Edmund Prosper Clowney (July 30, 1917 – March 20, 2005) was a

theologian 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 ...

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, and

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

Early life and education

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania, he earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from Wheaton College in 1939, a

Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organization. ...

from

Westminster Theological Seminary Westminster Theological Seminary is a Protestant theological seminary in the Reformed theological tradition in Glenside, Pennsylvania. It was founded by members of the faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary in 1929 after Princeton chose to t ...

in 1942, a

Master of Sacred Theology The Master of Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Magister; abbreviated STM) is a graduate-level, North American, academic degree in theology equivalent to ThM. The Roman Catholic equivalent is the Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL). An ho ...

from

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

in 1944, and a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

from Wheaton College in 1966.

Ministry

Clowney was ordained in the

Orthodox Presbyterian Church The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) is a confessional Presbyterian denomination located primarily in the United States, with additional congregations in Canada, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. It was founded by conservative members of the Presbyteri ...

, and served as pastor for churches in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

from 1942 to 1946.

invited him to become an assistant professor of practical theology in 1952. In 1966 he became the first president of that

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

, and remained so until 1984, when he became the theologian-in-residence of Trinity Presbyterian Church (part of the

Presbyterian Church in America The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Reformed in theology and presb ...

) 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 ...

. In 1990, he moved to

Escondido, California Escondido is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. It has a population of 151,038 as of the 2020 census. Et ...

where he was adjunct professor at

Westminster Seminary California Westminster Seminary California is a Reformed tradition, Reformed and Presbyterianism, Presbyterian Christianity, Christian seminary in Escondido, California. It was initially a branch campus of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia un ...

. In 2001 he began a full-time position as associate pastor at Christ the King Presbyterian Church in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. After two years in Texas, Clowney returned to Trinity Presbyterian Church as part-time theologian-in-residence, a position he held until his death in 2005. Tim Keller has said that Clowney and J. Alec Motyer were "the fathers of my preaching ministry". In 1990 a ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' was published in his honor. ''Practical Theology and the Ministry of the Church, 1952-1984: Essays in Honor of Edmund P. Clowney'' included contributions from Jay E. Adams, William Edgar,

Roger Nicole Roger R. Nicole (December 10, 1915 – December 11, 2010Roger Nicole (1915-2010) http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2010/12/11/roger-nicole-1915-2010/) was a native Swiss Reformed Baptist theologian and proponent of Christian egalita ...

J. I. Packer James Innell Packer (22 July 192617 July 2020) was an English-born Canadian evangelical theologian, cleric and writer in the low-church Anglican and Calvinist traditions. He was considered one of the most influential evangelicals in North Amer ...

, Robert G. Rayburn, and

Geoff Thomas Geoff or Geoffrey Thomas may refer to: * Geoffrey Thomas (academic) (born 1941), president of Kellogg College, Oxford * Geoffrey Thomas (businessman) (born 1959), Australian businessman * Geoff Thomas (footballer, born 1948) (1948–2013), Welsh fo ...

. Clowney married Jean Granger Wright (1920–2008) on August 30, 1942. They had five children.

Publications

Clowney was also a prolific writer. Books that he has authored include: *''Preaching and Biblical Theology'' () *''Called to the Ministry'' () *''Christian Meditation'' () *''Doctrine of the Church'' *''The Message of I Peter: The Way of the Cross'' (The Bible Speaks Series, ) *''The Unfolding Mystery: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament'' () *''Preaching Christ in All of Scripture'' () *''The Church'' (Contours of Christian Theology, ) *''How Jesus Transforms the Ten Commandments () In addition, he authored many articles, lectures and sermons, including the anonymous humor column "Eutychus and His Pin" (later renamed "Eutychus and His Kin") for the magazine ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...

'' from 1955-60, and Bible studies for the daily devotional '' Tabletalk''.

References

External links

"The Politics of the Kingdom"
a biblical-theological essay in which Clowney discusses how the Church must resist the temptation to become subservient to earthly

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

powers and programs.
Obituary for Dr. Edmund Clowney by Westminster Theological SeminaryEdmundClowney.com
a tribute site {{DEFAULTSORT:Clowney, Edmund P. 1917 births 2005 deaths Clergy from Philadelphia Presbyterians from Pennsylvania Orthodox Presbyterian Church ministers Presbyterian Church in America ministers American Calvinist and Reformed theologians Presidents of Calvinist and Reformed seminaries People from Escondido, California 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 21st-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 20th-century American clergy Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni Westminster Theological Seminary alumni Yale Divinity School alumni Westminster Seminary California faculty Westminster Theological Seminary faculty

Early life and education

Ministry

Publications

See also

References

External links