Allan Harman

Last updated

Allan Harman
Allan Harman (cropped).jpg
Harman delivering a speech
Born (1936-06-07) 7 June 1936 (age 87)
OccupationTheologian
SpouseMairi Harman
Theological work
Tradition or movement Calvinism

Allan Macdonald Harman, OAM , RFD (born 7 June 1936) [1] is an Australian Presbyterian theologian and Old Testament scholar. He has been described as a "well-known and highly regarded figure in Christian and especially evangelical circles within Australia and overseas." [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Harman was born in Lismore, New South Wales, son of Rev Joseph Harman, minister of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia and Jessie Harman. Educated at Taree High School [2] and the University of Sydney, Harman graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1957. He then studied overseas, at the University of Edinburgh, gaining a Bachelor of Divinity in 1960, and Master of Letters in Hebrew and Semitic Languages, before going on to Westminster Theological Seminary where he achieved a Master of Theology in 1961 and later a Doctor of Theology. [1] In 2003, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Theology from the Australian College of Theology. [3]

Career

After a pastorate of Geelong Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia (ordained and inducted 21 March 1962) and studies in Philadelphia 1964–66, Harman was Professor of Old Testament at Free Church of Scotland College, Edinburgh, from 1966 to 1974, at Reformed Theological College, Geelong, from 1974 to 1977 and at Presbyterian Theological College(PTC), Melbourne, from 1978 until his retirement in 2001. He also served as Principal of PTC from 1982 to 2001, and is currently Research Professor at that institution. He has also lectured at Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto, Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi and Kosin University in Busan, South Korea. [1]

Harman served as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia in 1978, transferring his ministry to the Presbyterian Church of Australia in 1981, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria in 1989–90 and Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia from 1994 to 1997. He was a member of the board of directors of the World Reformed Fellowship, and has been an editor of the Reformed Theological Review since 1989. He has been chairman of St Andrews Christian College, Tyndale Fellowship (Australia) and the Australian Institute of Archaeology, and chairman of the Australian Defence Force's Religious Advisory Committee to the Services. [4] He is a recipient of the Reserve Force Decoration. [5]

Harman has written commentaries on Psalms ( ISBN   1-85792-168-2), Daniel ( ISBN   0-85234-649-2), Deuteronomy ( ISBN   1-84550-268-X) and Isaiah ( ISBN   1-84550-053-9). He was also one of the translators of the New King James Version. [6]

Harman's wife Mairi was the stepdaughter of A. M. Renwick, and Harman has updated and expanded Renwick's book The Story of the Church. [7]

In 2001, a Festschrift was compiled in Harman's honour, on the occasion of his retirement and 65th birthday. Contributors included Richard Gaffin and Peter Jensen. [1]

In June 2010, Harman received a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the Presbyterian Church of Australia. [5] [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westminster Theological Seminary</span> U.S. Presbyterian seminary

Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS) 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 take a liberal direction during the Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presbyterian Theological College</span>

The Presbyterian Theological College (PTC) is the theological college of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria. It provides theological education for candidates for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, as well as for members of other Christian churches. It is an approved teaching institution of the Australian College of Theology and is based in the Melbourne, Australia suburb of Box Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Presbyterian Seminary</span> Seminary in Virginia, US

Union Presbyterian Seminary is a Presbyterian seminary in Richmond, Virginia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, offering graduate theological education in multiple modalities: in-person, hybrid, and online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presbyterian Church of Australia</span>

The Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA), founded in 1901, is the largest Presbyterian denomination in Australia. The larger Uniting Church in Australia incorporated about 70% of the PCA in 1977.

The Christian Reformed Churches of Australia (CRCA), formerly known as the Reformed Churches of Australia (RCA) is a Christian denomination established in Australia belonging to the Reformed/Presbyterian tradition.

The Free Church of Scotland is an evangelical, Calvinist denomination in Scotland. It was historically part of the original Free Church of Scotland that remained outside the union with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1900. Now, it remains a distinct Presbyterian denomination in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oswald Thompson Allis</span> American theologian and academic

Oswald Thompson Allis was an American Presbyterian theologian and Bible scholar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iain Torrance</span> Scottish theologian and academic (born 1949)

Iain Richard Torrance, is a retired Church of Scotland minister, theologian and academic. He is Pro-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, Honorary Professor of Early Christian Doctrine and Ethics at the University of Edinburgh, President and Professor of Patristics Emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary, and an Extra Chaplain to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Scotland. He was formerly Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Dean of the Chapel Royal in Scotland, and Dean of the Order of the Thistle. He is married to Morag Ann, whom he met while they were students at the University of St Andrews, and they have two children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presbyterian Church of Victoria</span>

The Presbyterian Church of Victoria is one of the constituent churches of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. It was established in 1859 as a union of Church of Scotland, Free Presbyterian and United Presbyterian congregations.

Victor Shepherd is a Canadian Presbyterian minister, theology professor and author living in Toronto, Ontario. He is a critic of the theology of the United Church of Canada and acted as an expert witness in a case against the church.

Bryan Chapell is an American pastor and theologian who currently serves as the Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church in America. He was previously the senior pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois. Prior to that he was president and chancellor of Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri for twenty years. Chapell is also an author, lecturer, and conference speaker specializing in homiletics. He served as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in America in 2014.

Edward Joseph Young was a Reformed theologian and an Old Testament scholar at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1936 until his death.

Robert Laird Harris was a Presbyterian minister, church leader, and Old Testament scholar.

Bruce William Winter is a conservative evangelical New Testament scholar and Director of the Institute for Early Christianity in the Graeco-Roman World. Winter was warden of Tyndale House at Cambridge (1987–2006), and is currently lecturing part-time in the area of New Testament at Queensland Theological College in Australia, the training arm of the Presbyterian Church of Australia in the state of Queensland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geneva Reformed Seminary</span> Christian higher education institution

Geneva Reformed Seminary is a small theological school in Greenville, South Carolina, accredited by the Association of Reformed Theological Seminaries and supported by the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. The seminary offers B.D. and M.Div. degrees. Initially called Whitefield College of the Bible after a companion school in Banbridge, Northern Ireland, the seminary was renamed in 2002 to avoid confusion in the United States where Bible schools and seminaries prepare students at different academic levels.

<i>Reformed Theological Review</i> Protestant theological journal

The Reformed Theological Review is Australia's longest-running Protestant theological journal. It was founded in 1942, with Arthur Allen, a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia, as its first editor. It stands in the Reformed tradition, and exists to give a scholarly exposition, defence and propagation of the Reformed faith. RTR is a peer-reviewed journal, and is included in the ERA journal list 2015 of the Federal Government's Australian Research Council.

William John Dumbrell was an Australian biblical scholar.

John Alexander Motyer, known as J. Alec Motyer, was an Irish biblical scholar. He was Vice-Principal of Clifton Theological College and vicar of St. Luke's, Hampstead, and Christ Church, Westbourne (Bournemouth) (1981–1989), before becoming Principal of Trinity College, Bristol. He spent his later years in Poynton, Cheshire.

Alexander Macdonald Renwick was a 20th century Scottish minister and theological author. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland in 1931.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yaw Frimpong-Manso</span> Ghanaian theologian and Presbyterian minister

Yaw Frimpong-Manso is a Ghanaian theologian, Biblical scholar, and Presbyterian minister. He served as the Moderator of the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church of Ghana from 2004 to 2010.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Douglas J. W. Milne (ed.), Israel and the Church: Essays in Honour of Allan Macdonald Harman (2001).
  2. Suzannah Pearce, ed. (17 November 2006). "HARMAN Allan Macdonald". Who's Who in Australia Live!. North Melbourne, Vic: Crown Content Pty Ltd.
  3. Adjunct lecturers Archived 17 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine on the Presbyterian Theological College website.
  4. "Board of Directors of the World Reformed Fellowship". Archived from the original on 15 November 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
  5. 1 2 "Queen's Birthday honours". The Age . 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 17 July 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  6. New King James Version
  7. Harman, Allan M. (2020). "Preface". The Story of the Church: 4th edition. Inter-Varsity Press. p. 7. ISBN   9781789742077 . Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  8. "Harman, Allan Macdonald". It's An Honour. Australian Government. Retrieved 23 September 2010.