Shirley C. Guthrie Jr. (9 October 1927 – 23 October 2004) was a minister of the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Religion in the United States, United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its th ...

and J.B. Green Professor of Systematic Theology at

Columbia Theological Seminary Columbia Theological Seminary is a Presbyterian seminary in Decatur, Georgia. It is one of ten theological institutions affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). History Columbia Theological Seminary was founded in 1828 in Lexington, Geor ...

for nearly 40 years. He was well known for his book, ''Christian Doctrine'', which was originally written for an Adult Sunday School Book in the old

PCUS The Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS, originally Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America) was a Protestant denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983. That y ...

Covenant life curriculum.

Career

Guthrie was born in Texas as the son of a Presbyterian minister. He studied first 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 ...

, and earned his doctorate at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

, where

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Decl ...

directed his PhD dissertation on

Reinhold Niebuhr Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 – June 1, 1971) was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Niebuhr was one of Ameri ...

. He briefly served as the minister of the Presbyterian Church in Rusk, Texas. His ''Christian Doctrine'' is a standard seminary text, which is also published in Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Taiwanese, and many other languages. His book ''Christian Doctrine,'' which includes Barthian perspective, influenced

to have their commitment to social justice and its participation in the social and political issues of the day.

Walter Brueggemann Walter Albert Brueggemann (March 11, 1933 – June 5, 2025) was an American Christian scholar and theologian who is widely considered an influential Old Testament scholar. His work often focused on the Hebrew prophetic tradition and the sociop ...

and George Stroup edited ''Many Voices, One God'', 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 ...

in his honor in 1998.

Publications

*''Always Being Reformed: Faith for a Fragmented World''. Westminster John Knox Press; 2 edition, January 21, 2008. *''Christian Doctrine.'' Westminster John Knox Press; Revised, Subsequent edition, July 1, 1994. *''Diversity in Faith-Unity in Christ.'' Westminster John Knox Press, November 1, 1986. *''The Heidelberg Catechism for Today'', Karl Barth, Translated by Jr. Shirley C. Guthrie. John Knox Press, 1964.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guthrie, Shirley 1927 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American Presbyterian ministers 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 21st-century American Presbyterian ministers 21st-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 21st-century American Protestant theologians American Calvinist and Reformed theologians Columbia Theological Seminary faculty Presbyterian Church (USA) teaching elders University of Basel alumni