James W. Skillen is a Christian political philosopher and author. He was the executive director and then president of the

Center for Public Justice The Center for Public Justice is an American Christian think tank which undertakes to bring a Christian worldview to bear on policy issues.thinktank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental o ...

) from 1981 to 2009, when he retired from the organization. He helped found the organization in 1977. From 1973 to 1982 he taught political theory and international relations at three Christian colleges. Today, Skillen speaks regularly both domestically and internationally and writes primarily in areas of biblical studies and political philosophy and practice. He also mentors a number of advanced students.

Education

He completed his B.A. in 1966 at Wheaton College,

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...

, majoring in philosophy. He received a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...

in 1969 from the

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 ...

, Chestnut Hill, outside

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 ...

. Skillen studied philosophy at the

Free University of Amsterdam The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

in 1969–70, focusing particularly on the work of

Herman Dooyeweerd Herman Dooyeweerd (7 October 1894, Amsterdam – 12 February 1977, Amsterdam) was a professor of law and jurisprudence at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam from 1926 to 1965. He was also a philosopher and principal founder of Reformational philo ...

, Professor of Law and renowned Christian philosopher. Skillen completed his doctorate in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

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 ...

under Prof. John Hallowell in 1974. .

Skillen as author

Skillen has written, edited, or contributed essays to more than 30 books, both for the Christian public and for

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

journals. His works include ''The Scattered Voice: Christians at Odds in the Public Square'' (Zondervan, 1990), which was described as "remarkable" and "meticulously fair" by Prof.

Mark Noll Mark Allan Noll (born 1946) is an American historian specializing in the history of Christianity in the United States. He holds the position of Research Professor of History at Regent College, having previously been Francis A. McAnaney Professor o ...

, then at Wheaton College. His most recent book is ''The Good of Politics: A Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Introduction'' (Baker Academic, 2014). Dr. Bruce Wearne has compiled an extensive annotated bibliography of Skillen's writings: ''Public Justice for All:An annotated bibliography of the works of James W Skillen 1967–2008'', (May 2008, 2nd edn). Available from th
Wearne pages

Interfaith

In 2009, he signed a public statement encouraging all Christians to "read, wrestle with, and respond to

Caritas in Veritate ''Caritas in veritate'' (English: "Charity in truth") is the third and last encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, and his first social encyclical. It was signed on 29 June 2009 and was published on 7 July 2009. It was initially published in Italia ...

" the social encyclical by Pope

Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

.Evangelical scholars call for broad discussion of Pope's social encyclical
/ref>

External links

on All of Life Redeemed.

References

Duke University alumni Westminster Theological Seminary alumni Living people Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{Christian-theologian-stub