George Eldon Ladd (July 31, 1911 – October 5, 1982) was a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

minister and professor of

New Testament theology New Testament theology (NTT) is the branch of biblical theology that concerns the study and interpretation of the New Testament (NT). It seeks to explain the meaning of NT texts in their own grammatical, historical and cultural terms. It is separate ...

and

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

Fuller Theological Seminary Fuller Theological Seminary is an Evangelical seminary in Pasadena, California, with regional campuses in the western United States. It is egalitarian in nature. Fuller has a student body of approximately 2,300 students from 90 countries and ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, known in

Christian eschatology Christian eschatology is a minor branch of study within Christian theology which deals with the doctrine of the "last things", especially the Second Coming of Christ, or Parousia. The word eschatology derives from two Greek roots meaning "last ...

for his promotion of

inaugurated eschatology Inaugurated eschatology is the belief in Christian theology that the end times were inaugurated in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and thus there are both "already" and "not yet" aspects to the Kingdom of God. George Eldon Ladd sugge ...

and "futuristic post-tribulationism."

Biography

Ladd was born in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada, and was raised in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. He studied theology at Gordon College in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, and was ordained in 1933 in the

Northern Baptist Convention The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline Protestant and Baptist Christian denomination. It is a reorganization from 1907 of the Triennial Convention. The Triennial Convention was renamed as the Northern Baptist Convention in ...

. He pastored churches in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

while pursuing further education at Gordon Divinity School. Ladd served as an instructor at Gordon College of Theology and Missions (now Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary),

Wenham, Massachusetts Wenham () is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, Essex County, Massachusetts. The population was 4,979 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town of Wenham was settled in 1635 and incorporated in 164 ...

from 1942–45. He was an associate professor of

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 ...

and Greek from 1946–50, and head of the department of New Testament from 1946–49. He studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

during this period, completing a PhD dissertation on "The Eschatology of the

Didache The ''Didache'' (; ), also known as ''The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations'' (), is a brief anonymous early Christian treatise ( ancient church order) written in Koine Greek, dated by modern scholars to the first or (l ...

". Ladd moved to California in 1950, and taught biblical theology at

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

. Fuller was in the fourth year of its existence when Ladd joined the faculty, and Hagner notes that he "became one of the key figures in developing the seminary's direction."

Notable contributions to evangelical theology

New Testament theology

Ladd's best-known work, ''A Theology of the New Testament'', has been used by thousands of

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

students since its publication in 1974. In a poll conducted by

Mark Noll Mark Allan Noll (born 1946) is an American historian specializing in the history of Christianity in the United States. He holds the position of Research Professor of History at Regent College, having previously been Francis A. McAnaney Professor o ...

in 1986, this work ranked as the second most influential book among evangelical scholars, second only to Calvin's ''

Institutes An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ...

''. ''A Theology of the New Testament'' was enhanced and updated by Donald A. Hagner in 1993. Ladd's belief in both present and future aspects of the Kingdom of God caused his detractors to critically compare his eschatological views to the

amillennialism Amillennialism or amillenarism is a chillegorism, chillegoristic Christian eschatology, eschatological position in Christianity which holds that there will be no Millennialism, millennial reign of the Messianic Age, righteous on Earth. This view ...

that was popular within Reformed theological circles. Despite these comparisons, Ladd was not Reformed, and in fact rejected the Calvinistic view of the doctrine of salvation.

Inaugurated and premillennial eschatology

Ladd was a notable modern proponent of

historic premillennialism Historic premillennialism is one of the two premillennial systems of Christian eschatology, with the other being dispensational premillennialism. It differs from dispensational premillennialism in that it only has one view of the rapture, and do ...

and often criticized

dispensationalist Dispensationalism is a theological framework for interpreting the Bible which maintains that history is divided into multiple ages called "dispensations" in which God interacts with his chosen people in different ways. It is often distinguish ...

views. This was notable during this period, as dispensationalism was by far the most widely held view among evangelicals during the mid-twentieth century. His writings regarding the

Kingdom of God The concept of the kingship of God appears in all Abrahamic religions, where in some cases the terms kingdom of God and kingdom of Heaven are also used. The notion of God's kingship goes back to the Hebrew Bible, which refers to "his kingdom" ...

(especially his view of

) have become a cornerstone of Kingdom theology. His perspective is expressed in R. G. Clouse, ed., 1977, ''The Meaning of the Millennium: Four Views'' (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press) and the shorter and more accessible ''The Gospel of the Kingdom'' (Paternoster, 1959).

Recognition

John Piper uses Ladd's desire for scholarly credibility as a cautionary tale, and relates how Ladd "was almost undone emotionally and professionally" by

Norman Perrin Norman Perrin (29 November 1920 – 25 November 1976) was an English-born, American biblical scholar at the University of Chicago. Perrin specialized in the study of the New Testament, and was internationally known for his work on the teaching ...

's critical review of Ladd's ''Jesus and the Kingdom''. Piper goes on to describe how Ladd walked through the halls of Fuller shouting and waving a royalty check when ''A Theology of the New Testament'' was a stunning success ten years later. In 1978, 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 honour. ''Unity and Diversity in New Testament Theology: Essays in Honor of George E. Ladd'' (), which included contributions by

Leon Morris Leon Lamb Morris (15 March 1914 – 24 July 2006) was an Australian New Testament scholar and theologian. Born in Lithgow, New South Wales, Morris was ordained to the Anglican ministry in 1938. He earned Bachelor of Divinity (with first class ...

, William Barclay,

F. F. Bruce Frederick Fyvie Bruce (12 October 1910 – 11 September 1990) was a Scottish Evangelicalism, evangelical scholar, author and educator who was Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester from 1959 until 1 ...

, I. Howard Marshall,

Richard Longenecker Richard N. Longenecker (July 21, 1930 – June 7, 2021) was a New Testament scholar. He held teaching positions at Wheaton College and Graduate School (1954-57; 1960-63); Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (1963-72); Wycliffe College (Toronto, 19 ...

and Daniel Fuller.

Selected works

Books

* * * * * * * * - original issued as ''Jesus and the Kingdom'' * - originally published in small numbers in 1957 * * *

Articles and chapters

* * * * *

Citations

References

* .

External links

TheologicalStudies.org.uk
Bibliography of George Eldon Ladd's works - some available on-line {{DEFAULTSORT:Ladd, George Eldon 1911 births 1982 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American theologians 20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States American Baptist theologians American evangelicals American male non-fiction writers American religious writers Baptist writers Fuller Theological Seminary faculty Gordon College (Massachusetts) alumni Gordon College (Massachusetts) faculty Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary faculty Harvard University alumni New Testament scholars People from Alberta Premillennialism