Arthur F. Glasser (September 10, 1914 – December 8, 2009) was a

missiologist Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology, which began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century. History Missiology as an academic discipline appeared only in the 19th century. It was ...

and

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

who taught at

Fuller Theological Seminary Fuller Theological Seminary is an interdenominational Evangelical Christian seminary in Pasadena, California, with regional campuses in the western United States. It is egalitarian in nature. Fuller consistently has a student body that compri ...

, last serving as Dean Emeritus of the School of Intercultural Studies. He also completed five years of missionary service in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Biography

Glasser was born in Paterson, New Jersey, and graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

Faith Theological Seminary Faith Theological Seminary is an unaccredited evangelical Christian seminary in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1937 in Wilmington, Delaware, moved to Philadelphia in 1952, and then moved to Maryland in 2004. History In response to the Pr ...

and Union Seminary in New York City. He served as a US Navy chaplain attached to the U.S. Marines during World War II. He was married to Alice Oliver and had three children. He served in China with the

China Inland Mission OMF International (formerly Overseas Missionary Fellowship and before 1964 the China Inland Mission) is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It was founded i ...

from 1945 to 1951, and saw the organization undergo major changes as the Chinese government changed and missionaries were expelled. He served as North American Director for almost fifteen years. He was Home Director of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship until 1970, and then Dean of the School of World Missions at Fuller Theological Seminary. In 1980 he retired, but continued to teach and mentor students until 1999 when he moved to Seattle. Glasser served many years as editor of the ''

Missiology Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology, which began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century. History Missiology as an academic discipline appeared only in the 19th century. It was ...

'' journal and then president of the American Society of Missiology, and was actively involved in Jewish evangelism efforts. He was one of the pioneers of the academic discipline of

missiology Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology, which began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century. History Missiology as an academic discipline appeared only in the 19th century. It was ...

. He wrote ''Announcing the Kingdom: The Story of God's Mission in the Bible'' (Baker Academic, 2003) which portrays missionary work as a central component of Christianity. Despite his emphasis on missions and the uniqueness of Christ for salvation, his open ended treatment of Acts 10 and 17 could lead people to assume that he believes people could be saved outside of Christ.

References

Interviews with Arthur Frederick Glasser
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glasser, Arthur 1914 births 2009 deaths Missiologists American Protestant missionaries Protestant missionaries in China United States Navy chaplains Cornell University alumni Faith Theological Seminary alumni Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni Academic journal editors American expatriates in China 20th-century American clergy