Albert Marten "Al" Wolters (born 1942) is an emeritus professor of religion at Redeemer University in

Ancaster, Ontario Ancaster is a community in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1792, it immediately developed itself into one of the first significant and influential early Kingdom of Great Britain, British U ...

(near

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

). He has been described as a "towering figure" in the Kuyperian

neo-Calvinist Neo-Calvinism is a Calvinist theological movement that was initiated in the late-19th century in the Netherlands. It was originally developed by theologians like Abraham Kuyper, a former Dutch prime minister, and Herman Bavinck who insisted on ...

pantheon.

Early life and education

Born in the Netherlands on March 30, 1942, Wolters studied at

Calvin College Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reforme ...

( BA, 1964), the

Free University of Amsterdam The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the othe ...

(

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

, 1972), and

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

( MA, 1987).

Publications

Wolters' best-known book is ''Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview'', originally published in 1985 with a second edition in 2005. It has been translated into Spanish and other languages. Following in the tradition of Reformed writers such as

Abraham Kuyper Abraham Kuyper ( , ; 29 October 1837 – 8 November 1920) was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands between 1901 and 1905, an influential neo-Calvinist pastor and a journalist. He established the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, which upo ...

Herman Bavinck Herman Bavinck (13 December 1854 – 29 July 1921) was a Dutch Calvinist theologian and churchman. He was a significant scholar in the Calvinist tradition, alongside Abraham Kuyper, B. B. Warfield, and Geerhardus Vos. Biography Backgro ...

Herman Dooyeweerd Herman Dooyeweerd, also spelled Herman Dooijeweerd (7 October 1894, Amsterdam – 12 February 1977, Amsterdam), was a professor of law and jurisprudence at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam from 1926 to 1965. He was also a philosopher and princ ...

, and D. H. Th. Vollenhoven, Wolters outlines a

worldview A worldview (also world-view) or is said to be the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and Perspective (cognitive), point of view. However, whe ...

based around the categories of

creation Creation or The Creation or Creations, may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Creation'' (1922 film), a British silent drama * ''Creation'' (unfinished film), 1931 * ''Creation'' (2009 film), about Charles Darwin Literature * ''Creation ...

fall Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemispher ...

, and redemption. Wolters has made a particular study of the

Copper Scroll The Copper Scroll ( 3Q15) is one of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in Cave 3 near Khirbet Qumran, but differs significantly from the others. Whereas the other scrolls are written on parchment or papyrus, this scroll is written on metal: copper mixed ...

, one of the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...

. He has published multiple papers on the subject as well as a pamphlet ''The Copper Scroll: Overview, Text and Translation'' as a supplement to the ''Journal for the Study of the Old Testament''. Wolters has published several articles on the book of Zechariah, and a major commentary which focuses on the way the book of Zechariah has been interpreted through history.Wolters, A., ''Zechariah'' (Historical Commentary on the Old Testament; Leuven: Peeters, 2014). Reviewed by Anthony R. Petterson, in ''Review of Biblical Literature'' 09 (2016).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolters, Al 1942 births Living people Calvin University alumni Dutch Calvinist and Reformed theologians Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni McMaster University alumni Canadian Calvinist and Reformed theologians 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians Dutch emigrants to Canada