Formerly Professor of Religion in Patristics and Historical Theology in the Departments of Religion and Classics,
Baylor University, 2002-2022.
Vitae
DH_Williams@baylor.edu
Ph.D., M.A. University of Toronto, 1991;
Th.M. Princeton Seminary, 1985;
M.Div. Trinity Divinity School, 1981.
Began his career serving as associate pastor of a Baptist church in Rochester, NY. After completing graduate studies, he became pastor of an American Baptist church in Pittsburgh, PA. He was offered an appointment at Loyola University Chicago as Assistant Professor of Theology in 1994 where he was tenured. In 2002 he joined the faculty of Religion as Professor of Patristics and Historical Theology in Baylor University (Waco, TX). He later joined the faculty of the Department of Classics. After serving twenty years, Williams retired from Baylor in May, 2022.
His publications include scholarly work on early Christian thought and literature, as well as studies that seek to integrate the ancient Christian legacy with contemporary Christianity. Books: Defending and Defining the Faith: An Introduction to Early Christian Apologetics (Oxford University Press, 2020); The Great Tradition—A Great Labor: Studies in Ancient-Future Faith (Cascade Books, 2011); The Free Church and the Early Church: Essays in Bridging the Historical and Theological Divide (Eerdmans, 2002);.Evangelicals and Tradition: The Formative Influence of the Early Church(Baker Academic Books, 2005); Retrieving the Tradition and Renewing Evangelicalism: A Primer for Suspicious Protestants (Eerdmans, 1999), and Ambrose of Milan and the End of the Nicene‑Arian Conflicts (Oxford University Press, 1995). Williams’ essays on early Christianity are found in the Harvard Theological Review, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Journal of Early Christian Studies, Journal of Theological Studies, Church History, Studia Patristica, Scottish Journal of Theology, Interpretation, the Journal of Religion, Pro Ecclesia and Perspectives in Religious Studies. A variety of chapters in books are listed in a complete list of works published.
Williams’ interest in ancient scriptural interpretation is manifest in his works on exegesis in the early church, especially in The Church’s Bible: Commentary on Matthew, Volume Editor and Contributor (Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2017). See also his Commentarium in Matthaeum by Hilary of Poitiers. Complete English translation and annotation. Fathers of the Church series vol. 125 (Catholic University of America Press, 2013 and Tradition, Scripture and Interpretation: A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church (Baker Academic Books, 2006). At the invitation of the New Living Study Bible, Williams wrote the final essay after the book of Revelation, entitled “After the Apostles,” (Tyndale Press, 2008).
Of importance to Williams has been his teaching western history and ancient Christian studies in China. Since 2007 he has lectured at major universities in mainland China, and in 2009 and 2012 he was Visiting Research Professor at the International Promotion of Chinese Language and Culture, People’s Republic University in Beijing. Williams has had several articles published in Chinese journals, including the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences journal, World Philosophy, and the Journal for the Study of Christian Culture. For a few years, he served as co-director of the Center for Studies in Greek Philosophy and Late Antiquity at Shandong University in Jinan.
