Gordon D. Kaufman

Gordon Dester Kaufman (June 22, 1925 – July 22, 2011) was an American theologian and the Mallinckrodt Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, where he taught for over three decades beginning in 1963. He also taught at Pomona College and Vanderbilt University, and lectured in India, Japan, South Africa, England, and Hong Kong. Kaufman was an ordained minister in the Mennonite Church for 50 years. He earned degrees from Bethel College, Northwestern University, and Yale University. His dissertation was titled "The Problem of Relativism and the Possibility of Metaphysics." Kaufman was a past president of the American Academy of Religion and the American Theological Society. He authored 13 books, including "An Essay on Theological Method," "God The Problem," "Theology for a Nuclear Age," and "In the Face of Mystery." His work explored concepts of God as creativity and ultimate mystery, bridging theological thought with modern scientific understanding. He was a significant figure in theological liberalism and religious naturalism.