Dr. Robert G. Clouse was born in Mansfield, Ohio

Mansfield, Ohio

Mansfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Richland County. The municipality is located in north-central Ohio in the western foothills of the Allegheny Plateau, approximately southwest of Cleveland and northeast of Columbus....

, in 1931. He is currently Professor Emeritus at Indiana State University

Indiana State University

Indiana State University is a public university located in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States.The Princeton Review has named Indiana State as one of the "Best in the Midwest" seven years running, and the College of Education's Graduate Program was recently named as a 'Top 100' by U.S...

, Terre Haute, Indiana

Terre Haute, Indiana

Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...

. He married Bonnidell Barrows in 1955 and has two sons, Gary and Kenneth.

Education and career

Clouse began his education at Ashland College and received his BA in history from Bryan College

Bryan College

Bryan College is a Christian liberal arts college in Dayton, Tennessee. It was founded in the aftermath of the 1925 Scopes Trial to establish an institution of higher education that would teach from a Christian worldview.-History:...

. He earned his B.D. from Grace Theological Seminary

Grace Theological Seminary

Grace Theological Seminary is an evangelical Christian seminary located in Winona Lake, Indiana. GTS is joined with Grace College and is associated with the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches. The seminary enjoys a history that dates back to its 1937 organization by Alva J. McClain, the...

 in 1957. Clouse was awarded his MA in 1960 and PhD in 1963 from the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

.

Clouse taught history at several colleges and universities, spending the bulk of his career at Indiana State University. He was visiting professor at the University of Illinois, Indiana University

Indiana University

Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...

, and Juniata College

Juniata College

Juniata College is a private liberal arts college located in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. It is named after the Juniata River — one of the principal tributaries of the Susquehanna River. In 1876 it became the first college founded by the Church of the Brethren and has been co-educational since...

, where he was the J. Omar Good Visiting Professor of Christianity.

In addition to his academic career, Clouse has served as pastor of several Grace Brethren Church congregations in both Iowa and Illinois. He currently leads the congregation of the Brethren Church in Clay City, Indiana.

Clouse is considered a leading expert in millennial

Millennialism

Millennialism , or chiliasm in Greek, is a belief held by some Christian denominations that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which "Christ will reign" for 1000 years prior to the final judgment and future eternal state...

 thought and eschatological

Eschatology

Eschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...

 studies, having presented over 18 major lectures, and written more than 5 books on the subject. His The Meaning of the Millennium (1977) was a best seller. His most recent book, The End of Days, published by Sky Light Paths in 2007 http://www.skylightpaths.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SP&Product_Code=1-59473-170-5, explores apocalyptic literature, Biblical and Hebrew scriptures, writings of the Church Fathers and radical movements throughout history. Included is an assessment of current popular literature on the subject, including The Late Great Planet Earth, and the Left Behind series.

In addition to his millennial studies, Clouse has contributed articles and chapters in numerous books on Christian Church history, Renaissance and Reformation history, and war and peace studies. His most important work as a historian of Christianity is Two Kingdoms: The Church and Culture Through the Ages (1993), which he coauthored with Richard V. Pierard and Edwin Yamauchi. He is the author or coauthor of Puritans, the Millennium and the Future of Israel (1970), The Cross and the Flag (1972), The Church in an Age of Orthodoxy and Enlightenment (1980), War, Four Christian Views (1981) and Women in Ministry, Four Views (1989).

Clouse was a founder of the Conference on Faith and History, member of the editorial board of the Brethren Encyclopedia, and contributing editor of the New Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. He continues writing and presenting papers on a variety of subjects throughout the US and in Europe.

Personal life

Having received a heart transplant in 1985 when the procedure was still considered quite risky, Clouse works for organ transplant groups to encourage donation. His case was widely publicized in religious, as well as medical publications.

Clouse served Indiana State University in a variety of positions, including President of the Faculty Senate on four occasions. He received the ISU Faculty Distinguished Service Award in 2000, and the Creativity and Research Award in 1986. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Eugene V. Debs Foundation and received Indiana Heart Association Life Achievement Award in 1987.

Select bibliography

• The Meaning of the Millennium, editor and contributor. (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1977). Translated into German, Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish, and Korean
• Streams of Civilization, Vol II, co-author Richard Pierard. (Milford, Michigan: Mott Media, 1980)
• The Church in an Age of Orthodoxy and Enlightenment 1600-1800. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1980)
• War. Four Christian Views, editor and contributor. (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1989). Translated into German
• Women in Ministry, Four Views, editor with Bonidell Clouse and contributor. (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1989). Translated into Portuguese and Chinese.
• Two Kingdoms, The Church and Culture through the Ages, co-authors Richard Pierard and Edwin Yamauchi. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1993).
• The End of Days: Essential Selections from Apocalyptic Texts Annotated and Explained. (Woodstock, VT: SkyLight Paths Publishing, 2007)
• “Johann Heinrich Alsted & English Millennialism”, The Harvard Theological Review 62 (Spring, 1969), pp 189–201.
• “Robert Owen and the Millennialist Tradition”, Robert Owen’s American Legacy, ed. Donald Pitzer (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1972), pp. 43–56.
• “John Napier and Apocalyptic Thought”, The Sixteenth Century Journal Vol. V No. 1 (April, 1974), pp. 101–114.
• “Freud’s Psychohistory of Leonardo da Vinci: A Matter of Being Right or Left”, The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. XIII No. 1 (Summer, 1982), pp. 3–16.
• “The New Christian Right, America and the Kingdom of God”, Christian Scholar’s Review, Vol. XII, No. 1 (1983), pp. 3–16.
• “Premillennialist Christology, Nonresistance, and the Believer’s Church”, Restoration Quarterly
  Restoration Quarterly
  The Restoration Quarterly is a scholarly journal associated with the Churches of Christ. It focuses on issues of interest to the Churches of Christ and other groups associated with the Restoration Movement more generally.-History:...
  
  28 (Fall, 1986).
• “The Millennium that Survived the Fifth Monarchy Men”, ed. J. Friedman, Regnum, Religio et Ratio (Kirksville, MO: Sixteenth Century Publishers, 1987), pp. 9–30.
• “A Little Victory over Death, Reflections on Organ Transplants”, Christianity Today 32, 5 (March, 1988) pp. 17–23. Reprinted as “I Have Another Man’s Heart”, Catholic Digest 52, 9 pp. 40–45.
• “The Church of the Brethren and World War I: The Goshen Statement”, Mennonite Life Vol 45, No. 4 (December, 1990), pp. 29–36.
• “The Christian Hope: A History of the Interpretation of the Millennium”, New Testament Essays in Honor of Homer A. Kent, Jr., ed. Gary T. Meadors (Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 1991), pp. 203–219.
• “Slavery, Pacifism and War”, Nonviolent America, History Through the Eyes of Peace, ed. L. Hawkley & J.C. Juhnke (North Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 1993), pp. 82–90.
• “Herbert Butterfield”, Historians of the Christian Tradition: Their Methodology and Influence on Western Thought, ed. M. Bauman & M.I. Klauber (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1995), pp. 519–531.
• “Evangelicalism Before and After the Scopes Trial”, Creation of an Evolving Controversy: A Symposium on the 70th Anniversary of the Scopes Trial (Dayton, TN: Bryan College, 1996), pp. 11–16.
• “Diversity, Christianity, and Higher Education”, Should God Get Tenure? Essays on Religion and Higher Education, ed. D.W. Gill (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1997), pp. 103–115.
• “Scholarship as Prophecy: The Beloved City of Johann Heinrich Alsted”, Habent sua fata libelli, Books Have Their Own Destiny (Kirksville, MO: Thomas Jefferson University Press, 1998), pp. 27–38.
• “Prophecy for the People: The Significance of the Eschatology of Hal Lindsey for the Believers Church”, Apocalypticism and Millennialism, Shaping a Believers Church Eschatology for the Twenty-First Century, ed. Loren L. Johns (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 2000), pp. 342–353.