Baptist theologian James McClendon dies

Christian Century, Nov 15, 2000

A widely admired theologian with Southern Baptist roots, one who moved comfortably in ecumenical circles, had the pleasure of viewing a finished copy of the third and final volume of his life work, Systematic Theology, shortly before his death at age 76.

James William McClendon Jr. died on October 30 at his home near Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, where he was distinguished scholar-in-residence for the past ten years. "He saw the book just before he lost consciousness," said wife Nancey Murphy, professor of theology at Fuller.

"That sounds just like Jim--a genial man, very earthy, who lived to finish that series," said Michael Cartwright, associate professor of religon at the University of Indianapolis. The final volume, to be released at the American Academy of Religion meeting November 18-21, was "a summation of his life's work," said another colleague.

Theologian Stanley Hauerwas of Duke Divinity School said McClendon's three volumes--titled Ethics, Doctrine and Witness, in that sequence--"will acquire increasing significance and regard" among theologians. "It's the first presentation of what a theology would look like that takes very seriously the work of [the late] John Howard Yoder," he said.

Yoder, McClendon and Hauerwas together "are the three most eloquent voices for Anabaptist ethics and theology," declared David Augsburger, interim dean at Fuller. "We are grieved at the loss," he said. A memorial service was held November 7 at Fuller. Burial was set for the following weekend near Shreveport in his native state of Louisiana.

In Baptist scholarly circles, Hauerwas said, McClendon was "seen as providing an alternative to the unfortunate choice between fundamentalism and liberalism." As colleagues and friends noted, McClendon thought of himself as "baptist" with a little "b" and within radical, "free church" traditions of the Mennonite, Amish and Brethren heritage.

Another important book by McClendon, with James M. Smith, was Convictions: Defusing Religious Relativism, which Hauerwas said "provided a philosophical account of how religious conviction can be considered truth." McClendon's ground-breaking Biography as Theology inspired similar works.

A graduate of Southwestern Theological Seminary, McClendon claimed to be the first non-Catholic theologian to "integrate" a Catholic theology department in the 1960s when he served as associate professor of theology at the University of San Francisco. Still retaining his Southern Baptist ordination, he also taught at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and at the Episcopal-related Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley.