Donald G. Bloesch

Life Born on May 3, 1928, in Bremen, Indiana, Bloesch received his undergraduate degree from Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois. He earned his Bachelor of Divinity (BD) at Chicago Theological Seminary in 1953, and his PhD at the University of Chicago in 1956. He did postdoctoral work in Europe at Oxford, Basel, and Tübingen. He served as president of the Midwest Division of the American Theological Society.

From 1957 until his retirement in 1992, Bloesch was a professor of theology at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, where he continued as a professor emeritus. The seminary's library serves as the repository of his papers.

In 1997, a Festschrift was published in his honor called From East to West: Essays in Honor of Donald G. Bloesch. He died on August 24, 2010.

Views Bloesch's pietistic background and personal spiritual life lay at the heart of understanding his theology and how Christianity is to continue into the future. In his view, much of American Protestantism has entrenched itself into narrow intellectually based definitions of doctrine which omit, exclude and even prohibit the mystical element as the governing element of the faith (i.e., the action of the Holy Spirit). Much of his critique is in fact directed at his own denomination, the United Church of Christ; he worked with a conservative lobbying group, the Biblical Witness Fellowship, to protest against its more liberal theological and ethical streams.

He characterized himself a "progressive evangelical" or "ecumenical orthodox" criticizing the excesses of both the theological left and right. He often decried the abandonment of traditional values among liberals, but also the ugly, reactionary habits of some conservatives.

Published works Systematic Theology: Essentials of Evangelical Theology, Volume 1: God, Authority and Salvation, 1978 Essentials of Evangelical Theology, Volume 2: Life, Ministry, & Hope, 1984 Christian Foundations series: A Theology of Word & Spirit: Authority & Method in Theology, 1992 God the Almighty: Power, Wisdom, Holiness, Love, 1995 Jesus Christ: Savior & Lord, 1997 The Holy Spirit: Works & Gifts, 2000 The Church: Sacraments, Worship, Ministry, Mission, 2002 The Last Things: Resurrection, Judgment, Glory, 2004 Holy Scripture: Revelation, Inspiration & Interpretation 2006 (cloth), (pbk) Theological Notebooks: Theological Notebook: 1960–1964: Spiritual Journals of Donald G. Bloesch, 1989 Theological Notebook: 1964–1968: Spiritual Journals of Donald G. Bloesch 1991 Theological Notebook: Volume 3: 1969–1983: The Spiritual Journals of Donald G. Bloesch, 2005 Centers of Christian Renewal, 1964 The Christian Life and Salvation, 1967, 1991 The Christian Witness in a Secular Age: An Evaluation of Nine Contemporary Theologians, 1968, 2002 Christian Spirituality East & West, 1968 (with co-author Jordan Aumann) The Crisis of Piety: Essays Towards a Theology of the Christian Life, 1968, 2nd ed., 1988 The Reform of the Church, 1970, 1998 The Ground of Certainty: Toward an Evangelical Theology of Revelation 1971, 2002 The Evangelical Renaissance, 1973 Wellsprings of Renewal: Promise in Christian Communal Life, 1974 Light a Fire: Gospel Songs for Today, 1975 Jesus is Victor! Karl Barth's Doctrine of Salvation, 1976 The Invaded Church, 1977 The Orthodox Evangelicals: Who They Are and What They Are Saying, 1978 (co-editor) Life, Ministry, and Hope, 1979 Faith & Its Counterfeits, 1981, Is the Bible Sexist?: Beyond Feminism and Patriarchalism, 1982 Crumbling Foundations: Death and Rebirth in an Age of Upheaval, 1984 The Battle for the Trinity: The Debate over Inclusive God-language, 1985 Reprint, 2001 Freedom for Obedience: Evangelical Ethics in Contemporary Times , 1987 The Future of Evangelical Christianity: A Call for Unity Amid Diversity, 1988 The Struggle of Prayer, 1988 Reinhold Niebuhr's Re-evaluation of the Apologetic Task (unknown date) "Spirituality Old & New", 2007

Articles and chapters

Festschriften Daniel J. Adams, editor, From East to West: Essays in Honor of Donald G. Bloesch, 1997