Charles B. Cousar (born in 1933) was an American

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister and Professor of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

Columbia Theological Seminary Columbia Theological Seminary is a Presbyterian seminary in Decatur, Georgia. It is one of ten theological institutions affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). History Columbia Theological Seminary was founded in 1828 in Lexington, Geo ...

. He was a writer and a New Testament scholar. He is a recipient of the Alumni Distinguished Service Award from Columbia Theological Seminary.

Education

Cousar was born in 1933 in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

. He attended the

McCallie School The McCallie School is a boys University-preparatory school, college-preparatory school located on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. The school was founded in 1905 and now has 250 boarding students in grades 9–12 and 66 ...

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. He graduated from

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

with a BA in 1955. He proceeded to study at the

and earned a BD in 1958. Cousar then obtained a Ph.D. from the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

, Scotland in 1960.

Career

Cousar served as an Assistant Professor and an Associate Professor at

until 1966. He was the Samuel A. Cartledge Professor of the New Testament until 2003. He was also the Dean of Academic Affairs, served twice as an Interim Dean of Faculty and served twice as the Interim President at Columbia Theological Seminary. From 1962 to 1968 he was a visiting professor at

Agnes Scott College Agnes Scott College is a private women's liberal arts college in Decatur, Georgia. The college enrolls approximately 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The college is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church and is considered one of the ...

, and in 1969 at Union Theological Seminary. Since 1960 he has been a member of the

Society of Biblical Literature The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mis ...

Awards and recognition

He is a recipient of the Alumni Distinguished Service Award from Columbia Theological Seminary. He has also received the Faculty Research Fellowship from the Association of Theological Schools, and the McCallie School Alumni Achievement Award.

Major publications

Cousar is known for his New Testament research and commentaries. He also wrote part of the series ''Texts for Preaching'', co-authored with a number of people including

Walter Brueggemann Walter Brueggemann (born March 11, 1933) is an American Protestant Old Testament scholar and theologian who is widely considered one of the most influential Old Testament scholars of the last several decades. His work often focuses on the Hebrew p ...

. In addition to writing several books, he also published a number of scholarly articles and written sections for other larger books. His academic works include: *''The Letters of Paul: Interpreting Biblical Texts Series''. Abingdon Press(Nov 1, 1996) *''Galatians (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching & Preaching)''. Westminster John Knox Press (January 1, 1986). This is his most widely held work: according to

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

, the book is held in 664 libraries WorldCat author file
/ref> *''An Introduction to the New Testament: Witnesses to God's New Work''. Westminster John Knox Press; annotated edition (September 19, 2006) *''Theology of the Cross: the death of Jesus in the Pauline letters'' (Overtures to Biblical Theology). Augsburg Fortress Publishing (May 1, 1990) *''Reading Galatians, Philippians, and 1 Thessalonians: A Literary and Theological Commentary'' (Reading the New Testament) (Volume 8). Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Incorporated (January 11, 2013). *Philippians and Philemon: A Commentary''. Westminster John Knox Press(April 2, 2009) *''Texts for Preaching, Year A: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV''. Westminster John Knox Press (July 7, 1995) *''Texts for Preaching, Year B: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV''. Westminster John Knox Press (July 7, 1995) *''Texts for Preaching, Year C: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV''. Westminster John Knox Press (July 7, 1995)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousar, Charles American Presbyterian ministers Living people Columbia Theological Seminary faculty Davidson College alumni Columbia Theological Seminary alumni 1933 births Writers from Charlottesville, Virginia