James Leo Garrett Jr.

James Leo Garrett Jr. (November 25, 1925 – February 5, 2020) was an American theologian. He held the position of Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Personal Garrett was born in Waco, Texas to James Leo Garrett Sr., a business teacher at Baylor University and his wife, Grace Hasseltine Jenkins Garrett. He was converted in 1935 and was baptized into membership at the Seventh and James Baptist Church in Waco. He was licensed and ordained to the gospel ministry by the First Baptist Church of Waco.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Baylor University in 1945, a Bachelor of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1948, a Master's of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1949, a Doctor of Theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1954, and a Doctor of Philosophy from Harvard University in 1966. He carried out additional studies at the Catholic University of America, in Washington D.C., Oxford University, St. John's University, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.

He died in February 2020 at the age of 94.

Career In his long academic career, he has taught at Southwestern Baptist Seminary (1949–1959, 1979–), Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky (1959–1973) and Baylor University in Waco, Texas (1973–1979). He has also been a visiting professor at the Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary. He has also been a guest lecturer in the countries of Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, the Ukraine, and Romania, and at several schools in the United States.

In 1965, he attended the final session of the Second Vatican Council, as a guest of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity; he later wrote his Harvard PhD dissertation on American Protestants’ writings on Roman Catholicism between the two Vatican councils.