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September 2004 |
United Methodist theologian J. Robert Nelson dies
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - The Rev. J. Robert Nelson, 83, a renowned United Methodist ecumenist, theologian and bio-ethicist, died of cancer July 6 in Houston.
Nelson's began his ecumenical career in 1948 with a groundbreaking dissertation on the doctrine of the nature of the Protestant church, written after he studied theology at the University of Zurich under the personal tutelage of Emil Brunner.
That same year, he attended the First Assembly of the World Council of Churches at Amsterdam, and by 1998, was one of a few individuals who had attended all of the council's assemblies.
In the mid-'50s, he worked in Geneva, Switzerland, as head of the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches. His work through the council was credited with enhancing relationships between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.
After three years as dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, Tenn., Nelson tendered his resignation in 1960, rather than acquiesce to the dismissal of his black student James Lawson for participating in civil-rights demonstrations. Lawson, now a retired United Methodist clergyman living in California, told The Boston Globe that Nelson had "handled the crisis with poise, Christian strength and character."
Nelson became professor of systematic theology at Boston University School of Theology in 1965, serving as dean from 1972-74. After his retirement from Boston in 1985, he assumed a new career as director of the Institute on Religion in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, where he taught seminars and organized international conferences on genetics, religion and ethics.
Nelson also served as adjunct professor at Baylor College of Medicine, was a member of Houston Philosophical Society, and was associate editor of Human Gene Therapy. His active service ended in 1991, when an unknown assailant shot him in the head.
He served as a consultant to the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Biomedical and Behavioral Research in the mid-'80s. He was the author of several books, including Human Life: Biblical Perspective on Bioethics and Science and Our Troubled Conscience.
Last updated on 08/24/2004