Kenneth Kantzer
Encyclopedia
Kenneth S. Kantzer was an American theologian and educator in the evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...

 Christian tradition.

Life and Career

Kantzer, who earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Religion from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 (1950), was a professor of biblical and systematic theology and academic dean of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School is an evangelical Christian seminary located in Deerfield, Illinois. TEDS is one of the largest seminaries in the world, enrolling more than 1,200 graduate students in professional and academic programs, including more than 150 in its PhD programs...

 (T.E.D.S.) from 1960-1978. There he helped to grow T.E.D.S. from a small denominational seminary to a major evangelical Christian graduate school with a national and international reputation.

In 1968 he also served as president of the Evangelical Theological Society
Evangelical Theological Society
The Evangelical Theological Society is a professional society of Biblical scholars, educators, pastors, and students with the stated purpose of serving Jesus and his church by advancing evangelical scholarship. It was established in 1949 in Cincinnati. The number of members in 2005 was over 4,200...

. From 1977-1982 he was editor of Christianity Today
Christianity Today
Christianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming circulation figures of 140,000 and readership of 290,000...

, and, from 1982 to 1984, was president of Trinity College
Trinity International University
Trinity International University is an evangelical Christian institution of higher education headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. It comprises an undergraduate college, a graduate school, a theological seminary , and a law school--together with nearly 3,000 students...

 in Deerfield, Illinois
Deerfield, Illinois
Deerfield is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States and is located approximately 25 miles north of Chicago, Illinois. A portion of the village is in Cook County, Illinois, United States...

. He later returned to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and helped found its Ph.D. program.

Kantzer was known as a defender of the doctrine of biblical inerrancy
Biblical inerrancy
Biblical inerrancy is the doctrinal position that the Bible is accurate and totally free of error, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact." Some equate inerrancy with infallibility; others do not.Conservative Christians generally believe that...

, attempting to articulate this doctrine in such a way as to avoid the rigidity of fundamentalist Christianity
Fundamentalist Christianity
Christian fundamentalism, also known as Fundamentalist Christianity, or Fundamentalism, arose out of British and American Protestantism in the late 19th century and early 20th century among evangelical Christians...

 while answering the objections of Christian liberalism
Liberal Christianity
Liberal Christianity, sometimes called liberal theology, is an umbrella term covering diverse, philosophically and biblically informed religious movements and ideas within Christianity from the late 18th century and onward...

.

Through his teaching and his leadership at T.E.D.S. and his work at Christianity Today
Christianity Today
Christianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming circulation figures of 140,000 and readership of 290,000...

, Kantzer made a significant contribution to the growth of evangelicalism
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...

for more than forty years.

Published Works

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