Cain Hope Felder (June 9, 1943 – October 1, 2019) was an American

biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

, serving as professor of New Testament language and literature and editor of ''The Journal of Religious Thought'' at the

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

School of Divinity. He also served as chair of the

Doctor of Philosophy 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 Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

program and immediate past chair of the

Doctor of Ministry The Doctor of Ministry (DMin) is a doctorate in religious ministry. It often includes an original research component, and may be earned by a minister of religion while concurrently engaged in ministry. It is categorized as an advanced doctoral de ...

program. He had been on Howard's faculty from 1981 until his retirement in 2016.

Biography

Prior to coming to Howard, he taught within the Department of Biblical Studies (1978–1981) at

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

. From 1969 to 1972, Felder worked as the first executive director of Black Methodists for Church Renewal, the black caucus of 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 ...

, which was headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally ordained as an elder in the

, he served as pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in New York City (1975–1977). Until his death, Felder served as an elder in the Second Episcopal District of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, connexional polity. It ...

, where he was appointed by Bishop Adam Jefferson Richardson as the resident biblical scholar for the district. From 1998 to 2001, Felder served as chair of the implementation panel for the National Center for African American Heritage & Culture at

. He was on Howard's faculty from 1981 to 2016, having come to Washington from

, where he taught as a member of the Department of Biblical Studies (1978–1981). His publications include ''True to Our Native Land'' (Augsburg Fortress, May, 2007); ''Troubling Biblical Waters: Race, Class, and Family'' (Orbis Books, 1989) – 16th printing; and ''The Original African Heritage Study Bible'' (Winston Publishing Company, 1993). Felder held Doctor of Philosophy and

Master of Philosophy A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at leas ...

degrees in biblical languages and literature from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

; 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

Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (shortened to UTS or Union) is a Private college, private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University since 1928. Presently, Co ...

in New York; a Diploma of Theology from Mansfield College at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in England; a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in philosophy, Greek, and Latin from

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He received his secondary education at the

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a Magnet school, magnet Latin schools, Latin Grammar schools, grammar State school, state school in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since it was established on April 23, 1635. It is the old ...

. Felder died on October 1, 2019, at his

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, at the age of 76.

Selected works

Thesis

Books

* * * *

Edited by

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Felder, Cain Hope 1943 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American Methodist ministers 20th-century biblical scholars 21st-century American Methodist ministers 21st-century American academics Academics from South Carolina African Americans in South Carolina African Methodist Episcopal Church clergy American biblical scholars American United Methodist clergy Christians from South Carolina Columbia University alumni Howard University alumni Howard University faculty New Testament scholars People from Aiken, South Carolina Princeton Theological Seminary faculty Religious leaders from South Carolina Union Theological Seminary alumni Writers from South Carolina African-American biblical scholars 21st-century Christian biblical scholars