Elizabeth Rice Achtemeier (June 11, 1926 – October 25, 2002) was an American ordained Presbyterian minister, Bible professor, and author.
Early life and education
Born Elizabeth Rice on June 11, 1926 in
Bartlesville
Bartlesville is a city mostly in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 37,290 at the 2020 census. Bartlesville is north of Tulsa and south of the Kansas border. It is the county seat of Washington County. The Can ...
,
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, Achtemeier was raised in the
Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...
, in which her grandfather had been a minister.
She had three older brothers.
She completed undergraduate studies at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
and studied at
Union Theological Seminary in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
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Film and television
* '' ...
from 1948 until 1951.
[ In the summer of 1950, she was an associate pastor and preacher for a ]Congregational Church
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
in rural New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
.[ She did postgraduate work at ]Heidelberg University
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
in Germany and Basel University
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universitie ...
in Switzerland[ and completed her ]PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
at Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
under James Muilenburg
James Muilenburg (1 June 1896 – 10 May 1974) was a pioneer in the field of rhetorical criticism of the Old Testament.
Muilenburg was born in Orange City, Iowa, and studied at Hope College, the University of Nebraska, and Yale University. He taug ...
in 1959.[
]
Career
Achtemeier began teaching the Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
at Lancaster Theological Seminary
Lancaster Theological Seminary is a seminary of the United Church of Christ in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1825 by members of the German Reformed Church in the United States to provide theological education for prospective clergy an ...
while completing her PhD, teaching there until 1973.[ In 1973, her husband joined the all-male faculty of Union Theological Seminary as Professor of New Testament, and Achtemeier was offered an appointment as visiting, later adjunct, professor of Old Testament and visiting professor of ]homiletics
In religious studies, homiletics ( grc, ὁμιλητικός ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or ...
, which she held until 1996.[ She was also a visiting professor at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary, ]Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (PTS) is a Presbyterian graduate seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1794, it houses one of the largest theological libraries in the tri-state area.
History
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary was formed ...
and Duke Divinity School
The Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, is one of ten graduate or professional schools within Duke University. It is also one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church. It has 39 regular ...
.[
Achtemeier was an ]ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...
Presbyterian minister and a "nationally known preacher."[ She served on the denomination's Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity.][ Often the first or lone female in various roles she took on, she identified as an ]evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
and spoke against what she called "radical feminism
Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a Political radicalism, radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are al ...
."[ She spoke and wrote against the ordination of homosexual ministers and against the church adopting female language for God.]
Achtemeier wrote more than twenty books, as well as numerous articles, the majority focusing on the Old Testament and its use in Christian preaching.[ Her first book, co-authored with her husband, ''The Old Testament Roots of Our Faith'' was published in 1962. Her most well known book, ''The Old Testament and the Proclamation of the Gospel'' was published in 1973. She also wrote on marriage, family, sexuality, abortion and environmental issues.][ She preached and taught at numerous churches and university chapels across the United States and Canada.][ In 1999, she published an autobiography, ''Not Til I Have Done''.][
]
Personal life
Achtemeier met Paul J. Achtemeier
Paul John Achtemeier (3 September 1927 – 28 January 2013) was Herbert Worth and Annie H. Jackson Professor of Biblical Interpretation Emeritus at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, now Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. He ...
at seminary and they married in June 1952.[ They had two children and coauthored several books and articles.][ Their son, Mark, teaches systematic theology at Dubuque Theological Seminary.][ Achtemeier died on October 25, 2002 after a long illness.]
Publications
Books
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Articles
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References
External links
"What We Were Meant to Be"
Elizabeth Achtemeier, Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
Chapel, March 6, 1994
{{DEFAULTSORT:Achtemeier, Elizabeth
1926 births
2002 deaths
People from Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Stanford University alumni
Columbia University alumni
American biblical scholars
Female biblical scholars
Bible commentators
Union Presbyterian Seminary faculty
Union Presbyterian Seminary alumni
American women academics
Women Christian clergy
20th-century Christian biblical scholars
Calvinist and Reformed biblical scholars
20th-century American women