Ben Witherington III (born December 30, 1951) is an American Wesleyan-Arminian

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

scholar. Witherington is Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary, a Wesleyan-Holiness seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, and an ordained pastor in the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

Biography

Witherington was born on December 30, 1951, in High Point, North Carolina. He is son of Ben, a banker and Joyce West, a piano teacher. On June 1, 1977, Witherington married Ann E. Sears, an educator. He had two children, Christy Ann and David Benjamin. On January 11, 2012, Witherington's daughter died of a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain ...

. Witherington attended the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

and graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, along with minors in Philosophy and Religious Studies. He holds a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (1977) and a Ph.D. from

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(1981).

Career

From 1984 to 1995 he was professor of New Testament at Ashland Theological Seminary. He is currently "Jean R. Amos" Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary (1995-) Witherington has also taught at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

, and on the doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University in Scotland. From 1982 to 1983 he had been a faculty member of the Duke Divinity School and the High Point College. In 1988, 1990, 1992, he was a visiting professor of the

Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) is an evangelical seminary with its main campus in Hamilton, Massachusetts, and three other campuses in Boston, Massachusetts; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Jacksonville, Florida. According to the Ass ...

. He was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

(1992), and member (1996) at Robinson College,

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He is a member of the

Society of Biblical Literature The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mis ...

, Society for the Study of the New Testament and the

Institute for Biblical Research The Institute for Biblical Research established in 1973 is "an organization of evangelical Christian scholars with specialties in Old and New Testament and in ancillary disciplines". It describes its vision as "to foster excellence in the pursuit ...

. In 1982, he was ordained as a Methodist elder. Witherington has presented seminars for churches, colleges and biblical meetings in the United States, England, Estonia, Russia, Europe, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia. He has also led tours to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. His books ''The Jesus Quest'' and ''The Paul Quest'' were selected as top biblical studies works by the Evangelical magazine ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "eva ...

''. Witherington has been seen on the

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

, NBC, ABC, CBS,

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

The Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It initi ...

, A&E and PAX Network. He was featured in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and PBS special entitled ''The Story of Jesus''.

Theology

Witherington is a prominent

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

scholar. He is Wesleyan Armininan in his theology. In ''The Problem with Evangelical Theology'' Witherington strongly challenges the exegetical foundation of

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

on each of its distinctive tenets. He often insists on the possibility of

apostasy Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...

of the believer and the related doctrine of conditional preservation of the saints (conditional security). He generally refers to the character of God, the nature of his grace and his love as a justification for his soteriology. He is also a devout

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

Selected works

Books

Witherington has written over sixty books. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Articles

Witherington has written articles in different journals as: ''Ashland Theological Journal'', ''Bible Q & A'', ''

Beliefnet Beliefnet is a Christian lifestyle website featuring editorial content related to the topics of inspiration, spirituality, health, wellness, love and family, news, and entertainment. History Launched in 1999 by Steven Waldman and Robert Nylen, ...

'', '' Bible Review'', ''

Biblical Archaeology Review ''Biblical Archaeology Review'' is a magazine appearing every three months and sometimes referred to as ''BAR'' that seeks to connect the academic study of archaeology to a broad general audience seeking to understand the world of the Bible, the ...

'', '' Christian History'', ''

'', ''

Journal of Biblical Literature The ''Journal of Biblical Literature'' (''JBL'') is one of three academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academ ...

'', '' New Testament Studies'', ''North Carolina Christian Advocate'', ''Quarterly Review'', ''

Tyndale Bulletin The ''Tyndale Bulletin'' is an academic journal published by Tyndale House in Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county tow ...

'', ''UM Publishing House''. *

Notes and references

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Ben Witherington III introduction website

Ben Witherington on Patheos

Ben Witherington on Beliefnet

Ben Witherington on Seedbed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witherington Iii, Ben 1951 births Academics of the University of St Andrews American biblical scholars American United Methodist clergy Arminian ministers Arminian theologians Asbury Theological Seminary faculty Christian bloggers Christian writers Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary alumni Living people New Testament scholars University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Alumni of Durham University Graduate Society Vanderbilt University faculty