Robert S. Bilheimer

Doctor
Robert S. Bilheimer
Born(1917-09-28)September 28, 1917
Denver, Colorado
DiedDecember 17, 2006(2006-12-17) (aged 89)
Canandaigua, New York
NationalityAmerican
OccupationTheologian
Notable workWhat Must the Church Do?
A Spirituality for the Long Haul
Breakthrough
MovementEcumenism
ChildrenRobert Bilheimer
Theological work
LanguageEnglish

Dr. Robert S. Bilheimer (September 28, 1917 – December 17, 2006) was an American Presbyterian theologian.[1][2] In his 1947 book What Must the Church Do?, he used the phrase "New Reformation" to refer to the ecumenical movement that resulted from the 1910 World Missionary Conference, and this usage became commonplace thereafter.[3] He was one of the co-founders of the World Council of Churches (WCC).[4] He later gave credit for most of the founding of the organization to the laity and young people.[5] From 1955 to 1958, he co-chaired a WCC international commission to prepare a document addressing the threat of nuclear warfare during the Cold War.[6] As a WCC delegate, he prepared the Cottesloe Consultation, which took place in December 1960 and saw the WCC meet with representatives from the eight main Christian denominations in South Africa in order to address the issue of apartheid.[7] He served as Associate General Secretary and Director of the Division of Studies of the WCC, executive director of the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research,[8] and Director of the International Affairs Program of the National Council of Churches.[9] He wrote the 1984 book A Spirituality for the Long Haul: Biblical Risk and Moral Stand, in which he provides a biblical basis for resisting oppression.[10] He also wrote the 1989 book Breakthrough: The Emergence of the Ecumenical Tradition, which was one of several books about ecumenism that were published by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company in the late 20th century.[11]

  1. ^ Margaret Nash (2005). "Beyers Naudé and The Christian Institute". The Legacy of Beyers Naudé. African Sun Media: 35. ISBN 1919980989.
  2. ^ Henry, Patrick. "Robert S. Bilheimer '39 B.A., '45 M.Div., ecumenical leader, dies at 89". Yale Divinity School. Archived from the original on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  3. ^ William H. Mott (2004). Globalization: People, Perspectives, and Progress. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 215. ISBN 0275979172.
  4. ^ Charles H. Lippy; Peter W. William (2010). Encyclopedia of Religion in America. Granite Hill Publishers. p. 604. ISBN 978-0872895805.
  5. ^ Patrick Henry (2010). Mary Farrell Bednarowski (ed.). "Ecumenism of the People". Twentieth-Century Global Christianity. Augsburg Fortress: 283–84. ISBN 978-1451414424.
  6. ^ Jonathan Gorry (2013). Cold War Christians and the Spectre of Nuclear Deterrence, 1945-1959. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 194. ISBN 978-1137334244.
  7. ^ Paul Abrecht (2009). Harold C. Fey (ed.). "The Development of Ecumenical Social Thought and Action". A History of the Ecumenical Movement. 2. Wipf and Stock: 245. ISBN 978-1606089101.
  8. ^ Kathleen Hughes (1991). The Monk's Tale: A Biography of Godfrey Diekmann, O.S.B. Liturgical Press. p. xviii. ISBN 0814619843.
  9. ^ Mark Oppenheimer (2003). Knocking on Heaven's Door: American Religion in the Age of Counterculture. Yale University Press. p. 269. ISBN 0300100248.
  10. ^ Thomas Hoyt Jr. (1991). Cain Hope Felder (ed.). "Interpreting Biblical Scholarship". Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation. Augsburg Fortress: 22. ISBN 1451404743.
  11. ^ Larry Ten Harmsel (2011). An Eerdmans Century: 1911-2011. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 161. ISBN 978-0802866585.