lay theologian
{{Short description|Unordained or untrained professional religious scholar}}
A lay theologian is a theologian "who is not ordained, or a theologian who has not been trained as a theologian".Andrew Louth, Modern Orthodox Thinkers: From the Philokalia to the Present, InterVarsity Press, 2015, p. 247. Lay theologians often have academic qualifications in other academic disciplines.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}
Examples
{{Section citations needed|date=August 2024}}
Notable lay theologians include:
- George Abbot
- Mortimer J. Adler
- Ethan Allen
- Joseph T. Bayly
- Edward Musgrave Blaiklock
- Nicholas Cabasilas{{Cite web |title=Nicholas Cabasilas |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicholas-Cabasilas |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}
- G. K. Chesterton
- James F. Colaianni{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Sam |date=2016-10-14 |title=James F. Colaianni, a Theologian Opposed to Priest Celibacy, Dies at 94 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/nyregion/james-colaianni-dead.html |access-date=2024-08-08 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
- Nicolas Gomez Davila
- Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Jordan Peterson
- Jacques Ellul{{Cite web |last=Gill |first=David W. |title=Jacques Ellul: The Prophet as Theologian |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/jacques-ellul-the-prophet-as-theologian/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=The Gospel Coalition |language=en-US}}
- Thomas Erskine{{Cite journal |last=Logan |first=John B. |date=February 1984 |title=Thomas Erskine of Linlathen, Lay Theologian of the ‘Inner Light’ |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/scottish-journal-of-theology/article/abs/thomas-erskine-of-linlathen-lay-theologian-of-the-inner-light/B5B932DB40D442FDC3DC8D1FB90D3A98 |journal=Scottish Journal of Theology |language=en |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=23–40 |doi=10.1017/S0036930600015908 |issn=1475-3065}}
- Jim Forest
- Rosemary Haughton{{Cite web |date=1966-12-30 |title=Roman Catholics: A Theologian Defects |url=https://time.com/archive/6638027/roman-catholics-a-theologian-defects/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=Timef |language=en}}
- Susan Howatch
- Aleksey Khomyakov
- John Lennox
- C. S. Lewis{{Cite journal |last=Scott |first=Mark S. M. |date=2014 |title=C. S. Lewis and John Hick: An Interface on Theodicy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/48616107 |journal=Journal of Inklings Studies |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=19-20 |issn=2045-8797}}
- David Lodge
- Robert Magliola
- Marko Marulić
- Isaac Newton
- Johann Heinrich Pabst
- Caspar Peucer
- Dorothy L. Sayers
- Frank Sheed{{Cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Shawn G. |date=1981-11-21 |title=Frank J. Sheed, 84, A Lay Theologian |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/21/obituaries/frank-j-sheed-84-a-lay-theologian.html |access-date=2024-08-08 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
- Uwe Siemon-Netto
- William Stringfellow{{Cite web |title=William Stringfellow, 1928-1985 |url=https://episcopalarchives.org/church-awakens/exhibits/show/leadership/lay/stringfellow |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=episcopalarchives.org}}
- Maisie Ward