James William McClendon, Jr.

James William McClendon Jr. (1924–2000) was a Christian theologian and ethicist in the Anabaptist tradition, though he preferred the term 'baptist' with a lower-case 'b'. He was married to philosopher Nancey Murphy, who is a senior faculty member at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Biography

McClendon was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1924. He studied at the University of Texas, where he took some undergraduate classes with Robert Lee Moore, whom McClendon credits with providing rigor in his theological work. McClendon immediately served in the United States Navy during the tail end of World War II, and was profoundly affected by what he saw in post-war Japan. He returned to complete his theological studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, and earning a Th.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His main teaching positions were at Golden Gate Baptist Seminary, the Graduate Theological Union, and in the latter decade of his life, Fuller Theological Seminary.