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Alister McGrath
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Alister Edgar McGrath (born January 23, 1953) is a Christian theologian, with a DPhil in molecular biophysics, as well as an earned Doctor of Divinity degree from Oxford, noted for his work on historical, systematic and scientific theology.
In his writing and public speaking, he promotes "scientific theology" and opposes antireligionism. McGrath was until recently Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford, but has now taken up the chair of Theology, Religion and Culture at King's College London since September 2008.
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Encyclopedia
Alister Edgar McGrath (born January 23, 1953) is a Christian theologian, with a DPhil in molecular biophysics, as well as an earned Doctor of Divinity degree from Oxford, noted for his work on historical, systematic and scientific theology.
In his writing and public speaking, he promotes "scientific theology" and opposes antireligionism. McGrath was until recently Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford, but has now taken up the chair of Theology, Religion and Culture at King's College London since September 2008. Until 2005, he was principal of Wycliffe Hall.
Biography
McGrath was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and grew up in Downpatrick, County Down, where he attended Down High School. In September 1966 he became a pupil at the Methodist College Belfast, where his studies focused on mathematics, physics and chemistry. He went up to Wadham College, Oxford in 1971 and gained first class honours in chemistry in 1975. He began research in molecular biophysics in the Oxford University Department of Biochemistry under the supervision of Professor Sir George Radda, FRS and 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. He was awarded an Oxford D.Phil. for his research in molecular biophysics (December 1977), and gained first class honours 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, and was a founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion On 1 September, 2008 McGrath took up the Chair of Theology, Ministry and Education in the Department of Education and Professional Studies at King's College London.
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. His areas of expertise include doctrine, Church history, the interaction of science and faith, and evangelical spirituality.
In 2005 he resigned as Principal of Wycliffe Hall, whilst remaining President of the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics which was based there. In June 2007 a private letter expressing his concerns about his successor was leaked.
Views
In 2004 McGrath suggested in The Twilight of Atheism that atheism was in decline.
He has been highly critical of Richard Dawkins, calling him "embarrassingly ignorant of Christian theology". His book: The Dawkins Delusion? – a response to Dawkins's The God Delusion – was published by SPCK in February 2007, and the two had public debate on the topic, "Does religious belief damage the health of a society, or is it necessary to provide the moral and ethical foundations of a healthy society?" McGrath has also debated with Daniel Dennett, at the Greer-Heard Point-Counterpoint Forum (February 2007) in New Orleans.
He was interviewed by Richard Dawkins about his book Dawkins' God and faith in general for the television documentary The Root of All Evil? McGrath's interview was not included in the final cut, but the unedited footage is available online.
Writings
Among McGrath's more notable works are:
A brief history of Heaven
- The Open Secret: A New Vision for Natural Theology (2008) ISBN 1-405-12691-4
- Christianity's Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution — A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First (2007) ISBN 0-060-82213-9
- The Dawkins Delusion? (2007) ISBN 0-281-05927-6 A critical response to Dawkins' book The God Delusion
- Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life (2005) ISBN 1-405-12538-1 A critique of scientist Richard Dawkins' hostile attitude towards religion
- The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World (2004) ISBN 0-385-50061-0
- A Scientific Theology v. 3 (2003) ISBN 0-567-08349-7
- Knowing Christ (2002) ISBN 0-385-50316-4
- Christian Theology: An Introduction (2001) ISBN 0-631-22528-5 (often used as a seminary textbook)
- The Christian Theology Reader (2001) ISBN 0-631-20637-X (containing primary sources referred to in his Christian Theology)
- In the Beginning : The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language,and a Culture (2001) ISBN 0-385-72216-8
- Glimpsing the Face of God: The Search for Meaning in the Universe (2001) ISBN 0-8028-3980-0
- T. F. Torrance: An Intellectual Biography (1999) ISBN 0-567-08683-6
- Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought (1998) ISBN 0-631-20844-5
- Science and Religion: An Introduction (1998) ISBN 0-631-20842-9
- "I Believe": Exploring the Apostles' Creed (1998) ISBN 0-8308-1946-0
- A Passion for Truth: The Intellectual Coherence of Evangelicalism (1996) ISBN 0-8308-1866-9
- Intellectuals Don't Need God and Other Modern Myths (1993) ISBN 0-310-59091-4
- A Life of John Calvin (1993) ISBN 0-631-18947-5
- Understanding Doctrine (1992) ISBN 0-310-47951-7
- Bridge-Building: Effective Christian Apologetics (1992) ISBN 0-85110-969-1
- Understanding the Trinity (1988) ISBN 0-310-29680-3
- Iustitia Dei: A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification (1986) ISBN 0-521-62426-6
- The Journey: A Pilgrim in the Lands of the Spirit (2000) ISBN 978-0-385-49588-2
- The Reenchantment of Nature: The Denial of Religion and the Ecological Crisis (2002) ISBN 978-0-385-50059-3
- Christianity’s Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-First Century (2007)
- The Open Secret: A New Vision for Natural Theology (2008) ISBN 978-1-4051-2691-5
Bibliography
- Chung, S. W. (ed.). Alister E. McGrath and Evangelical Theology: A Dynamic Engagement. Carlisle: Paternoster, 2003. ISBN 978-0801026393
- 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.
External links
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- Alister McGrath talks to Nigel Bovey of The War Cry: ;
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