Fuller, Reginald H. 1915-2007 (Reginald Horace Fuller)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born March 24, 1915, in Horsham, Sussex, England; died April 4, 2007, in Richmond, VA. Priest, educator, and author. Fuller was an Episcopalian priest and noted scholar of the New Testament with a special interest in Christology. Graduating from Peterhouse, Cambridge in 1937 with first-class honors, he completed his master's degree there four years later. He was ordained a deacon in the Church of England in 1940, and was made a priest the next year. During the 1940s, he served the Church as a curate in various towns in England; he entered academia as a lecturer in theology at Queen's College during the late 1940s, and during the early 1950s was a professor of theology at David's College in Wales. Moving to the United States in 1955 (he became a citizen in 1995), Fuller took a post as professor of New Testament languages and literature at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. While there, in 1956, he became an Episcopal priest. From 1966 until 1972, he taught at Union Theological Seminary in New York City as Baldwin Professor of Sacred Literature. Fuller then made his last career move, which was to Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. Here he was professor of the New Testament until his retirement in 1985 as professor emeritus; he remained active at the university for many years thereafter. A prolific author and translator, Fuller developed his expertise in the early years of the Christian Church and how debate over the nature of Jesus Christ slowly evolved. He wrote on this subject in such books as The Foundations of New Testament Christology (1965), The Formation of the Resurrection Narratives (1971; 2nd edition, 1981), and Christ and Christianity: Studies in the Formation of Christol- ogy (1994). In these works he acknowledged the dynamic nature of Christianity, while also insisting that the central message about Christ was consistent. Fuller's interest in theological debate led him to memberships in such groups as the World Council of Churches Faith and Order Commission, the Anglican-Lutheran Conversations, and the Episcopal-Lutheran Conversations; he was also a former president of the Society of New Testament Studies. From 1981 until 2006, he was on the committee that worked on the New Standard Version of the Bible; even so, he did not fully agree with the final version of this Bible. Awarded the Ecumenism award from the Washington Theological Consortium in 2001, Fuller was also the author of such books as Interpreting the Miracles (1963), A Critical Introduction to the New Testament (1966), The Use of the Bible in Preaching (1980), and Preaching the Lectionary (2006).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, April 18, 2007, p. B8.

New York Times, April 14, 2007, p. B10; April 18, 2007, p. A2.

Times (London, England), April 26, 2007, p. 68.