William P. Brown is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, author, biblical theologian, and the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary.[1]
Brown earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington in 1981. he then continued his education at Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey, where he received a Master of Divinity with honors in 1985. From 1985 to 1987 he was then given the opportunity by Princeton Theological Seminary to study in Tübingen, Germany at Eberhard-Karls-Universität as their Tübingen Exchange Fellow. He then returned and earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Old Testament Studies from Emory University located in Atlanta, Georgia in 1991.
Brown has served in pastoral ministry as an assistant hospital chaplain, an assistant intern minister and as program advisor with responsibility for adult education at the North Decatur Presbyterian Church in Decatur, Georgia. He however has spent most of his professional life as an educator at various schools. In 1991, he became the Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia and soon became the Professor of Old Testament Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education in 2002. While still at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education he was honored with the position of the Aubrey Lee Brooks Professor of Biblical Theology. In 2004 he then moved and accepted the position of Professor of Old Testament Language, Literature, and Exegesis at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. Eight years later Columbia Theological Seminary honored him with the new position of William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament, which he still holds today.
He was a founding member of Earth Covenant Ministry, a grass-roots organization of Presbyterian churches in the Atlanta area, which recently has been incorporated into Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, where he serves as an educator to churches interested in creation care. He is also a board member of Ring Lake Ranch, Dubois, Wyoming.
Brown has written an extensive list of books, scholarly articles and essays, dictionary articles, and book reviews. He has a great interest in the use of scripture in the life of the church and contemporary theological discourse, as well as in the ancient cultural contexts out of which scripture emerged. He specifically is interested in the Psalms, wisdom literature, the Pentateuch, the book of Isaiah, the history of ancient Israel, and modern literary theory. He was the primary person responsible for writing syllabi for the National Pastor-Theologian Program, as well.
His books include:
He has also edited a number of books including: