His contribution to theology: nothing new. And that's what made him famous.
The “orthodox, ecumenical evangelical” Thomas C. Oden—a Methodist whose deep commitment to classical Christianity defined his life’s work—died Thursday at age 85.
Oden’s vast body of theological writings includes his Systematic Theology anthology, four volumes on John Wesley, dozens of Bible commentaries, and the pages of Christianity Today, where he served as executive editor alongside J. I. Packer and Timothy George.
His scholarship on the church fathers led to his shift from liberal Protestantism to evangelicalism, as recounted in his 2014 memoir, A Change of Heart.
“Tom is now with the early saints whose lives and teachings he studied so closely,” said Institute on Religion & Democracy president Mark Tooley, who called him “a dear friend and counselor, a brilliant and cheerful warrior for good causes, irreplaceable.”
A graduate of SMU and his native University of Oklahoma, Oden was professor emeritus at Drew University, a United Methodist-affiliated college in New Jersey. He taught at Southern Methodist University and Phillips University earlier in his career. He used his Methodist roots as a bridge between Protestantism and Catholicism.
Fred Sanders, theology professor at Biola University, remembered Oden as a “paleo-orthodox champion of the classic, consensual Christian tradition.”
Oden was known for his leadership of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, as well as his passion for reviving attention to African theology.
Oden told CT in 1990 that he dreamed his epitaph would read: He made no new contribution to theology. He said:
In my dream I was extremely pleased, for I realized I was learning what Irenaeus meant when he warned us not to ...
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