Alister McGrath

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Alister E. McGrath (b. January 23, 1953) is a biochemist and Christian theologian born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and is currently Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford.

Contents

[edit] Biography

At Methodist College Belfast, he studied mathematics, physics and chemistry. He then attended the University of Oxford, where he gained first class honours in chemistry in 1975, and began research in molecular biophysics in the Oxford University Department of Biochemistry under the supervision of Professor Sir George Radda, FRS. He was elected to an E.P.A. Cephalosporin Research Studentship at Linacre College, Oxford, for the academic year 1975-6, and to a Domus Senior Scholarship at Merton College, Oxford, for the period 1976-8. During these three years, he carried out scientific research alongside studying for the Oxford University Final Honour School of Theology[1]. He was awarded an Oxford D.Phil. for his research in molecular biophysics (December 1977), and gained first class honors in Theology in June 1978.

McGrath then left Oxford to work at Cambridge University, where he also studied for ordination into the Church of England. In September 1980, he was ordained deacon, and began work as a curate at St Leonard's Parish Church, Wollaton, Nottingham, in the English East Midlands. In 1983, he was appointed lecturer in Christian doctrine and ethics at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and a member of the Oxford University Faculty of Theology. McGrath spent the fall semester of 1990 as the Ezra Squire Tipple Visiting Professor of Historical Theology at the Divinity School of Drew University, Madison, New Jersey.

McGrath was elected University Research Lecturer in Theology at Oxford University in 1993, and also served as research professor of theology at Regent College, Vancouver, from 1993-1999. In 1995, he was elected Principal of Wycliffe Hall, and in 1999, was awarded a personal chair in theology by Oxford University, with the title "Professor of Historical Theology". He was awarded an Oxford Doctorate of Divinity in 2001 for his research on historical and systematic theology.

McGrath is a prolific writer. His work often refers both to the early Church Fathers and to contemporary evangelical stalwarts such as Thomas Torrance and J. I. Packer. McGrath seems to be a part of the paleo-orthodox movement, which encourages reflection upon the patristics and the influential members of the early church. His areas of expertise include doctrine, Church history, the interaction of science and faith, and evangelical spirituality.

He has been highly critical of Richard Dawkins, calling him "embarrassingly ignorant of Christian theology". He has wanted to have a public discussion with Dawkins but Dawkins has declined[2]. His forthcoming book: The Dawkins Delusion - a response to Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion - will be published by SPCK in February 2007.

[edit] Bibliography

Among McGrath's more notable works are:

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Biography on official website
  2. ^ Taking on Dawkins' God, accessed August 7 2006
  • Chung, S. W. (ed.). Alister E. McGrath and Evangelical Theology: A Dynamic Engagement. Carlisle: Paternoster, 2003.
  • Keating, James F. "The Natural Sciences as an Ancilla Theologiae Nova: Alister E. McGrath's A Scientific Theology." The Thomist 69 (2005): 127-52.
  • Myers, Benjamin. "Alister McGrath's Scientific Theology." Reformed Theological Review 64 (2005): 15-34.
  • Shipway, Brad. "The Theological Application of Bhaskar's Stratified Reality: The Scientific Theology of A. E. McGrath." Journal of Critical Realism 3 (2004): 191-203.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../a/l/i/Alister_McGrath_3c9d.html"
In other languages