Melville Y. Stewart (born 1935) is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Bethel University, (Saint Paul, Minnesota).[1]
Stewart has a B.A. from Gordon College, (Wenham, Massachusetts), an M. Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary, (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), an S.T.M. from Andover Newton Theological School, (Newton Centre, Massachusetts), an M.A. from the University of Connecticut, (Storrs, Connecticut), a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, (Minneapolis, Minnesota) and he did Postdoctoral work at Oxford University, (Oxford, England) in 1986.
His main areas of interest are philosophy of religion, science and religion, and Chinese philosophy. He taught at Bethel University (1972–1999), chaired the Department (1985–1992), received the Excellence in Scholarship Award in 1996, and in 1999 became Emeritus Professor of Philosophy. From 2000–2003 he served as Adjunct Professor at the University of St. Thomas, (Saint Paul, Minnesota). Outside the U.S. he taught a year in the Department of Philosophy at Saint Petersburg State University, (St. Petersburg, Russia) (1992–1993), and the spring term of 2003 he was Adjunct Professor at St. Petersburg Christian College, (St. Petersburg, Russia). In the spring term of 1993 he conducted the first Russia Symposium from which others sponsored by the Society of Christian Philosophers (SCP) have followed, and he began the China Symposia in the fall term of 1994 from which SCP symposia have followed every year since (except 2003). He has taught 9 terms in China beginning at Peking University, (Beijing) as a (Pew Scholar) fall term of 1996, then as a (Fulbright Scholar) fall term of 2001, and then as a (United Board Scholar) (UBS) spring term of 2004. He then taught the fall term as a UBS at Shandong University, (Jinan) in 2004, and then was a Templeton Visiting Scholar (TVS) at Wuhan University, (Wuhan) fall term of 2005. He was a TVS at Fudan University, (Shanghai), fall term of 2006, a TVS at Shandong University (Jinan), fall term of 2007, a TVS at Peking University (Beijing), fall term of 2008, and a TVS at Tsinghua University (Beijing), fall term, 2009. He has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the SCP (1996–1998), Chair of the SCP Russia Committee, Chair of the SCP China Committee, and served on the American Philosophical Association Committee for International Cooperation (1998–2001). From 1999–2001 he served on the Board of Trustees at The MacLauren Institute, (Saint Paul, Minnesota). He has presented papers at three International Beijing Forums in 2004, 2005, and 2007. He has read papers at 31 universities outside the U.S. including 14 in China, 7 in Russia, Vilnius University, (Vilnius, Lithuania) (1993), Latvian Academy of Science, (Riga, Latvia) (1993), University of Minsk, (Minsk, Belarus) (1993), University of Edinburgh, (Edinburgh, Scotland) (1993), Tokyo Christian University, (Tokyo, Japan) (1997), University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong) (1997), Oxford University (Oxford, England)(1998), and the University of London, (London, England), (1998). His most recent Science and Religion Series held at 5 of China's top universities (Wuhan University, (Wuhan), Fudan University, (Shanghai), Shandong University, (Jinan), Peking University, (Beijing), and Tsinghua University, (Beijing)) led to a multi-volume work in two editions: a 5-volume Chinese edition,《科学与宗教的对话》("Science and Religion in Dialogue"), published by Peking University Press, Beijing (Volumes I, III, IV and V) and Fudan University Press (Volume II)), and an English 2-volume edition, "Science and Religion in Dialogue" published by Wiley-Blackwell of Oxford. In the States he gave a public lecture at Texas A&M University (College Station) on "Confucianism and Christianity," and read a paper at the Confucius Institute Academic Symposium, "Elements of Ancient Chinese Monotheism and the Ancient Hebrew Tradition," April, 2009. In 2010, he team-taught a Seminar at Peking University, taught a course "Philosophy of Religion" at Beijing Normal University, and taught another course, "Philosophy of Mind" at Beijing University of Chemical Technology. In 2011 he taught a theological module section titled, "On the Margin of Mystery: Teaching on God and Creation" (“На Самом Краю Тайны, Учение О Бозе И Меорении”) at the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary, in Novosaratovka/St. Petersburg, Russia. He is invited to teach a course, "Philosophy of Religion" at Shandong University in Jinan, in October, 2012, and give a week-long lecture series on "Science and Religion" at a university and seminary in Thailand.
Volumes I & II are included in Blackwell's Reference Online Library (BRO).