Harold O. J. Brown, PhD (deceased)

The Trinity community laments the passing of Dr. Harold O. J. ("Joe") Brown in 2007. As an accomplished educator and scholar, Brown was professor emeritus of biblical and systematic theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He taught at Trinity as a visiting professor in 1971 and 1975 and served as associate professor of Systematic Theology from 1976 to 1983. After four years as a pastor in Switzerland, Dr. Brown returned to the Trinity faculty in 1987 and served as a visiting professor.

Dr. Brown earned his four degrees from Harvard University and Harvard Divinity School. He received the Bachelor of Arts in Germanic languages and biochemical sciences, the Bachelor of Divinity in theology, the Master of Theology in church history, and the Doctor of Philosophy in Reformation studies. He also studied at the University of Marburg, Germany, and the University of Vienna, Austria, and taught courses in Basel, Switzerland, and Yeotmal, India.

With former United States Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, MD, Dr. Brown cofounded the Christian Action Council, the leading evangelical pro-life action group and an educational and service ministry. He was also director of the Center on Religion and Society at the Rockford Institute and taught in the International Seminar on Jurisprudence and Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

Dr. Brown's areas of expertise included systematic theology, right-to-life issues, ethics (especially medical and family values), journalism, public affairs, and political philosophy. He was a member of the Stewards' Enclosure of the Henley Royal Regatta, the Harvard Club of New York City, the American Theological Society, and the Turnerschaft Saxonia Marburg. Dr. Brown also spoke and wrote in German and French.

Dr. Brown received several awards, including many for his pro-life work. He received Fullbright and Danforth awards and was voted Faculty Member of the Year at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1989.

Dr. Brown served on the editorial staff of Human Life Review and Christianity Today and as contributing editor for Christianity Today and Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. He was also editor of The Religion and Society Report. Brown wrote numerous articles over the last forty years for such magazines as National Review, Eternity, Themelios, Human Life Review, and publications in Germany, Austria, and London. Dr. Brown's published books included The Protest of a Troubled Protestant (Zondervan 1969), Christianity and the Class Struggle (Arlington House 1970), Death before Birth (Thomas Nelson 1977), The Reconstruction of the Republic (Arlington House 1977), and Heresies: The Image of Christ in the Mirror of Heresy and Orthodoxy from the Apostles to the Present. His most recent work was Sensate Culture (Word, 1996).