MacKenzie, Cameron A. 1947–

(Cameron Alexander MacKenzie)

PERSONAL:

Born September 5, 1947, in Detroit, MI; son of Cameron A. (a Lutheran clergyman) and Betty A. (a schoolteacher) MacKenzie; married Meg Martin, 1976; children: Elizabeth, Cameron, Margaret, Robert. Education: University of Detroit, B.A., 1969; University of Chicago, M.A., 1970; Wayne State University, M.A., 1979; Concordia Theological Seminary, S.T.M., 1984; University of Notre Dame, Ph.D., 1992. Politics: "Conservative, Republican." Religion: "Evangelical and Confessional Lutheran." Hobbies and other interests: Classical music, choral singing, politics, and old movies.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Fort Wayne, IN. Office—Concordia Theological Seminary, 6600 N. Clinton St., Fort Wayne, IN 46825. E-mail—cameron.mackenzie@ctsfw.edu.

CAREER:

Ordained Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod minister, 1972. St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Detroit, MI, teacher, 1970-72, headmaster, 1972-83, pastor, 1975-83; Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN, assistant professor, 1983-92, associate professor, 1992-97, professor, 1997-2007, department chair, 1999—, Ellis Professor of Historical Theology, 2007—. Adjunct faculty member, Concordia University Wisconsin, 1990-2007; associate faculty member, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, 1992—; adjunct faculty member, College of St. Francis, 1992.

MEMBER:

Evangelical Theological Society, Society for Reformation Research, Sixteenth Century Studies Conference, Lutheran Historical Conference, Concordia Historical Institute.

WRITINGS:

The Battle for the Bible in England, 1557-1582, P. Lang (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor to books, including Looking into the Future: Evangelical Studies in Eschatology, edited by David W. Baker, Baker (Grand Rapids, MI), 2001; The Anonymous God: The Church Confronts Civil Religion and American Society, edited by David L. Adams and Ken Schurb, CPH (St. Louis, MO), 2004; and Luther on Liturgy and Hymns, edited by Daniel Zager, Concordia Theological Seminary (Fort Wayne, IN), 2006. Contributor to scholarly journals, including Albion, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Concordia Theological Quarterly, and Issues in Christian Education. Book review editor for Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly, 1984—.

SIDELIGHTS:

Cameron A. MacKenzie's The Battle for the Bible in England, 1557-1582 traces the rise and fall of four major English Bibles used during the reign of Elizabeth I. Chronologically, these are the Great Bible, the Geneva Bible, the Bishops' Bible, and the Rheims New Testament. MacKenzie is interested in who used which version of the Bible and why. Despite the fact they are ostensibly the same document, he argues that each version presented its own flavor of Christianity. The Great Bible touted allegiance to the Crown; the Geneva Bible, which was influenced by John Calvin, attracted those who adhered to a Puritan version of Christianity; the Bishops' Bible was nationalistic in the sense that it was Anglican and Protestant; and the Rheims New Testament presented reformed Catholicism.

Much of MacKenzie's discussion centers on the difference between Puritanism and Anglicanism, a schism that would widen in generations to come, according to Albion reviewer Christopher Haigh. The influence of historical figures such as Edmund Grindal and Francis Walsingham is also explored. According to Alexandra Walsham's review in the Journal of Ecclesiastical His-tory, the book neglects to consider fully the effects of the debate between Catholicism and Protestantism at the Council of Trent, but remains "a clearly written and solidly researched monograph which contributes something to our understanding of the politics of bible translation in the late sixteenth century."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Albion, winter, 2004, Christopher Haigh, review of The Battle for the Bible in England, 1557-1582, p. 637.

Catholic Historical Review, October, 2007, Donald Dean Smeeton, review of The Battle for the Bible in England, 1557-1582, p. 966.

Journal of Ecclesiastical History, October, 2003, Alexandra Walsham, review of The Battle for the Bible in England, 1557-1582, p. 770.