Thomas C. Oden

Thomas Clark Oden(1931–2016) was an AmericanMethodisttheologian and religious author. He is often regarded as the father of thepaleo-orthodoxtheological movement and is consideredto be one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. He was Henry Anson Buttz Professor of Theology and Ethics atDrew Universityin New Jersey from 1980 until his retirement in 2004.
Oden was born on October 21, 1931, inAltus,Oklahoma, the son of an attorney and music teacher. As a youth, he considered two vocations: lawyer orMethodistminister. At age ten, Oden's family moved to Oklahoma City. After the Second World War, Oden returned to Altus and high school where he began writing and speaking in public.Oden earned a BA degree from theUniversity of Oklahoma(1953), a BD fromSouthern Methodist University(1956), and his MA (1958) and PhD fromYale University(1960).He married Edrita Pokorny on August 10, 1952. They had three children: Clark, Edward, and Laura.
Oden lectured atYale University,Southern Methodist University,Heidelberg University,Princeton Theological Seminary,Lomonosov University, and thePontifical Gregorian UniversityinRome.
Originally a political and theological liberal, he turned to the patristic writings in the early 1970s under the influence of a Jewish colleague,Will Herberg, and discovered what he described as "ecumenical orthodoxy," the interpretation of theNew Testamentand apostolic doctrine which is universal and accepted. As he wrote in the preface of hisSystematic Theology: "My basic goal is to present an orderly view of the faith of the Christian community, on which there has generally been a substantial agreement between the traditions of the East and the West, including Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodoxy."
Oden became a proponent ofpaleo-orthodoxy, an approach to theology that often relies on patristic sources. He published a series of books that he said are tools for promoting "classical Christianity". Oden suggested that Christians need to rely upon the wisdom of thehistorical Church, particularly the early Church, rather than on modern scholarship and theology, which is often, in his view, tainted by political agendas.
Oden said that his mission was "to begin to prepare the postmodern Christian community for its third millennium by returning again to the careful study and respectful following of the central tradition of classical Christianity."
Oden was active in theConfessing Movementin America, particularly within theUnited Methodist Church, and he served on the board of theInstitute on Religion and Democracy. DeanTimothy Georgeof theBeeson Divinity Schoolcalled Oden "one of the most remarkable Christians of our time [who] has lived through, contributed to and helped overthrow several revolutions."
Oden, had anArminiantheology. His bookThe Transforming Power of Gracepresents one of the best expositions of Arminian theology according toRoger E. Olson.Here are some quotes ofThe Transforming Power of Gracehighlighted by Olson:
Olson notes that "By all accounts an orthodox, biblically serious, and evangelical theologian, Oden winsomely and biblically articulates the theology [...] that I call evangelical synergism [or Arminian soteriology]."
He died on December 8, 2016, at the age of 85.Timothy Georgewrote in a tribute article after his death:
Oden wrote and edited many books, articles, essays, and speeches on a wide range of topics. The following list is limited to books.