Hughes Oliphant Old (April 13, 1933 – May 24, 2016) was an American

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and academic. Until his retirement in 2014 he was the John H. Leith Professor of Reformed Theology and Worship at

Erskine Theological Seminary Erskine Theological Seminary is an institution of graduate theological and pastoral education. The Seminary is based in Due West, South Carolina, United States, and also offers classes at a second degree-granting campus in Columbia, South Carolin ...

. Previously he had taught at

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...

Biography

Old was born April 13, 1933, and received his

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theolog ...

from

in 1958 and his

Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology ( la, Doctor Theologiae, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equiv ...

from the

University of Neuchâtel The University of Neuchâtel (UniNE) is a French-speaking university based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The university has four faculties (schools) and more than a dozen institutes, including arts and human sciences, natural sciences, law and eco ...

in 1971. His first charge was minister of the Penningtonville Presbyterian Church in Atglen, Pennsylvania. In the late ‘70s he served as pastor at Faith Presbyterian Church in West Lafayette Indiana where he also led students at Purdue University in bible study. In 1977 he led a mission to the Yucatán peninsula to build a small chapel. Hughes in the Yucatán

He was appointed a member of the

Center of Theological Inquiry Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...

Princeton, NJ Princeton is a municipality with a Borough (New Jersey), borough form of government in Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of ...

in 1985. He taught at Princeton Seminary from 1998 to 2003, and in 2004 accepted a position at

, where he became John H. Leith Professor of Reformed Theology and Worship. He was also the dean of Erskine's Institute For Reformed Worship. He died on May 24, 2016. Among his works are ''Worship: Reformed According to Scripture'', ''The Patristic Roots of Reformed Worship'', ''The Shaping of the Reformed Baptismal Rite in the Sixteenth Century'', ''Leading in Prayer: A Workbook for Worship'', and a series of books on preaching, ''The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church''. His 2013 book ''Holy Communion in the Piety of the Reformed Church'' was called the crowning achievement of his career, and a valuable overview of the "Reformed tradition of Eucharistic piety and reflection".

References

1933 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 21st-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians Princeton Theological Seminary alumni American Calvinist and Reformed theologians University of Neuchâtel alumni Princeton Theological Seminary faculty {{US-theologian-stub