J. Rodman Williams, Ph.D.
Professor of Renewal Theology Emeritus
Regent
University School of Divinity
Virginia Beach, VA 23464
E-mail: rodmwil@regent.edu
You will find on this site a Vita, statements about my three volume work, Renewal Theology, the complete text of a yet-to-be-published book, A Theological Pilgrimage, copies of published books Ten Teachings and The Pentecostal Reality, followed by articles and papers that include Prophecy by the Book and Scripture: God's Written Word. The latter will be updated regularly with new additions.
J. Rodman Williams is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Davidson College in North Carolina (A.B. degree), of Union Theological Seminary in Virginia (B.D. and Th. M. degrees), and Columbia University in New York (Ph.D. degree in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics). He has served as a chaplain in the U.S. Marine Corps, taught philosophy and religion at Beloit College in Wisconsin, pastored the First Presbyterian Church of Rockford, Illinois, taught theology and philosophy of religion at Austin Presbyterian Seminary in Texas, and served as president and professor of theology at Melodyland School of Theology in Anaheim, California. Beginning in 1982, he taught theology at Regent University School of Divinity in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and became Professor of Renewal Theology Emeritus there in 2002. He is married and has three children.
J. Rodman Williams is the author of Contemporary Existentialism and Christian Faith (1965), The Era of the Spirit (1971), The Pentecostal Reality (1972), Ten Teachings (1974), and The Gift of the Holy Spirit Today (1980). He has now completed writing a three volume work entitled Renewal Theology (Vol. 1, God, the World, and Redemption, 1988; Vol. 2, Salvation, the Holy Spirit, and Christian Living, 1990; and Vol. 3, The Church, the Kingdom, and Last Things, 1992). The three volumes are presently published as one unabridged volume (Zondervan, 1996) of Renewal Theology.
J. Rodman Williams has been active in the charismatic movement as an early president of the international Presbyterian Charismatic Communion, as a participant for several years in the Vatican-Pentecostal dialogue, and as the organizer and leader of the first European Charismatic Leaders Conferences. He has also served as president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies.
An article about J. Rodman Williams' life and teachings may be found in Handbook of Evangelical Theologians, ed. by Walter A. Elwell, Baker Book House, 1993. A Festschrift entitled Spirit and Renewal: Essays in Honor of J. Rodman Williams, ed. by Mark Wilson, was published in 1994. Further biographical data may be found (under "John Rodman Williams") in the Dictionary of American Scholars, Who's Who in American Religion, and Who's Who in America.
Renewal Theology deals with all the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. The three volumes were written especially for persons involved in the Pentecostal and charismatic renewal. Now published as three volumes in one, with the subtitle of Systematic Theology from a Charismatic Perspective, the whole of Renewal Theology is readily available. There have been numerous printings of the three volumes as well as foreign translations. Renewal Theology is used as a textbook in several colleges and seminaries. It has also been helpful to many people in study groups and for private reading.
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My purpose in writing Renewal Theology:Renewal Theology is in one sense an expression of revitalization. When I came into the renewal in 1965, "God is dead" language was abroad in the land. What happened in my case and that of many others was God's own answer: a powerful self-revelation. John Calvin had long ago declared about God that "the recognition of him consists more in living experience than in vain and high-flown speculation." Now that there was an enhancement of "living experience" in my life, there came about a fresh zeal for teaching theology in its many facets. As I said later in The Era of the Spirit, "A new dynamic has been unleashed that has vitalized various theological categories." Renewal Theology is an expression of theological revitalization. |
| Renewal Theology also represents an effort to reclaim certain biblical affirmations that have been largely neglected or given insufficient attention. In line with the setting of this theology within the contemporary renewal, there is also a deep concern to relate relevant renewal emphases to more traditional categories. Since it is my conviction that church tradition and theology have generally failed to treat adequately the aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit that may be called "pentecostal" and "charismatic," Renewal Theology is an earnest attempt to bring these matters to light. Volume 2 deals particularly with this area; however, in many other places in Renewal Theology there is pentecostal/charismatic input. | |
Finally, the concern of Renewal Theology in every area of study is truth. This is not an attempt to advance a particular cause but to understand in totality what the Christian faith proclaims. It is not only a matter of individual doctrines but also of the full round of Christian truth. With this in mind, it has been my prayerful desire that "the Spirit of truth" at every point will lead "into all the truth" (John 16:13).
Pat Robertson: "If ever we needed a scripturally sound theology that also affirms the power of the Holy Spirit, the time is now. A leading theologian in the renewal movement and the founding professor of theology at Regent University, J. Rodman Williams has been a friend and colleague for over two decades. His Renewal Theology is a milestone in biblical scholarship."
Jack Hayford: "J. Rodman Williams' work and workmanship are helping secure the moorings of solid theology, bringing doctrinal perspective to and fresh biblical accountability upon the charismatic movement. His scholarship and his spiritual sensitivity are beautifully blended and are a blessing to us all."
John Wimber: "J. Rodman Williams has made a commendable effort in theologizing in a contemporary context. It's exciting to me to see reformed theology and renewal emphasis come together. I highly recommend the book."
Stanley Burgess: "J. Rodman Williams' Renewal Theology provides the first comprehensive theological statement from within the charismatic renewal. I have found his notes to be a goldmine both of biblical references undergirding charismatic theology and of contemporary charismatic sources from various traditions."
Carl Henry: "With this book (referring to volume 3), J. Rodman Williams, writing from a charismatic perspective, completes a systematic theology of three volumes for which many evangelicals have long looked."
Russell Spittler: "A landmark in charismatic theology! The high view
of Scripture which controls Professor Williams's theological methods leads me to
predict that this three-volume systematic theology will become the standard in
Pentecostal and charismatic colleges and ministerial training institutes
wherever English is read."
Excerpt from Renewal Theology:
Click here [PDF] to view the excerpt.
Copies of the unabridged three volumes in one edition of Renewal Theology may
be secured from online booksellers such as Christian
Books, Amazon,
ShopCBN, or from Zondervan Publishing
House and local bookstores.
The Christian Broadcasting Network in conjunction with Regent University School of Divinity has available on-line Great Themes of the Book - three excellent study guides that use the three-volumes-in-one Renewal Theology as the basic text and are suitable for classroom, church school, small study groups, or just for individual meditation and edification. Written by noted biblical scholar and prolific author Mark W. Wilson, M.Th., Ph.D. and Horace Horton, M.Th., Ph.D. cand., the three study guides include presentation material for each session, questions for discussion, quizzes (with answers) for follow-up, and three final exams (with answers) to cover the material in each of Renewal Theology's three volumes. Anyone is free to print out and use these extraordinarily well-prepared and easy to use and understand study guides."Great Themes of the Book " is found in three sections with eight chapters each.
A video teaching done some years ago for Regent University's
Christian Foundations: Basic Beliefs series. (Time: 26:54)
(Requires Real Player to view. Download it for free by clicking
here).
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From articles and papers written over the years, I have brought together in book form a number of these under the title A Theological Pilgrimage. This book, containing sixteen chapters with preface and conclusion, follows. You are encouraged to begin with the preface because it includes personal testimony and sets the tone for the rest of the articles and papers. Thereafter, chapters in any sequence may be profitably read.
To God be the glory!
These articles of mine were published under the title of The Pentecostal Reality. They were written variously for magazine, seminar, ecumenical dialogue, task force, and pulpit presentation.
Prophecy by the Book consists of eight talks on prophecy given at CBN.
The Gift of the Holy Spirit Today
.......(Download the PDF version by clicking here)
Should We All Speak in Tongues? Christianity Today, March 6, 2000
Which Miracles Are Real? Christianity Today, May 21, 2001
Empowered Evangelicals (book review)
Fire From Heaven (book review)
Angels on Assignment (book review)
On the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) website, I answer a variety of theological questions. View them by category.
A complete list of my writings.
Content Copyright �2003 by J. Rodman Williams, Ph.D.