J. Rodman Williams

J. Rodman Williams
Born	August 21, 1918 Clyde, North Carolina
Died	October 18, 2008 Virginia Beach, Virginia
Citizenship	United States
Education	Davidson College (A.B.) Union Theological Seminary in Virginia (B.D. and Th. M. degrees) Columbia University (Ph.D. degree in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics)
Occupation	Theologian
Known for	Renewal theology, Charismatic movement

J. Rodman Williams (1918–2008), was a Presbyterian charismatic theologian and professor of renewal theology at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is widely regarded as the father of modern renewal theology.

Early Life & Education

Born on August 21, 1918, in Clyde, North Carolina, Williams earned an AB (1939) from Davidson College, a BD (1943) and ThM (1944) from Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, and a PhD in philosophy of religion and ethics at Columbia University in 1954.

Career

Williams was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in the United States in 1943 and served as a pastor for several years before becoming a full-time educator. During World War II, he served as a chaplain in the United States Marine Corps, from 1944 through 1946. His wartime service with the Marines included the Battle of Okinawa.

From 1959-1972, he served as professor of systematic theology at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. As a key figure in the burgeoning charismatic movement of the 1960s, he was president of the International Presbyterian Charismatic Communion, and later a participant in the International Roman Catholic–Pentecostal Dialogue. In 1972, he became the founding president of the Melodyland School of Theology in Anaheim, California, and in 1985 he served as president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. In 1982, he joined the faculty of Regent University, where he taught for eighteen years. Upon his retirement in 2000, Regent University established in his honor an endowed chair in Renewal Theology.

Important works include the three-volume systematic theology entitled Renewal Theology (1988–92, published as a single volume in 1996), the first complete systematic theology written from a charismatic perspective. It included chapters on the supernatural gifts of the Spirit and a chapter on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, arguing for the traditional Pentecostal interpretation. He argues also for the Arminian view of the possibility of apostasy.

Published books

• Contemporary Existentialism and Christian Faith (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1965).
• The Era of the Spirit (Plainfield, NJ: Logos, 1971). ISBN 9780912106854
• The Pentecostal Reality (Plainfield, NJ: Logos, 1972). ISBN 9780882700168
• Ten Teachings (Carol Stream, IL: Creation House, 1974).
• The Gift of the Holy Spirit Today (Plainfield, NJ: Logos, 1980).
• Renewal Theology [three volumes in one] (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996)
• God, the World, and Redemption (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988). Renewal Theology
• Salvation, the Holy Spirit, and Christian Living (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990). Renewal Theology
• The Church, The Kingdom, and Last Things (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992).

External links

• "Why Speak in tongues." Article originally published in New Covenant magazine in 1978: https://www.thewordofgodcommunity.org/blog/index.php/life-in-the-spirit/why-speak-in-tongues-dr-j-rodman-williams

  J. Rodman Williams