Kenneth Kantzer

Kenneth S. Kantzer (March 29 1917 – June 20 2002), was an influential theologian and educator in the evangelical Christian tradition.

Life and Career.

Kantzer, who earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Religion from Harvard University (1950), was a professor of biblical and systematic theology and academic dean of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (T.E.D.S.) from 1960-1978. There he helped to grow T.E.D.S. from a small denominational seminary into a major seminary serving the broader conservative-evangelical movement.

In 1968 he also served as president of the Evangelical Theological Society. From 1977-1982 he was editor of "Christianity Today" (magazine), and from 1982 -1984 he was the president of Trinity College (now Trinity International University) in Deerfield, Illinois. He later returned to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and helped it found its Ph.D. program.

Kantzer was known as a defender of the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, attempting to articulate this doctrine in such a way as to avoid the rigidity of fundamentalist Christianity while answering the objections of liberal Christianity.

Through his teaching and his leadership at T.E.D.S., his teaching, and his work at Christianity Today Kantzer made a significant contribution to the growth of evangelicalism in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Kantzer has five grandchildren, one of which bears his name and is currently attending Princeton University.

Published Works.

* "Evangelical Roots: A Tribute to Wilber Smith" (1978) ed. by Kenneth S. Kantzer
* "Perspectives on evangelical theology : papers from the thirtieth annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society" (1979) edited by Kenneth S. Kantzer and S. Gundry.
* "Applying the Scriptures" (International Council on Biblical Inerrancy Summit) (1986).
* "Evangelical Affirmations" (1990) edited by Kenneth S. Kantzer and Carl F.H. Henry
* "Doing theology in today’s world : Essays in Honor of Kenneth S. Kantzer" (1991) ed. by John D. Woodbridge and Thomas Edward McComiskey.
* [http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/149/15.0.html Kenneth Kantzer, "The Carl Henry That Might have Been" "Christianity Today"]
* [http://www.ctlibrary.com/8854 "Kenneth Kantzer Reflects on His History with the Magazine and the Evangelical Movement" "Christianity Today"]
* [http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_inerrancy_kantzer.html Kenneth Kantzer, "Evangelicals and Inerrancy"]

Bibliography.

* [http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/124/31.0.html Influential Teacher and Leader Kenneth Kantzer Dies - Christianity Today Magazine.]
* [http://www.tiu.edu/trinitymagazine/6-20kantzer.htm The Legacy of Kenneth Kantzer]