Donald Arthur Carson (born December 21, 1946) is a Canadian evangelical theologian. He is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor of New Testament at

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) is the divinity school of Trinity International University, an evangelical Christian university headquartered in Bannockburn, Illinois. The divinity school was founded in 1897. In April 2025, Trinit ...

and president and co-founder of

the Gospel Coalition The Gospel Coalition (TGC) is "a fellowship of evangelical churches in the Reformed tradition". It was initiated in 2004 by D. A. Carson and Tim Keller, and subsequently launched in 2007. History Having been initiated in 2004 by theologian ...

. He has written or edited about sixty books (or more) and served as president of the

Evangelical Theological Society The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) is a professional society of Biblical scholars, educators, pastors, and students "devoted to the inerrancy and inspiration of the Scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ" and "dedicated to the oral ex ...

in 2022. Carson has been described as doing "the most seminal New Testament work by contemporary evangelicals" and as "one of the last great Renaissance men in evangelical biblical scholarship." He has written on a wide range of topics including

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 ...

hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication. ...

biblical theology Because scholars have tended to use the term in different ways, Biblical theology has been notoriously difficult to define. The academic field of biblical theology is sub-divided into Old Testament theology and New Testament theology. Academic ...

, the Greek

, the use of the Old Testament in the New, and more.

Early life and education

He studied at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in sciences and earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in 1967, 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 ...

from

Heritage College & Seminary The Heritage College & Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. It is affiliated with the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada. History Central Baptist Seminary was itself formed out of a split ...

in 1970, and a Doctor of Philosophy in New Testament from the

University of Cambridge 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 ...

in 1975.

Career

In 1975, he became professor of New Testament at the Northwest Baptist Seminary (

Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada The Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada is a Baptist Christian denomination in Canada. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. The national headquarters are located in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. In 2011 Rev. Stev ...

) in

Langley, British Columbia (city) The City of Langley, commonly referred to as Langley City, or just Langley, is a municipality in the Metro Vancouver Regional District in British Columbia, Canada. It lies directly east of Surrey, adjacent to the Cloverdale area, and is surroun ...

. Carson joined the

faculty in 1978 after then dean,

Kenneth Kantzer Kenneth S. Kantzer (March 29, 1917 – June 20, 2002) was an American theologian and educator in the evangelical Christian tradition. Life and career He was born Detroit, Michigan, United States. Kantzer, having studied at Faith Theological ...

, heard him deliver a paper at a theological conference. Carson served as Associate Professor of New Testament until 1982 when he became full professor. From 1991 to 2018, Carson was Research Professor of New Testament. He is now Emeritus Professor of New Testament. Carson has authored and edited over 60 books. He has also served as editor of ''

Themelios ''Themelios'' (Greek: ''Θεμέλιος'', i.e., ''foundation'' or ''keystone'') is a peer-reviewed international evangelical theological journal that expounds on the historic Christian faith. Its primary audience is theological students, past ...

''. In 2005, Carson founded

The Gospel Coalition The Gospel Coalition (TGC) is "a fellowship of evangelical churches in the Reformed tradition". It was initiated in 2004 by D. A. Carson and Tim Keller, and subsequently launched in 2007. History Having been initiated in 2004 by theologian ...

along with pastor

Tim Keller Timothy Keller may refer to: * Tim Keller (pastor) (1950–2023), American Christian pastor, author and speaker * Tim Keller (politician) (born 1977), American politician and mayor of Albuquerque See also *Keller (surname) Keller is a surname of ...

. The Gospel Coalition is known for its popular website, conferences, and other resource materials. Carson was the President of The Gospel Coalition until January 20, 2020, when Julius Kim was selected as his successor. Carson transitioned to the role of Theologian-at-Large. In 2011, a ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' was published in his honor, entitled ''Understanding the Times: New Testament Studies in the 21st Century: Essays in Honor of D. A. Carson on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday''. Contributors included

Andreas J. Köstenberger Andreas Johannes Köstenberger (born November 2, 1957) is an Austrian-American Biblical scholar, who was Research Professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Until 2018, he was Senior Research Professor of New Testament and Biblical Th ...

, Grant Osborne,

Mark Dever Mark E. Dever (born August 28, 1960) is a theologian and the senior pastor of the Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and the president of 9Marks (formerly known as the Center for Church Reform), a Christian ministry he co-founded " ...

Douglas Moo Douglas J. Moo (born March 15, 1950) is a Calvinistic New Testament scholar who, after teaching for more than twenty years at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois, served as Blanchard Professor of New Testament at the Wheaton Colleg ...

, Peter O'Brien, and

Craig Blomberg Craig L. Blomberg (born August 3, 1955) is an American New Testament scholar. He is currently the Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the New Testament at Denver Seminary in Colorado where he has been since 1986. He currently serves as the p ...

.Andreas J. Köstenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough (eds.) 2011, ''Understanding the Times: New Testament Studies in the 21st Century: Essays in Honor of D. A. Carson on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday'',

Crossway Crossway (previously known by its parent ministry Good News Publishers) is a not-for-profit evangelical Christian publishing ministry headquartered in Wheaton, Illinois. Clyde and Muriel Dennis founded Good News Publishers in 1938, working out o ...

, 2011, p. 7. In 2017, a second ''Festschrift'' was published, ''Serving the Church, Reaching the World: Essays in Honour of Don Carson'', which included contributions from William Edgar, David Jackman,

J. I. Packer James Innell Packer (22 July 192617 July 2020) was an English-born Canadian evangelical theologian, cleric and writer in the low-church Anglican and Calvinist traditions. Having been considered as one of the most influential evangelicals in N ...

, and John Piper.

Personal life

Carson married Joy (née Wheildon) on August 16, 1975.

Select works

Books

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * – revised edition of ''A Call to Spiritual Reformation'' of 1992

As editor

* * * * * *

Chapters and contributions

Articles

* * * * *

References

Sources

External links

*
D. A. Carson
(Theopedia)
Debate Over Gender-Inclusive Language

Editorial Publicaciones Andamio
Publications * : includes a comprehensive bibliography (over 350 free PDFs) and sermons and lectures (about 500 free MP3s) {{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, D. A. 1946 births Living people 20th-century Canadian Baptist ministers 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 20th-century Christian biblical scholars 21st-century Canadian Baptist ministers 21st-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 21st-century Canadian Protestant theologians 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Christian biblical scholars Canadian academic journal editors Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Baptist biblical scholars Baptist writers Bible commentators Calvinist and Reformed writers Canadian Baptist theologians Canadian biblical scholars Canadian Calvinist and Reformed ministers Canadian Calvinist and Reformed theologians Canadian evangelicals Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian people of Northern Ireland descent Christian bloggers Critics of atheism Editors of Christian publications McGill University Faculty of Science alumni New Testament scholars Trinity International University faculty Writers from Montreal Heritage College & Seminary alumni Presidents of the Evangelical Theological Society