Colin Ewart Gunton (19 January 1941 – 6 May 2003) was an English Reformed systematic theologian. He made contributions to the doctrine of creation and the doctrine of the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

. He was Professor of Christian Doctrine at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King G ...

, from 1984 and co-founder with

Christoph Schwoebel Christoph is a male given name and surname. It is a German variant of Christopher. Notable people with the given name Christoph * Christoph Bach (1613–1661), German musician * Christoph Büchel (born 1966), Swiss artist * Christoph Dientzenho ...

of the Research Institute for Systematic Theology in 1988. Gunton was actively involved in the

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. Origins and history The United Reformed Church resulte ...

in the United Kingdom where he had been a minister since 1972.

Biography

Colin Ewart Gunton was born on 19 January 1941 in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, England. He first studied '' literae humaniores'' at

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...

, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor degree in 1964, the same year he married the schoolteacher Jennifer Osgathorpe. He then began his study of theology, and a year later received a Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin), Master of Arts degree from Mansfield College, Oxford. He then began his doctoral work under the direction of Robert Jenson, which took six years because he began teaching two years into his doctoral program as he became Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion at

, in 1969. His dissertation was a study of the doctrine of

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

in the thought of

Charles Hartshorne Charles Hartshorne (; June 5, 1897 – October 9, 2000) was an American philosopher who concentrated primarily on the philosophy of religion and metaphysics, but also contributed to ornithology. He developed the neoclassical idea of God and ...

and

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Calvinist theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Declara ...

, which was completed in 1973. Gunton was ordained in the

in 1972. He became an Associate Minister of the Brentwood United Reformed Church in 1975, a position which he held until his death. Gunton was appointed Lecturer in Systematic Theology at King's College in 1980, and in 1984 became Professor of Christian Doctrine, later becoming the Dean of Faculty from 1988 to 1990. He also served as Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies from 1993 to 1997. Gunton founded and directed the Research Institute in Systematic Theology which drew distinguished scholars and many graduate students from around the world. In 1992 he delivered the

Bampton Lectures The Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford, England, were founded by a bequest of John Bampton. They have taken place since 1780. They were a series of annual lectures; since the turn of the 20th century they have typically been biennial ...

at the University of Oxford, (published as ''The One, the Three and the Many'') and delivered the Warfield Lectures 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 1993. He also co-founded the ''International Journal of Systematic Theology'' with

John Bainbridge Webster John Bainbridge Webster (1955–2016) was an Anglican priest and theologian writing in the area of systematic, historical, and moral theology. Born in Mansfield, England, on 20 June 1955, he was educated at the independent Bradford Grammar Sch ...

and

Ralph del Colle Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

in 1999. Gunton was awarded

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

s by the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

(1993), 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 ...

(1999), and shortly before his death, the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

(2003). He was also made a Fellow of King's College. Gunton died on 6 May 2003.

Writings

Gunton's most influential work was on the

doctrine Doctrine (from la, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system ...

s of

creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

and the

. One of his most important books is ''The One, the Three and the Many: God, Creation and the Culture of Modernity'' (1993), which has been described as "a profound analysis of the paradoxes and contradictions of Modernity."King's announces the 2003 Fellows
/ref> ''The One, the Three and the Many'' remains a "majestical survey of the western intellectual tradition and a penetrating analysis of the modern condition."

Published works

Major works

*''Becoming and Being: The Doctrine of God in Charles Hartshorne and Karl Barth'' (1978, 2nd Ed. 2001) *''Yesterday and Today: A Study of Continuities in Christology'' (1983, 2nd Ed. 1997) *''Enlightenment and Alienation: An Essay Towards a Trinitarian Theology'' (1985) *''Actuality of Atonement: A Study of Metaphor, Rationality and the Christian Tradition'' (1988) *''The Promise of Trinitarian Theology'' (1991, 2nd Ed. 1997) *''Christ and Creation'' (1992) , *''The One, the Three and the Many: God, Creation and the Culture of Modernity'' (1993) *''A Brief Theology of Revelation'' (1995) , *''Theology Through the Theologians: Essays 1972-1995'' (1996) *''The Triune Creator: A Historical and Systematic Study'' (1998) *''Intellect and Action'' (2000, T & T Clark)) *''Theology Through Preaching'' (2001, T & T Clark) *''The Christian Faith: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine'' (2002) *''Act and Being: Toward A Theology of the Divine Attributes'' (2002) *''Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Toward A Fully Trinitarian Theology'' (2003) *''Theologian as Preacher: Further Sermons from Colin Gunton'' (2007, T & T Clark) *''The Barth Lectures'' (2007, T & T Clark)

Edited works

*''On Being the Church'' (1988) *''Persons, Divine and Human'' (1991) *''God and Freedom: Essays in Historical and Systematic Theology'' (1995) *''The Doctrine of Creation'' (1997) *''The Cambridge Companion to Christian Doctrine'' (1997) *''Time, Trinity and Church: A Response to the theology of Robert Jenson'' (2000) *''The Practice of Theology: A Reader'' (2002) edited with Murray Rae and Stephen Holmes *''The Theology of Reconciliation'' (2003)

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

by Stephen Holmes

by Graham McFarlane
Colin Gunton (1941 ''sic'' - 2003)
by Robert Jenson {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunton, Colin 1941 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed ministers 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 20th-century British philosophers 20th-century English theologians Academics of King's College London Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford Alumni of Mansfield College, Oxford Calvinist and Reformed philosophers English Calvinist and Reformed ministers English Calvinist and Reformed theologians English philosophers Fellows of King's College London People from Nottingham Philosophers of religion United Reformed Church ministers