Williamson selected as Distinguished Alumnus

July 22, 2015 -  

Clark M. Williamson has been selected as Distinguished Alumnus. He was honored on July 21 at the DDH Luncheon at the General Assembly of the Christian Church(Disciples of Christ) meeting in Columbus, Ohio, where he gave his distinguished alumnus address. The Alumni/ae Council received several nominations for the award at their meeting in late April. They ultimately made a unanimous decision for Mr. Williamson, who is the Indiana Professor of Christian Thought Emeritus at Christian Theological Seminary, where he also served as Dean, and a pioneering architect of post-Holocaust Christian theology.

A prolific author and co-author of numerous volumes, he is greatly esteemed as a teacher and colleague, and he is one of the foremost theologians of his generation. He has said that "the purpose of Christian theology is to bring the church to self-understanding and self-criticism," and those purposes find exemplary expression in two of his most acclaimed books, A Guest in the House of Israel: Post-Holocaust Church Theology and Way of Blessing, Way of Life: A Christian Theology. He has been a compelling advocate for rethinking Christian theology, teaching, and preaching in light of Christian anti-Jewishness, and he has fostered that work in his writing and teaching, especially in the books noted above, in courses in seminaries, congregations, and synagogues, and in the three-volume lectionary commentary series, "Preaching without Prejudice," that he co-authored with Ronald J. Allen. He is a trustee of the Disciples Divinity House.