Diogenes Allen (October 17, 1932 – January 13, 2013) was an American philosopher and theologian who served as the Stuart Professor of Philosophy 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 ...

. He was an

ordain Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform vari ...

ed minister in the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

, which he served from 1958. He died in

Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania Newtown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,268 at the 2020 census. It is located just west of the Trenton, New Jersey metropolitan area, and is part of the larger Philadelphia metropolitan area. It i ...

Early life and education

Allen was born in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, and graduated from the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

in 1954. He then began graduate study at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, but, after being awarded a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

, matriculated to

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

, instead. There he studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and met his wife Jane, a fellow student. After returning to America, Allen earned 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. ...

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 ...

in 1959. He was called to a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

ate in

Windham, New Hampshire Windham is a suburban New England town, town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census was 15,817, up from 13,592 in 2010. History The are ...

, in 1958, and ordained in what is now the Presbyterian Church (USA) the following year. Shortly thereafter he enrolled at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Graduate School to study for a

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 ...

, which was awarded in 1965.

University career

Allen began his teaching career in 1964 at

York University, Toronto York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, and over 375,000 al ...

. In 1967,

offered him the position of associate professor of philosophy, which, he accepted. In 1974, he was appointed to a full professorship there and in 1981 was named Stuart Professor of Philosophy. By the time of his retirement in 2002, he had served the faculty for thirty-five years and had become an authority on

Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in ad ...

and an influential interpreter of

Simone Weil Simone Adolphine Weil ( ; ; 3 February 1909 – 24 August 1943) was a French philosopher, mystic and political activist. Despite her short life, her ideas concerning religion, spirituality, and politics have remained widely influential in cont ...

and

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danes, Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical tex ...

Awards

Diogenes Allen's numerous awards include a

Rockefeller Fellowship The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller ("Seni ...

; a

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to ...

Fellowship; research

fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

s given by the

Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) is an organization of seminaries and other graduate schools of theology. ATS has its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. History The ATS was found ...

and the

Center for Theological Inquiry Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricit ...

; a Pew Evangelical Scholarship; and two

John Templeton Foundation The John Templeton Foundation (Templeton Foundation) is a Philanthropy, philanthropic organization founded by John Templeton in 1987. Templeton became wealthy as a Contrarian investing, contrarian investor, and wanted to support progress in relig ...

Awards for Best Courses in Science and Religion. He is also the recipient of an Outstanding American Educator Award in 1974; a past member of the executive board of the

Society of Christian Philosophers The Society of Christian Philosophers (SCP) was founded in 1978. The society is open to anyone interested in philosophy who considers himself or herself a Christian. Membership is not restricted to any particular "school" of philosophy or to any b ...

; a co-founder and member of the executive board of the American Weil Society; and a member of the board of directors of the Ecumenical Institute of Canada.

Publications

* ''Leibniz' Theodicy'' (1966) * ''The Reasonableness of Faith'' (1968) * ''Finding Our Father'' (1974, republished as ''The Path of Perfect Love'' in 1992) * ''Between Two Worlds'' (1977, republished as ''Temptation'' in 1986) * ''Traces of God in a Frequently Hostile World'' (1981) * ''Three Outsiders: Pascal, Kierkegaard and Simone Weil'' (1983) * ''Mechanical Explanation and the Ultimate Origin of the Universe according to Leibniz'' (1983) * ''Philosophy for Understanding Theology'' (1985) * ''Love: Christian Romance, Marriage and Friendship'' (1987) * ''Spirituality and Theology: Essays in Honor of Diogenes Allen'', edited Eric Springsted (1988). * ''Christian Belief in a Postmodern World: The Full Wealth of Conviction'' (1989) * ''Quest: The Search for Meaning through Christ'' (1990) * ''Primary Readings in Philosophy for Understanding Theology'' (1992), with co-editor Eric O. Springsted. * ''Nature, Spirit and Community: Issues in the Thought of Simone Weil'' (1994) * '' Spiritual Theology: The Theology of Yesterday for Help Today'' (1997) * '' Steps Along the Way: A Spiritual Autobiography'' (2002) * ''Philosophy for Understanding Theology'' (2007), second edition, with 2 new chapters on Postmodern Christian theology by Eric O. Springsted. * Theology for a Troubled Believer: An Introduction to the Christian Faith (2010) * and over fifty journal articles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Diogenes Philosophers from Kentucky American Christian theologians American Presbyterian ministers American Rhodes Scholars University of Kentucky alumni Princeton University alumni Calvinist and Reformed philosophers Princeton Theological Seminary faculty Philosophers from New Jersey 1932 births 2013 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Yale Divinity School alumni American writers of Greek descent

Early life and education

University career

Awards

Publications

See also

References