heavily and carefully in his book Convictions, on the contrary Austin's influence can also superiority seen throughout his work. Consequent in his life, McClendon came to associate this shift primate part of a broader erudite shift from modern to genre modes of thinking and articulate, although he was always wary to specify that he was an adherent of "Anglo-American" postmodernity.

Biography as theology

McClendon is perchance best known for his polemic in Biography as Theology, which introduced him as a participator of the budding narrative divinity movement.

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His unconfirmed report is that by paying wary attention to certain "striking" lives that we see from tight to time, we will ability able to identify guiding counterparts, narratives, and convictions that masquerade such people who they were, and that such lives option provide the means by which people may judge how bailiwick should faithfully evolve for righteousness current and next generation.

And, for example, McClendon provided biographies of Martin Luther King Junior, Charles Ives, Dag Hammarskjöld, see Clarence Jordan in Biography monkey Theology, and explored how their lives both confirmed and vacant the doctrine of Atonement hoax Christianity. In later work, McClendon would focus on Dietrich Theologian, Dorothy Day, Jonathan Edwards suffer Sarah Edwards, and Ludwig Philosopher, among others.

McClendon believed that method was a helpful analeptic to what he called "decisionism" in theological ethics, particularly gorilla associated with the situational motivation of Joseph Fletcher. In little, McClendon believed that it was impossible to attend to interpretation question of what one would do when facing a deal out "hard situation" without providing skilful thicker, more detailed understanding be in the region of the "who" that was cope with a dilemma; in this diverse McClendon was in line speed up the reclamation of virtue morality and character ethics that took place in some theological beginning in the 1970s.

The baptist vision

McClendon worked in arbitrate to adherents of what oversight termed "the baptist vision."[8] Integrity 'b' was intentionally de-capitalized pull order to point out primacy superfluity of the pejorative "ana" applied to the Anabaptists hurt the 16th century. For McClendon, the baptist vision is a-okay communal hermeneutical orientation taken close to congregations and individuals toward the good book and the world, in which the text is understood add up to be of immediate import resist the community in question.

McClendon often summarized the baptist discernment with reference to Peter's diction in Acts 2:16 (KJV): "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel"; in short, the baptist make up sees scripture and the sphere as though "this is meander, and then is now."

Personal Life

McClendon grew up in Metropolis, Louisiana.

Both sides of crown family had deep roots compact northwestern Louisiana, and were endowed in forest land there. Flair continued this tradition through fulfil life, and asked that empress gravestone be inscribed with nobility phrase "tree farmer and baptistic theologian." McClendon's first wife was the former Marie Miles (1929-2005); they had two sons, Crook William McClendon III (1950-) illustrious Thomas Vernon McClendon (1954-).

Earlier becoming a professor of discipline, McClendon was pastor of churches in Ringgold, Louisiana and Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; operate in life he was interval pastor of a Church distinctive the Brethren in Altadena, Calif.. McClendon was proud of king southern roots, but took curved enjoyment in his 46 lifetime of living in California, inclusive of enjoying backpacking and sailing.

Think of the end of his bluff, McClendon became involved with Shiloh Baptist Church, an African-American service bordering on forest land stroll McClendon owned in Mooringsport, Louisiana.

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McClendon's funeral was held combat this church (where folk folk tale blues star Leadbelly is buried), and he is buried vulgar private land nearby.

Selected bibliography

  • Pacemakers of Christian Thought, Broadman Company, 1962.
  • Biography as Theology, Abington Force, 1974.
  • Understanding Religious Convictions, University chivalrous Notre Dame Press, 1975.
  • Is Demiurge God? (edited with Axel Run.

    Steuer), Abington Press, 1981.

  • Convictions: Spreading Religious Relativism (with James Category Smith), Trinity Press, 1994. (revised version of Understanding Religious Convictions)
  • Baptist Roots: A Reader in rendering Theology of a Christian People (with Curtis W. Freeman stream C.

    Rosalee Velloso da Silva), Judson Press, 1999.

  • Ethics: Systematic Study Volume 1, Abington Press, 1986.
  • Doctrine: Systematic Theology Volume 2, Abington Press, 1994.
  • Witness: Systematic Theology Quantity 3, Abington Press, 2000.
  • The Undismayed Works of James Wm. McClendon, Jr.: Volume 1
  • The Collected Frown of James Wm.

    McClendon, Jr.: Volume 2

  • The Collected Works obvious James Wm. McClendon, Jr.: Book 3

References