OLSON, Roger E(ugene) 1952-

PERSONAL: Born February 2, 1952, in Des Moines, IA; married, 1973; children: two. Education: Open Bible College, B.A., 1974; North American Baptist Seminary, M.A., 1978; Rice University, M.A., 1982, Ph.D., 1984; studied at the University of Munich, Germany, 1981-82.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—George W. Truett Theological Seminary, P.O. Box 97126, Waco, TX 76798. E-mail— [email protected]; [email protected].

CAREER: Theologian. Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, OK, assistant professor, 1982-84; Bethel College and Seminary, St. Paul, MN, professor, 1984-99; George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University, Waco, TX, professor of theology, 1999—.

MEMBER: American Academy of Religion, National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion, American Theological Society (Midwest division).

AWARDS, HONORS: Bethel College faculty award; Christianity Today Best Book in Doctrine, 1992, for Twentieth-Century Theology: God and the World in a Transitional Age, and 1999, for The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform;

Gold Medallion, Evangelical Christian Publishing Association, 1999; Baylor University Outstanding Teacher Award (in the category of scholarship), and Truett Theological Seminary "professor of choice award," both 2000.

WRITINGS:

(With Stanley J. Grenz) Twentieth-Century Theology:God and the World in a Transitional Age, Inter-Varsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 1992.

Who Needs Theology?: An Invitation to the Study ofGod, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 1996.

The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries ofTradition and Reform, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 1999.

(With Christopher A. Hall) The Trinity, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2002.

The Mosaic of Christian Belief: Twenty Centuries ofUnity and Diversity, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 2002.

Contributor to periodicals, including the Scottish Journal of Theology and Perspectives on Religious Studies. Editor, Christian Scholar's Review; consultingeditor, Christianity Today.

SIDELIGHTS: Professor of theology Roger E. Olson has written a number of volumes focusing on theology and its history, including his first, with Stanley J. Grenz, titled Twentieth-Century Theology: God and the World in a Transitional Age. The authors begin with the Enlightenment and wrap up in the recent past. Christian Century reviewer John G. Stackhouse, Jr. noted their "good treatment of Kant, Hegel, Schleier-macher, and Ritschl . . . with brief notes on Harnack and Rauschenbusch. The 'great man' way of writing theological history has its drawbacks, but the authors make good use of its simplicity and focus. The expositions here are generally concise and coherent."

In the section on neo-orthodoxy, Olson and Grenz discuss Barth, Bultmann, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Brunner. Tillich, Teilhard, and process theology are covered in the chapter titled "The Deepening of Immanence." Stackhouse noted that "perhaps surprisingly, the book goes on to deal respectfully with various sorts of 'secular' theologies which are currently out of vogue. . . . The chapter on liberation theologies draws together black, South American liberation, and feminist theologies with a careful, even hand." Additional chapters include "Narrative Theology" and "Evangelical Theology."

Christopher A. Hall wrote in Christianity Today that the work of Grenz and Olson "announces to a sometimes doubting scholarly world that evangelicals are indeed capable of making their mark on twentieth-century theology. In addition, their efforts suggest principles on which further reflection from an evangelic perspective must be based."

In The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform, Olson studies theological controversies through the ages. Church History reviewer Daniel Augsburger called the volume "a book that is clarity itself. . . . For Olson, historical theology is not an abstract construct, but a story. It has a plot, heroes and villains, conflicts, triumphs, and defeats. It was not born in the quiet study of a scholar but in the street where it reflected and reacted to cultural and social changes. Thus, the author makes a real effort to paint the life setting of the major developments. He draws with much care the spiritual journey of the thinkers he deals with."

Olson categorizes his theological beliefs between dogmas, and believes the core dogma to be that of salvation. He organizes his work around this subject, studying turning points, factors, and leaders who impacted each crisis and led to its solution. Augsburger noted Olson's thorough study of Augustine and remarked that "the chapter on Luther's theology is magnificent." Augsburger concluded by noting that "the last part of the book, as can be expected, deals with modern movements: modernism, fundamentalism, neo-orthodoxy, and the work of several contemporary theologians, among whom are C. F. H. Henry and the Catholic K. Rahner. . . . This book makes a real contribution to the teaching of historical theology."

Choice reviewer D. Ingolfsland commented on the fairness of Olson's presentation and remarked, "This book is fascinating and well-written, and it shows evidence of serious scholarship."

Olson and Hall coauthored The Trinity, a guide to the development of the doctrine of the Trinity, their treatment of which Currents in Theology and Mission critic Mark C. Mattes called "markedly judicious." Mattes also felt the bibliography to be valuable for both student and scholar. A section on the patristics (Apologists, Clement, Origen, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cappadocians, Hilary, and Augustine) is followed by another that documents the often-neglected medieval contributions. Mattes called The Trinity "a sane and readable account of the importance of trinitarian theology to be welcomed by students, clergy, and lay readers."

Library Journal's Sandra Collins called The Mosaic of Christian Belief: Twenty Centuries of Unity and Diversity an "exemplary treatment of historical Christian theology and the development of belief." Olson describes the volume as a "very basic, relatively comprehensive, nontechnical, nonspeculative one-volume introduction" to his subject, and Collins wrote that Olson "succeeds" in accomplishing this goal.

A Publishers Weekly contributor observed that the book is a contribution "to contemporary evangelicalism not only in its impressive survey of many theologies, but also in its use of 'The Great Tradition' of Christian belief as an essential guide to orthodoxy."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice, July, 2000, D. Ingolfsland, review of The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform, p. 1995; January, 2003, P. K. Moser, review of The Trinity, p. 842.

Christian Century, October 21, 1992, John G. Stackhouse, Jr., review of Twentieth-Century Theology: God and the World in a Transitional Age, pp. 943, 945.

Christianity Today, November 9, 1992, Christopher A. Hall, review of Twentieth-Century Theology, p. 74.

Church History, June, 2002, Daniel Augsburger, review of The Story of Christian Theology, p. 446.

Currents in Theology and Mission, December, 2002, Mark C. Mattes, review of The Trinity, p. 474.

Library Journal, December, 2002, Sandra Collins, review of The Mosaic of Christian Belief: Twenty Centuries of Unity and Diversity, p. 136.

Publishers Weekly, September 30, 2002, review of TheMosaic of Christian Belief, p. 66.

Theology, May-June, 2003, Geoffrey Burn, review of The Trinity, pp. 203-204.