John J. Davis

John James Davis (born 1936) is an American theologian, archaeologist, and Christian educator. He was the President and Professor Emeritus at Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana.

Early life and education Davis was born in 1936 to Cathryn Ann and John James Davis. He was raised in southern New Jersey and attended Audubon High School. He studied at the Philadelphia Bible Institute in 1955, and in 1959 obtained a B.A. from Trinity College of Florida. Davis was ordained in the Grace Brethren Church in 1962. In 1968 he received an honorary doctorate from Trinity College of Florida.

Career Davis taught at Grace Theological Seminary from 1963 to 2003,

Davis has served as a pastor of two churches since his ordination. He worked as a senior supervisor on 13 archaeological digs in Israel and Jordan between 1963 and 2003. According to David L. Baker, Davis is a proponent of "literal-day" creationism.

Davis was a student of Hobart Freeman at Grace Theological Seminary until Freeman's firing in 1963. Freeman established his own congregation, the Faith Assembly, and became known as a proponent of faith healing who forbade his followers to receive medical treatment. Although he refused all media interviews, he agreed to speak informally with Davis in 1983. Davis published his account of visiting with Freeman and his congregation as a four-part series in the Warsaw Times-Union. He told the Associated Press that, in his view, Freeman was a "good theologian" who knew the Bible well, but his uncompromising stance on faith healing and the seclusion of his congregation had "resulted in personal tragedy for several people". they co-authored the 1980 work A History of Israel: From Conquest to Exile. GTS removed Whitcomb from his teaching position in 1990; Davis, then president of the seminary, said that Whitcomb had been a "source of division" at GTS, while Whitcomb attributed the falling out to doctrinal differences. Surburg wrote that the book was a "scholarly study" in an area (biblical numerology) that had suffered from a lack of mainstream attention, perhaps due to its association with "cranks and crackpots".

Paradise to Prison received a positive review from Raymond F. Surburg in The Springfielder and a negative review from David L. Baker in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. Surburg wrote that Davis had made technical material accessible to the lay reader.

What About Cremation received positive reviews from Mary Lokers in The Reformed Review and Gary C. Genzen in the Concordia Theological Quarterly, both of whom recommended it to pastors. It was also reviewed by Robert J. Kempe in the Lutheran Theological Journal.

Personal life Davis is married and has a daughter. He wrote a weekly column called "Outdoor Scene" for the Warsaw, Indiana Times Union newspaper for 31 years, and has written several humour books about fishing. Hellen Ochs in The Republic recommended Real Fishermen Never Lie as "perfect for winter reading". The Indiana Department of Natural Resources named him Outdoor Writer of the Year in 1986.

Davis worked with the radio sportscaster Bob Chase as a colour commentator for Fort Wayne Komets hockey game broadcasts on WOWO (AM). He has recorded CDs of Gospel and Hawaiian music.