J. Ramsey Michaels, Th.D., Harvard (May 1, 1931 – January 18, 2020) was an American theologian who was for many years a professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and

Southwest Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

. He continued to teach occasionally as an adjunct professor at

Bangor Theological Seminary Bangor Theological Seminary was an ecumenical seminary, founded in 1814, in the Congregational tradition of the United Church of Christ. Located in Bangor, Maine, and Portland, Maine, it was the only accredited graduate school of religion in Nor ...

in Portland, Maine, and as a visiting professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. He is perhaps best known for his commentary on John which is a replacement volume in the New International Commentary on the New Testament series.

Early life and education

J. Ramsey Michaels was born on May 1, 1931, in Skaneateles, New York. He graduated from Princeton University with a baccalaureate degree, Grace Theological Seminary with a bachelor of divinity (B.D.) degree, Westminster Theological Seminary with a masters of theology degree (Th.M.), and Harvard Divinity School where he received a doctorate of theology (Th.D.).

Career

After teaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary for 25 years, the faculty senate issued a report criticizing Michaels' view of inerrancy based on his book ''Servant and Son''. After being informed by the president at the time, Robert E. Cooley, that he was about to be fired, Michaels resigned in the spring of 1983. Soon after he took a teaching position at Southwest Missouri State University. Michaels published commentaries on Revelation, Hebrews and the Gospel of John. The latter replaced

Leon Morris Leon Lamb Morris (15 March 1914 – 24 July 2006) was an Australian New Testament scholar. Born in Lithgow, New South Wales, Morris was ordained to the Anglican ministry in 1938. He earned Bachelor of Divinity (with first class honors) in 1943 ...

' commentary in the New International Commentary on the New Testament series. Michaels published scholarly articles including "Charles Thomson and the First American New Testament" in the '' Harvard Theological Review'' and "A World with Devils Filled: The Hawkes-O'Connor Debate Revisited" in the '' Flannery O'Connor Review''. Dr. Michaels was also part of the translation team for the New Living Translation of the

Holy Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. He worked with Peter Davids of

St. Stephen's University St. Stephen's University is a small liberal arts university located in the town of St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada. History Planning for the institution began in 1971 and the first students enrolled in 1975. In 1998, the university receive ...

Norman Ericson Norman R. Ericson (July 21, 1932 – December 22, 2011) was an American teacher and Bible scholar. Early life and education Ericson was born on July 21, 1932, in Loomis, Nebraska, United States to Raymond and Myrtle Ericson. He had his early edu ...

Wheaton College Wheaton College may refer to: * Wheaton College (Illinois), a private Christian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois * Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Wheaton College is a private liberal arts college in Norton, Massachus ...

, and William Lane of Seattle Pacific University on the translations of the New Testament texts of Hebrews,

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

1 Peter The First Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament. The author presents himself as Peter the Apostle. The ending of the letter includes a statement that implies that it was written from " Babylon", which is possibly a reference to Rome. ...

2 Peter The Second Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament of the Bible. The text identifies the author as "Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ" and the epistle is traditionally attributed to Peter the Apostle, but most criti ...

, and

Jude Jude may refer to: People Biblical * Jude, brother of Jesus, who is sometimes identified as being the same person as Jude the Apostle * Jude the Apostle, an apostle also called Judas Thaddaeus or Lebbaeus, the patron saint of lost causes in the ...

. One of his final books was published in 2013 and was entitled ''Passing by the Dragon: The Biblical Tales of Flannery O'Connor'' (Wipf & Stock publishers).

Personal life and death

Michaels was married to Betty L. Michaels and had four children. He died on January 18, 2020, in

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...

Selected works

* * * * * *

References

External links

J. Ramsey Michaels - ObituaryJ. Ramsey Michaels - TributesJ. Ramsey Michaels - In Memoriam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michaels, J. Ramsey Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary faculty Missouri State University faculty Bible commentators Living people Bangor Theological Seminary faculty Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the Jesus Seminar Princeton University alumni Westminster Theological Seminary alumni Harvard Divinity School alumni