Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite | |
---|---|
Born | 1948 (age 75–76) |
Academic background | |
Education | Smith College (BA) Duke University (MDiv) |
Alma mater | Duke University (PhD) |
Thesis | H. Shelton Smith, Critic of the Theological Perspective of Progressive Religious Education, 1934-1950 (1980) |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Theology |
Institutions | Chicago Theological Seminary |
Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite (born 1948) [1] is an author,former president of Chicago Theological Seminary,a syndicated columnist,ordained minister,activist,theologian,and translator of the Bible. [2] [3] [4] She is currently an emeritus faculty member at Chicago Theological Seminary. [5] She also spent some of her time serving as a trustee for different organizations. [5]
Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite attended Smith College,in Northampton,Massachusetts,where she earned a Bachelor of Arts. She,then continued her studies at Duke Divinity School,earning a Master of Divinity and graduating Summa cum Laude. [5] She was ordained as a minister in the United Church of Christ in 1974. [5] She ministered for several years as an associate minister in North Carolina and Massachusetts, [6] before earning a PhD from Duke University. During her time in North Carolina,she worked with women who had experienced domestic violence. [7]
She taught women's studies and theology in various schools from 1975 to 1984. She served on a task force of the National Council of Churches that produced an inclusive language lectionary,while she was teaching theology at Boston University in the early 1980s. [8] [9] In 1984,she joined the faculty at Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS),a seminary affiliated with the United Church of Christ. In 1998,she became the president of the seminary,the first woman to lead the institution since its founding in 1855. [10] She served two five year terms,stepping down from the post in 2008. Alice Hunt succeeded her as president of CTS.
Thistlethwaite became a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress in 2008,while also teaching full-time. She continued to be a public theologian,writing and speaking on matters relating to religion and public life. She wrote a column in The Washington Post for six years. She's contributed to articles for Theology Today, [11] the Journal for Religious Education, [12] and the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. [13]
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective. More narrowly it is the study of the nature of the divine. It is taught as an academic discipline,typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the supernatural,but also deals with religious epistemology,asks and seeks to answer the question of revelation. Revelation pertains to the acceptance of God,gods,or deities,as not only transcendent or above the natural world,but also willing and able to interact with the natural world and to reveal themselves to humankind.
For graduate-level theological institutions,the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divinity schools.
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (UTS) is a private ecumenical Christian liberal seminary in Morningside Heights,Manhattan,affiliated in Columbia University. Since 1928,the seminary has served as Columbia's constituent faculty of theology. In 1964,UTS also established an affiliation with the neighboring Jewish Theological Seminary of America. UTS confers the following degrees:Master of Divinity (MDiv),Master of Divinity &Social Work dual degree (MDSW),Master of Arts in religion (MAR),Master of Arts in Social Justice (MASJ),Master of Sacred Theology (STM),and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge,Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion,government,and service. It also caters to students from other Harvard schools that are interested in the former field. HDS is among a small group of university-based,non-denominational divinity schools in the United States.
Bethany Theological Seminary is the a seminary of the Church of the Brethren in Richmond,Indiana. It is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada and the Higher Learning Commission.
The Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) is a Christian ecumenical American seminary located in Chicago,Illinois,and is one of several seminaries historically affiliated with the United Church of Christ. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Chicago,originally established in 1855 under the direction of the abolitionist Stephen Peet and the Congregational Church by charter of the Illinois legislature.
Earlham School of Religion (ESR),a graduate division of Earlham College,located in Richmond,Indiana,is the oldest graduate seminary associated with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). ESR's Mission Statement is as follows:"Rooted in the Christian Quaker tradition of contemplation that inspires action,Earlham School of Religion prepares theologically diverse students for a pluralistic world. Our curriculum unites spiritual formation,academic study,social engagement,and vital ministry."
The Washington Theological Consortium is an ecumenical organization of Christian theological schools and interfaith partners located in Washington,DC,Virginia,Maryland,and Pennsylvania. Members cooperate to deepen ecumenical unity in theological education and to broaden interfaith dialogue and understanding and to prepare both clergy and laity with skills they need to minister in a diverse church and society. The Consortium is one of the most diverse of its kind in the nation,as it includes Roman and Byzantine Catholic traditions,mainline Protestants,Evangelicals,and Historic Black Divinity schools;with partners in spiritual formation,Jewish,and Islamic education.
William Leonard Rowe was a professor of philosophy at Purdue University who specialized in the philosophy of religion. His work played a leading role in the "remarkable revival of analytic philosophy of religion since the 1970s". He was noted for his formulation of the evidential argument from evil.
Lynda Serene Jones is the President and Johnston Family Professor for Religion and Democracy at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. She was formerly the Titus Street Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and chair of gender,woman,and sexuality studies at Yale University.
Grace Ji-Sun Kim is a Korean-American theologian and Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion,Richmond,Indiana. She is best known for books and articles on the social and religious experiences of Korean women immigrants to North America.
Letty Mandeville Russell was a feminist theologian,professor,and prolific author. She was a member of the first class of women admitted to Harvard Divinity School,and one of the first women ordained in the United Presbyterian Church. After earning a doctorate in theology at Union Theological Seminary,she joined the faculty at Yale Divinity School,where she taught for 28 years.
Jacquelyn Grant is an American theologian,a Methodist minister. Alongside Katie Cannon,Delores S. Williams,and Kelly Brown Douglas,Grant is considered one of the four founders of womanist theology. Womanist theology addresses theology from the viewpoint of Black women,reflecting on both their perspectives and experience in regards to faith and moral standards. Grant is currently the Callaway Professor of Systematic Theology at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.
Marcia Y. Riggs is an American author,the J. Erskine Love Professor of Christian Ethics,and the Director of ThM Program at Columbia Theological Seminary,a womanist theologian,and a recognized authority on the black woman’s club movement of the nineteenth century. She was one of six Luce Scholars named by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) and The Henry Luce Foundation,Inc. as Henry Luce III Fellows in Theology for 2017-2018.
Susan E. Gillingham is a British theologian,academic,and Anglican deacon. She specialises in the Hebrew Bible,the Psalms,and Jewish history from the Israelites to the Second Temple. She has been Fellow and Tutor in theology at Worcester College,Oxford since 1995,and was Professor of the Hebrew Bible at the University of Oxford from 2014 to 2019. She is the first British woman to have been awarded a Doctor of Divinity (DD) degree by the University of Oxford.
Bayan Islamic Graduate School is a private,non-sectarian Islamic graduate school based in Orange,California with its campus located in Chicago,Illinois. It offers accredited Master of Arts degrees in four subject areas:Islamic Studies,Islamic Leadership,Islamic Education,and Advanced Islamic Theology as well as a Master of Divinity in Islamic Chaplaincy.
Willie James Jennings is an American theologian,known for his contributions on liberation theologies,cultural identities,and theological anthropology. He is currently an associate professor of systematic theology and Africana studies at Yale University.
Emilie Maureen Townes is an American Christian social ethicist and theologian. She was Dean,E. Rhodes,and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School. Townes was the first African-American woman to be elected president of the American Academy of Religion in 2008. She also served as the president of the Society for the Study of Black Religion from 2012–2016.
Kelly Delaine Brown Douglas is an African-American Episcopal priest,womanist theologian,and interim president of Episcopal Divinity School. She was previously the inaugural Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary. She became interim president when EDS departed from Union in 2023. She is also the Canon Theologian at the Washington National Cathedral. She has written seven books,including The Black Christ (1994),Black Bodies and Black Church:A Blues Slant (2012),Stand Your Ground:Black Bodies and the Justice of God (2015),and Resurrection Hope:A Future Where Black Lives Matter (2021). Her book Sexuality in the Black Church:A Womanist Perspective (1999) was groundbreaking for openly addressing homophobia within the Black Church.
Elsa Támez is a Mexican liberation theologian and biblical scholar. Her writings on feminist theology and contextual biblical criticisms brought new perspectives to these fields of study,laying the foundation for later scholars. Her books include Bible of the Oppressed,The Amnesty of Grace,and Struggles for Power in Early Christianity:A Study of the First Letter of Timothy (2007). She is Professor Emerita at the Universidad Biblica Latinamericana in Costa Rica. She was appointed president of Universidad Biblica Latinamericana in 1995,becoming their first woman president.
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