D. A. Carson
| D. A. Carson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Donald Arthur Carson December 21, 1946 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Education | B.S. (1967), M.Div., Ph.D. (1975) |
| Alma mater | McGill University Central Baptist Seminary University of Cambridge |
| Occupation | Research professor, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Spouse(s) | Joy Wheildon |
Donald Arthur Carson (born December 21, 1946) is a Canadian-born, Reformed Evangelical theologian and professor of the New Testament.
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[edit] Background and education
Carson was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to Thomas Donald McMillan Carson and Elizabeth Margaret (née Maybury), but grew up in Drummondville. He earned his B.S. (1967) in chemistry and mathematics from McGill University, his M.Div. from Central Baptist Seminary (Toronto), and his Ph.D. (1975) in the New Testament from the University of Cambridge. Carson married Joy (née Wheildon) on August 16, 1975.[1]
[edit] Career
Carson served as pastor of Richmond Baptist Church in Richmond, British Columbia from 1970 to 1972. Following his doctoral studies, he served for three years at Northwest Baptist Theological College (Vancouver) and in 1976 was the founding dean of the seminary.[1] In 1978, Carson joined the faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where he is currently serving as research professor.
In connection with reading the Sermon on the Mount, Don Carson advises: "Start with the structure of the sermon, and thus how it fits together. My father used to tell me that a text without a context becomes a pretext for a proof text, so when I was still quite young I learned to look at the context." ("One Way (Matthew 7:13-27)", in Richard D. Phillips, editor, Only One Way?: Reaffirming the Exclusive Truth Claims of Christianity, Crossway Books, 2007, pp. 127–142, at pp. 133–134.) In Biblical criticism, a proof text is the scriptural text that proves, or is claimed to prove, a particular doctrine. As a result of frequent overuse and occasional abuse of proof texts, the term has acquired a negative and sometimes even pejorative connotation.
Carson has quoted this adage in his lectures for several decades, before it gained popularity as a result of being quoted out of context by Jesse Jackson: "Text, without context, is pretext." (Sheldon R. Gawiser & G. Evans Witt, A Journalist's Guide to Public Opinion Polls, Praeger, 1994, p. 111.)
Carson is a founding council member of The Gospel Coalition.[2]
He was one of the speakers at the Hong Kong Bible Conference 2012, speaking on Successes and Failures of Reformation - A Biblical Study of Nehemiah.[3]
[edit] Selected publications
Carson has written or edited 57 books, many of which have been translated into Chinese.[4] These include major commentaries on Matthew in the Expositor's Bible Commentary (ISBN 0310499615) and John (ISBN 085111749X), commentaries on parts of the Bible, such as 1 Corinthians 12-14 (ISBN 0801025214) and the Sermon on the Mount (ISBN 0801024803). He has also written books on prayer, suffering, and free will and predestination from a generally compatibilist and Calvinist perspective.
His 1996 book The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism (ISBN 031024286X) won the 1997 ECPA Christian Book Award for the "theology and doctrine" category.[5]
Other publications include:
- The King James Version Debate: A Plea for Realism (1979) ISBN 0-8010-2427-7
- Exegetical Fallacies (1984) ISBN 0-8010-2499-4
- How Long, O Lord?: Reflections on Suffering and Evil (1990, 2006) ISBN 0-8010-3125-7
- The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians (1993, 2004) ISBN 0-8010-9168-3
- The Inclusive Language Debate: A Plea for Realism (1998) ISBN 0-85111-584-5
- The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God (1999) ISBN 1-58134-126-1
- For the Love of God, 2 volume devotional commentary based on Robert Murray M'Cheyne's system for reading the Bible through in one year (1998, 2006) ISBN 1-58134-815-0
- Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications (2005) ISBN 0-310-25947-9
- Telling the Truth: Evangelizing Postmoderns (2000, 2002)
- Justification And Variegated Nomism, 2 volumes which deal with the New Perspective on Paul issues that have arisen in recent years from people such as N. T. Wright (2001, 2004) ISBN 0-8010-2792-6
- Christ and Culture Revisited (2008) ISBN 0-8028-3174-5
- Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, Editor, along with Beale, G. K.. (2008) ISBN 0-8010-2693-8
- Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson (2008) ISBN 1-4335-0199-6
- Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus (2010) ISBN 1-4335-1125-8
- The Intolerance of Tolerance (2012) ISBN 0-8028-3170-2
[edit] References
- ^ a b Köstenberger, Andreas J.. "Detailed biography on D.A. Carson". http://www.biblicalfoundations.org/pdf/Carson.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
- ^ http://thegospelcoalition.org/about/council-members Retrieved 2012-03-16.
- ^ Speaker Introduction - Dr. D. A. Carson, Official Website of Hong Kong Bible Conference
- ^ "A Kernel of Wheat Christian Ministries". http://www.akow.org/. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
- ^ "1997 Gold Medallion Book Awards Winners". http://www.ecpa.org/christianbookawards/gm1997.php. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
[edit] External links
- Trinity's page on Dr. Don Carson
- D. A. Carson (Theopedia)
- Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals Carson is a member of the Alliance's Council.
- Debate Over Gender-Inclusive Language
Publications and Audio:
- The Gospel Coalition collection: Includes a comprehensive bibliography (over 350 free PDFs) and sermons and lectures (about 500 free MP3s)
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