American theologian and philosopher (born 1940)
Richard John Mouw (born 1940) is an American theologian and philosopher. He held the position of President at Fuller Theological Seminary for 20 years (1993–2013), and continues to hold the post of Professor of Faith and Public Life.[2]
Education and career
Mouw was born on April 22, 1940. He received the BA from Houghton College. He then studied at Western Theological Seminary. He was awarded the MA from the University of Alberta, and his PhD from the University of Chicago.
Mouw was Professor of Christian philosophy at Calvin University for seventeen years. He has also served as a visiting professor to the Free University of Amsterdam. He was appointed Professor of Christian Philosophy and Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in 1985. In 1993 he was elected president of Fuller Theological Seminary, retiring after the 2012–2013 academic year after 20 years of service. In 2020, Mouw retired from Fuller and returned to Calvin University, becoming a senior research fellow at the Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics.[3]
In 2007, Mouw, who sees Abraham Kuyper as a personal hero,[4] was awarded the Abraham Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life at Princeton Theological Seminary by the Abraham Kuyper Center for Public Theology.[5]
Views
Dialogue with Catholics
In 2009, he signed a public statement encouraging all Christians to "read, wrestle with, and respond to Caritas in Veritate", the social encyclical by Pope Benedict XVI.[6] He participated in an interfaith dialogue with Donald Senior, President of Catholic Theological Union and Professor of New Testament Studies, at the Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, November 14, 2011, which can be viewed on Vimeo.
Dialogue with Mormons
In November 2004, Mouw offered introductory remarks at a speaking event where Christian evangelist and apologist Ravi Zacharias was the featured speaker, at the Salt Lake Tabernacle at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah.[7][8] In his remarks, he apologized to Mormons for the way in which many Evangelicals have treated the Mormon faith.[7][8] "Let me state it clearly," Mouw said. "We evangelicals have sinned against you [Mormons]."[9] Since his formal apology to Mormons, he has been criticized by some in the evangelical community for saying that detractors of Mormonism are guilty of "shading the truth". He has reported that he continues to "get hate mail yet on that."[10] In an article in the May 2016 issue of First Things, he argued that Mormons were progressively de-emphasising the unorthodox aspects of their theology and moving closer to the Christian theological mainstream.[11]
Multiple Mormon commentators have expressed appreciation for Mouw's efforts to understand their faith to a greater extent.[12][13]
