David Paul McDowell

David Paul McDowell has been a pastor for 49 years. He is presently the pastor/teacher of Just a Thought Ministries of Lancaster, PA. He recently retired as Chaplain of the Wheaton College Graduate School, having also served as interim Chaplain of Wheaton College. He was born in Schenectady, NY and graduated from Wheaton College, IL (1968 B.A.), Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (1971 M.Div.), Union Theological Seminary, NYC (1980 S.T.M.), and Trinity Theological Seminary, IN (2011 PH.D). He has served churches in Albany NY, Northampton MA, West Chicago IL. He has also been an assistant chaplain at the US Military Academy at West Point (1975-1980). He also served as an adjunct instructor for fifteen years at the Berkshire Institute for Christian Studies (MA). He is married to Gloria (Farneth) McDowell and they have five children and eleven grandchildren. He became interested in the life of Jonathan Edwards while he (McDowell) served a twenty-five year pastorate in Northampton MA; the same town where Edwards had also served for twenty-five years. His interest in Edwards introduced him to Solomon Stoddard, Edwards' grandfather, and thus his study began. McDowell hopes that his work "Beyond the Half-way Covenant" will spark the interest of younger scholars to pursue further study of Stoddard the way so many have pursued his more famous grandson. He also wrote the article on "Stoddardism" for the "Jonathan Edwards Encyclopedia" published by Eerdmans in 20017. His years as an adjunct instructor gave him a love for the Book of Romans and led him to write his recent commentary on the book, "The Just Shall Live by Faith." He also wrote an article on "Worldviews and the Problem of Evil" in the book "Standing on the Promises," which was compiled as a tribute to the outgoing president of the school where he taught. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer over 3 years ago and is in the process of writing a book titled "The Goodness of Affliction: Encouragement for Those Who Suffer." He has a website which contains a weekly blog and other resources for the thinking Christian. See davemcdowell.org