David Falconer Wells (born May 11, 1939) is Distinguished Senior Research Professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books in which his

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 ...

theology engages with the modern world. He has taught 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 has served as the Academic Dean at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary's Charlotte, North Carolina campus. Wells completed his undergraduate studies at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

in South Africa, before going on to study divinity at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD, DB, or BDiv; ) is an academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies. ...

in 1966. He completed advanced graduate studies at

graduating with a

Master of Theology Master of Theology (, abbreviated ThM, MTh or MTheol, or ''Sacrae Theologiae Magister''; abbreviated STM) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a ...

, summa cum laude in 1967. While at Trinity, he completed a thesis titled "Decretum Dei Speciale: An Examination of the Content and Significance of Calvin's Doctrine of Soteriological Predestination". He completed his Ph.D. from

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

(England) under the direction of

Hubert Cunliffe-Jones Hubert Cunliffe-Jones (30 March 1905 – 3 January 1991) was an Australian-born Congregational Church minister and author, who became chairman of the Congregational Union of England and Wales and a professor at the University of Manchester. He ...

and afterwards was appointed as a post-doctoral Research Fellow at

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

. Wells is a Council member of the

Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is an organization of Christian individuals that believes evangelicals have largely forgotten the foundations of the Christian Gospel and is dedicated to calling on the Protestant churches, especially those ...

. He also serves on the board of the Rafiki Foundation and as a member for the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. The Cambridge Declaration came about in 1996 as a result of his book ''No Place for Truth, or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology?''

Books

He has authored, co-authored, or edited numerous publications including: * * * * * * * * * *, republished * * * * * * * *

Articles and chapters

* * * * * * *

References

1939 births 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 21st-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians American Congregationalists American Calvinist and Reformed theologians Living people Trinity Evangelical Divinity School alumni Trinity International University faculty {{Reformed-Christianity-stub