Clark M. Williamson
Obituary
Clark Murray Williamson was born in 1935 in Memphis, Tennessee. He passed away after a short illness on June 26, 2021, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was preceded in death by his beloved spouse of many years, Barbara E. Williamson, to whom he referred as “Herself.” He is survived by son Scott, daughter-in-law Eva, and grandchildren Jolie and James, all of whom live in Washington DC. Williamson glowed with pride when speaking of Scott and he had pictures of Jolie and James at the ready on the phone that was a lifeline to others during the recent Covid quarantine.
Professor Williamson grew up in the Taylor Memorial Christian Church in Memphis, where his grandfather, J. Murray Taylor, was minister. Taylor viewed the principle calling of the minister to be that of teacher of the Christian faith, a perspective that animated Williamson's approach to theology, church, and ministry throughout his life. Williamson completed the AB in religion and philosophy at Transylvania University in 1957. He then studied at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago for the M.Div. (1961), M.A. (1963), and PhD (1969). While at the University of Chicago, Williamson was Paul Tillich's assistant for Volume III of Tillich's renowned Systematic Theology. Tillich referred to Williamson as “my Englisher.” Clark always referred to him as “Paulus,” and had a raft of Tillich stories to share. He followed the Chicago Cubs and Bears throughout his adult life, relishing one world championship for each.
In Chicago, Williamson served as assistant dean of Disciples Divinity House and as interim minister of University Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Williamson had a lifelong relationship with “the House,” serving on its Board of Trustees since 2007 and as Honorary Co-Chair of the 125th Anniversary Celebration. One of the pinnacles of Williamson’s recent life was endowing the Barbara and Clark Williamson Scholarship at Disciples Divinity House, to which he contributed with incredible generosity.
In 1966, he was called to teach theology at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. Appointed full Professor at an early age, he was the first to hold the Indiana Chair of Christian Thought and served as Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs, retiring in 2002. He has also been visiting professor at the Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches and at Claremont School of Theology. Transylvania University honored him with the Distinguished Achievement Award (2002) and with the Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa) (2005). Disciples Divinity House of the University of Chicago gave him its Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2015.
Williamson was self-consciously a “church theologian,” that is, a theologian who intended for his work to strengthen the church. While his published works show remarkable depth and precision, they are written in ways that are immediately accessible. His writings are marked by epigrammatic expressions that bespeak a mind that is simultaneously penetrating, insightful, critical, visionary, restive, and playful. He could devastate a whole argument put forward by a student or colleague with a single humorous expression, and was occasionally too willing to do so.
He is noted for several pioneering contributions. Williamson was a conversational theologian who was open to fresh questions, new data, and challenging perspectives. Indeed, he described his work, in part, as rethinking Christian faith in conversation with contemporary issues and points of view. His conversational approach is exemplified in his many works, especially his epic Way of Blessing/Way of Life, which has the too-modest subtitle: A Christian Theology. This work is one of the few comprehensive volumes of systematic theology generated by a process theologian, and the first systematic theology by a Disciple in a century. The Korean translation was released within the past month, and it was a source of great satisfaction for him.in the last weeks of his life.
In his 17 books, Professor Williamson brings into conversation several voices that were formative for him and for whom his work has been formative. Williamson understands God and the world through the lens of neo-process thought. One of Williamson’s favorite characterizations of God is from Alfred North Whitehead, initiator of process thought: that God’s nature “is best conceived, [as] that of a tender care that nothing be lost”
Williamson was one of the first Christian theologians to recognize the searing questions put to the Christian community by the Shoah (the murder of six millions by the Nazis in World War II). Seeking to identify and correct anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism is one of the most persistent themes in Williamson’s life and work. His Has God Rejected his People? is a classic.
Williamson is especially noted for his understanding of the gospel and his theological method. Williamson formulates the gospel as the dipolar news of God’s unconditional love for each and all (elements of nature included) and God’s command for justice for each and all (again, nature included). For Williamson, as for many others, justice is the social form of love. This notion of the gospel, along with process thinking, is the framework for his theological method, which puts forward three main criteria for evaluating every biblical text, everything that the church says and does, and, indeed, everything that is said and done in the world. (1) appropriateness to the gospel; (2) intelligibility (Is it logical? Can contemporary people believe it?); (3) moral plausibility (does it lead to relationships of love for all concerned?). The immediate goal of the church is to be a community demonstrating love and justice in its own life and calling for love and justice in the life of the larger world.
Professor Williamson was impatient with imprecise thinking on the part of students and colleagues and could call attention to such imprecision in ways that were memorable and penetrating. But the dominant witness of his life emanated from Professor Williamson’s animating center: unrelenting awareness of being graciously loved beyond measure and the consequent mission of enhancing the knowledge of that love in church and world, and calling for love in every heart, every relationship and every circumstance.
He was a deeply appreciated member of Central Christian Church in downtown Indianapolis, having served as Elder, a longtime volunteer in the Free Clothing pantry, and as teacher.
For expansion on these themes see the article on Professor Williamson in Everybody Wiki: https://en.everybodywiki.com/Clark_M._Williamson
A memorial service will be held at Central Christian Church in late September. Memorial gifts may be made to the Disciples Divinity House at the University of Chicago, Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, or the ACLU of Indiana Foundation.