- A. James Reimer
A. James Reimer (born
1942 ) is a CanadianMennonite theologian with a dual academic appointment: he is a professor atConrad Grebel University College , a member college of theUniversity of Waterloo , and a professor in theToronto School of Theology , a consortium of divinity schools federated with theUniversity of Toronto .Reimer was born and raised in small-town southern
Manitoba . As a teen, he was baptized in the local Mennonite church. He holds undergraduate degrees from Canadian Mennonite Bible College (nowCanadian Mennonite University ) and theUniversity of Manitoba ; he also spent a year studying at Union Theological Seminary inNew York City before moving to the University of Toronto, where he earned an M.A. in History and a Ph.D. in Theology, the latter degree conferred by theUniversity of St. Michael's College . His doctoraldissertation , directed byGregory Baum , was a comparative and contrasting study of the political ramifications of theology in the respective thinking ofEmanuel Hirsch andPaul Tillich .Reimer's own theology is not typically Mennonite (vis-a-vis
John Howard Yoder ), in that his point of departure is not theSermon on the Mount but the classical imagination oftrinitarian orthodoxy . Though he is deeply concerned with Christian social ethics, he insists that ethics must have a ground external to itself. Thetriune God , for Reimer, constitutes such ground. While writing his doctoral dissertation, Reimer became deeply troubled and conflicted about the theology of Emanuel Hirsch, aGerman Christian nationalist and Nazi sympathizer. Fearing that he was being swayed by Hirsch's arguments, Reimer sought to offset Hirsch's influence by aligning himself more concretely withleft of center politics. He joined theNew Democratic Party and was an active party member for several years before finally resigning his membership over certain of the party's socio-ethical positions, particularly awoman's right to choose . Today, Reimer's overall political vision remains left of center. Though he is apacifist , he has argued that God's activity in the world cannot be reduced to any one ethicalideology ; otherwise transcendence becomes domesticated.Reimer has been quite productive as an academic. He has published numerous articles in various journals; select articles have been compiled to form the content of two of his books: "Mennonites and Classical Theology", and "Paul Tillich: Theologian of Nature, Culture and Politics." His very first book was a revision of his doctoral dissertation, titled "The Emanuel Hirsch and Paul Tillich Debate: A Study in the Political Ramifications of Theology." He has also coedited a compendium of essays on the
Frankfurt School ofcritical theory . His areas of expertise includeAnabaptist history, Christian ethics of war and peace,Dietrich Bonhoeffer , and the German church struggle during the Nazi regime. Over the years he has directed several theses and dissertations on these and other related topics.
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