The American Theological Society, founded in 1912, is the oldest professional

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

society in North America. It has met at least once each year in various locations on the East Coast of the United States, lately at

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...

in Princeton, New Jersey. Membership is by nomination and election, and is limited to 100 people at any given time. The purpose of the American Theological Society is to foster research excellence in the various theological disciplines and to cultivate collegial relationships.

Membership

Membership in the American Theological Society is by nomination and election by two-thirds of the members voting at the annual meeting. The society's membership is capped at one hundred. There are several categories of membership. Active members of the American Theological Society are those who regularly attend its annual meetings and regularly pay the annual dues. Sustaining members are previously active members who have not attended a meeting within the past three years, but who have continued to pay the annual dues. Inactive members are those who have not attended at least one meeting within a three-year period and who have ceased to pay annual dues for at least three years. Members-designate are those who have been elected to membership but who have not yet attended an annual meeting.

Executive

The American Theological Society's business is organized by an executive committee consisting of a president, a vice-president (who is also president-elect), the immediately past president, a secretary, a treasurer, a program officer, and membership officer, and two at-large members. All are elected by the society's membership at its annual meeting.

Presidents

The presidents of the American Theological Society are as follows: *1912–1913:

William Adams Brown William Adams Brown (December 29, 1865 – December 15, 1943) was an American minister, professor and philanthropist. Early life Brown was born in New York City on December 29, 1865, and named after his maternal grandfather, the Rev. William Ada ...

*1913–1914: Daniel Evans *1914–1915: W. D. MacKenzie *1915–1916: George Cross *1916–1917: E. S. Drown *1917–1918: F. C. Porter *1918–1919: A. C. McGiffert *1919–1920: D. C. Macintosh *1920–1921: Rufus M. Jones *1921–1922: A. M. Dulles *1922–1923: Eugene W. Lyman *1923–1924: M. G. Evans *1924–1925: E. Hershey Sneath *1925–1926: A. L. Gillett *1926–1927: S. B. Meeser *1927–1928: A. C. Knudson *1928–1929: W. P. Ladd *1929–1930: R. M. Vaughan *1930–1931: John Baillie *1931–1932: Durant Drake *1932–1933: G. W. Richards *1933–1934: E. S. Brightman *1934–1935: J. B. Pratt *1935–1936: J. S. Bixler *1936–1937: W. K. Wright *1937–1938: W. M. Urban *1938–1939: R. E. Hume *1939–1940: A. G. Widgery *1940–1941:

Angus Dun Angus Dun (May 4, 1892 – August 12, 1971) was a noted United States clergyman and author, who was the 4th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington in Washington, DC. Life and work Early life Angus Dun, son of Henry W. and Sarah R. (H ...

*1941–1942: George Thomas *1942–1943: Walter M. Horton *1943–1944:

Paul Tillich Paul Johannes Tillich (August 20, 1886 – October 22, 1965) was a German-American Christian existentialist philosopher, religious socialist, and Lutheran Protestant theologian who is widely regarded as one of the most influential theologi ...

*1944–1945:

Vergilius Ferm Vergilius Ture Anselm Ferm (January 6, 1896, Sioux City, Iowa – February 4, 1974, Wooster, Ohio)Douglas V. Steere Douglas Van Steere (August 31, 1901 – February 6, 1995) was an American Quaker ecumenist. Biography He served as a professor of philosophy at Haverford College from 1928 to 1964 and visiting professor of theology at Union Theological Seminary ...

*1946–1947: H. Richard Niebuhr *1947–1948:

Reinhold Niebuhr Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 – June 1, 1971) was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Niebuhr was one of Ameri ...

*1948–1949: Norman Pittenger *1949–1950: E. A. Burtt *1950–1951:

Richard Kroner __NOTOC__ Richard Kroner (8 March 1884 in Breslau – 2 November 1974 in Mammern) was a German neo-Hegelian philosopher, known for his ''Von Kant bis Hegel'' (1921/4), a classic history of German idealism written from the neo-Hegelian point ...

*1951–1952: Morton S. Enslin *1952–1953: Henry P. Van Dusen *1953–1954: John C. Bennett *1954–1955: Otto Piper *1955–1956:

Brand Blanshard Percy Brand Blanshard (; August 27, 1892 – November 19, 1987) was an American philosopher known primarily for his defense of reason and rationalism. A powerful polemicist, by all accounts he comported himself with courtesy and grace in philosop ...

*1956–1957: Clarence W. Hamilton *1957–1958: Nels S. F. Ferré *1958–1959: Shelton Smith *1959–1960:

Albert Outler Albert Cook Outler (November 17, 1908 – September 1, 1989) was a 20th-century American Methodist historian, theologian, and pastor. He was a professor at Duke University, Yale University, and Southern Methodist University. He was a key figure i ...

*1960–1961: John Knox *1961–1962: Harold DeWolf *1962–1963:

Wilhelm Pauck Wilhelm Pauck (January 31, 1901 - September 3, 1981) was a German-American church historian and historical theologian in the field of Reformation studies whose fifty-year teaching career reached from the University of Chicago and Union Theologica ...

*1963–1964: Peter Bertocci *1964–1965: Paul Ramsey *1965–1966: Paul Minear *1966–1967: Daniel Day Williams *1967–1968: John E. Smith *1968–1969: S. Paul Schilling *1969–1970:

Paul Lehmann Paul Lehmann (13 July 1884 – 4 January 1964) was a German paleographer and philologist.Memoir by Harry Caplan, Taylor Starck, and B. L. Ullman in ''Speculum'' Vol. 40, No. 3, Jul. 1965, p. 583 Biography Paul Lehmann was the son of business ...

*1970–1971:

George Hendry George Jack Henndry (1920-2011), was a male international table tennis player from the United States. Table tennis career He wod a bronze medal at the 1938 World Table Tennis Championships in the Swaythling Cup (men's team event) with Bernard Gr ...

*1971–1972:

Roger Hazelton Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

*1972–1973:

James Luther Adams James Luther Adams (1901–1994), an American professor at Harvard Divinity School, Andover Newton Theological School, and Meadville Lombard Theological School, and a Unitarianism, Unitarian Parish#Ecclesiastical parish, parish minister, was the ...

*1973–1974:

Eugene Fairweather Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

*1974–1975: *1975–1976: Roger L. Shinn *1976–1977:

Frederick Ferré Frederick Pond Ferré (March 23, 1933 – March 22, 2013) was Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at The University of Georgia. He was a past president of the Metaphysical Society of America. Much of his work concerned how metaphysics is entwined with ...

*1977–1978: J. Robert Nelson *1978–1979:

Avery Dulles Avery Robert Dulles (; 1918–2008) was an American Jesuit priest, theologian, and cardinal of the Catholic Church. Dulles served on the faculty of Woodstock College from 1960 to 1974, of the Catholic University of America from 1974 to 1988, a ...

*1979–1980: Gordon D. Kaufman *1980–1981:

Carl F. H. Henry Carl Ferdinand Howard Henry (January 22, 1913 – December 7, 2003) was an American evangelical Christian theologian who provided intellectual and institutional leadership to the neo-evangelical movement in the mid-to-late 20th century. His earl ...

*1981–1982:

Eugene Borowitz Eugene B. Borowitz (February 20, 1924 – January 22, 2016) was an American leader and philosopher in Reform Judaism, known largely for his work on Jewish theology and Jewish ethics. He also edited a Jewish journal, ''Sh'ma'', and taught at the Heb ...

*1982–1983: J. Alfred Martin Jr. *1983–1984: Charles West *1984–1985: Bernhard Anderson *1985–1986: John D. Godsey *1986–1987: Richard A. Norris Jr. *1987–1988: Paul Meyer *1988–1989: Paul van Buren *1989–1990: Charles Curran *1990–1991: Gabriel Fackre *1991–1992: Franz J. van Beeck *1992–1993: J. Deotis Roberts *1993–1994: Owen C. Thomas *1994–1995: Karlfried Froehlich *1995–1996: Edward LeRoy Long Jr. *1996–1997:

Geoffrey Wainwright Geoffrey Wainwright (1939 – 17 March 2020) was an English theologian. He spent much of his career in the United States and taught at Duke Divinity School. Wainwright made major contributions to modern Methodist theology and Christian liturgy, ...

*1997–1998: Stanley S. Harakas *1998–1999: Robert W. Jenson *1999–2000: Joanne McWilliam *2000–2001: Michael Fahey *2001–2002:

Christopher Morse Christopher Ludwig Morse (born 1935) is an American Christian theologian. He is Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor of Theology and Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Early life and education Born in 1935 and raised in Virginia, M ...

*2002–2003:

George Tavard Georges Henri Tavard, AA (February 6, 1922 – August 13, 2007) was an ordained member of the Augustinians of the Assumption. He lectured extensively in the areas of historical theology, ecumenism, and spirituality. Early life Georges Tavard ...

*2003–2004: Robert K. Johnston *2004–2005:

J. Philip Wogaman J. Philip Wogaman is former Senior Minister at Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. (1992–2002), and former Professor of Christian Ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary Washington, D.C. (1966–92), serving as dean of that instit ...

*2005–2006:

Robert Cummings Neville Robert Cummings Neville (born May 1, 1939, in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.) is an American systematic philosopher and theologian, author of numerous books and papers, and ex-Dean of the Boston University School of Theology. J. Harley Chapman and Nancy ...

*2006–2007: Elizabeth A. Johnson *2007–2008: Daniel L. Migliore *2008–2009:

Max Stackhouse Max Lynn Stackhouse (July 29, 1935 – January 30, 2016) was the ''Rimmer and Ruth de Vries Professor of Reformed Theology and Public Life Emeritus'' at Princeton Theological Seminary. He was ordained in the United Church of Christ and was the pr ...

*2009–2010:

Kathryn Tanner Kathryn Eileen Tanner (born 1957) is an American theologian who serves as Frederick Marquand Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School. Biography Born on March 29, 1957, Tanner earned her BA, MA, MPhil, and PhD degrees from Yale ...

*2010–2011: Peter Slater *2011–2012: Peter Paris *2012–2013: Charles M. Wood *2013–2014: Francis Schüssler Fiorenza *2014–2015: M. Douglas Meeks *2015–2016: Peter C. Phan *2016-2017:

Wesley Wildman Wesley J. Wildman (born 1961) is a contemporary Australian-American philosopher, theologian, and ethicist. Currently, he is a full professor at the Boston University School of Theology, founding member of the faculty of Computing and Data Scien ...

Related societies

There are a number of other theological societies in North America.

Self-described national theological societies

* Catholic Theological Society of America (founded in 1946

* The Evangelical Theological Society (founded in 1949
website
* Wesleyan Theological Society (founded in 1965
website
* Orthodox Theological Society in America (founded in 1966
website
* Adventist Theological Society (probably founded in 1988
website

Self-described regional theological societies

* American Theological Society Midwest Division (founded in 1927
website
* Pacific Coast Theological Society (founded in 1939
website
* College Theology Society (founded in 1953
website
* Old Life Theological Society (founded around 2004
website
* Fox Valley Theological Society (founded around 2009 or 2010
website
* Boston Theological Society (founding year unknown

* Theological Discussion Group, currently "New Haven Theological Discussion Group" (founding year unknown; no website)

External links

* {{authority control Seminaries and theological colleges in the United States 1912 establishments in the United States Theological societies