Roy A. Clouser is Emeritus Prof of Philosophy and Religion at The College of New Jersey. His BA in philosophy was from Gordon College (summa cum laude), and his BD in theology (summa cum laude) was from the Reformed Episcopal Seminary. He began graduate school at Harvard in the History and Philosophy of Religion, where most of his work was with Paul Tillich. After only one year, his advisor warned him that the future of the program was in doubt and recommended that he transfer to the University of Pennsylvania. His MA and PhD in philosophy are both from Penn. On the way to the PhD he had over fifteen dissertation conferences with Herman Dooyeweerd of the Free University of Amsterdam, on whose work he did the first PhD dissertation in the US.
Throughout his 35 years at The College of New Jersey Clouser’s courses were always given an A rating, both by his students and every peer review. According to every evaluation, it was obvious that he loved to teach and that his students loved his teaching. In 1997 his course on Science and Religion won a Templeton Course Award. He also won an award for being one of The College of New Jersey’s six most outstanding faculty members.
He is the author of two books in the philosophy of religion. The first book, The Myth of Religious Neutrality, was nominated by Notre Dame Press for the American Academy of Religion Book Award and the Grawemeyer Award in Religion. It is still in print. The second book was a popular work titled Knowing with the Heart, which is also still available. In addition to the books, Clouser has published twenty-seven refereed journal articles or book chapters.
Once he had finished seminary, Clouser supported himself and his schooling by serving two congregations. While at Gordon and Harvard, he served as Minister-in-Charge of the Evangelical United Brethren Church of Central Square, Cambridge. While at Penn, he served as Asst. Pastor of St. Andrews Methodist Church of Cherry Hill, NJ.
Clouser’s interest in religion began at an early age, when he began questioning his parents, church officials, guest speakers at his church, and anyone else who seemed interested, as to how we can know that scripture comes from God. It was the desire to answer that question that impelled him to seminary and to write his PhD dissertation in the philosophy of religion.
The ultimate outcome of that search is his new book: Can We KNOW God Is Real?
Get the Manuscript
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS