Ligon Duncan: Difference between revisions

| birth_date = November 29, 1960}}

| education = [[Furman University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Covenant Theological Seminary]] ([[Master of Divinity|MDiv]])<br>[[University of Edinburgh]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])

| main_interests = Calvinism, [[Covenant Theology]], [[Biblical Inerrancy]], [[gender roles]]

'''Jennings Ligon Duncan III''' (born November 29, 1960) is an American [[Presbyterian]] scholar and pastor. He is [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] of [[Reformed Theological Seminary]].

Duncan is native to [[Greenville, South Carolina]]. His father was an eighth-generation Southern Presbyterian ruling elder.<ref name="FPC">[http://www.fpcjackson.org/staff/duncan.htm Reverend J. Ligon Duncan III], First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Mississippi. Accessed 9 December 2011. Archived from the original on 1 January 2012.</ref> Duncan graduated from Greenville Senior High School in 1979 and [[Furman University]] in 1983 (B.A., History).<ref name="FPC" /> He continued his studies at [[Covenant Theological Seminary]] with an M.Div. in 1986 and an MA in historical theology in 1987. He completed doctoral studies in theology at the [[University of Edinburgh]], [[New College, Edinburgh|New College]] in 1995.<ref>Jennings Ligon Duncan (1995). "Covenant idea in ante-Nicene theology". [https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/10618 https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/10618].</ref>

He served on the staff of Covenant Presbyterian Church, St. Louis, (1984–1987). He was licensed to preach in 1985 by Calvary Presbytery (PCA) in South Carolina and was ordained in 1990.<ref name="FPC" />

In the Summer of 1990, Duncan joined the faculty of [[Reformed Theological Seminary]] (RTS), Jackson, Mississippi, as the John R. Richardson Chair of Systematic Theology. At the same time he served as assistant pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi (1990–1995), and interim pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Yazoo City, Mississippi (1993).<ref name="rts.edu">[http://www.rts.edu/faculty/StaffDetails.aspx?id=265 Reformed Theological Seminary faculty page]. Accessed 22 August 2008. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008.</ref>

Effective January 1, 2014, Duncan resigned his position as Sr. Minister at First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, MS, and assumed the role of Chancellor of Reformed Theological Seminary.<ref name="rts.edu-a">[https://www.rts.edu/chancellor/newsevents/NewsDetails.aspx?id=1857 RTS Appoints Pastor-Theologian as New Chancellor: Duncan has a longtime connection with RTS.]. rts.edu. Accessed 6 June 2014. Archived from the original on 3 July 2014.</ref> He continues to teach in the department of Systematic Theology while serving in this role.

Duncan was named senior pastor at [[First Presbyterian Church (Jackson, Mississippi)|First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Mississippi]] ([[Presbyterian Church in America|PCA]]) in 1996, and served in that capacity until early 2014. An active churchman, he has been involved in the courts of the [[Presbyterian Church in America]] (PCA) in various ways: General Assembly's Committee on Psalmody; Committees of Commissioners for Covenant Theological Seminary, Mission to North America, and Bills and Overtures; member and chair of the Credentials Committee of the Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley (1996–2002); vice-chair of the General Assembly's Creation Study Committee (1998–2000); member of the search committee for a Coordinator of Reformed University Ministries; chair of the General Assembly's Theological Examination Committee; member of the PCA's Strategic Planning Committee; moderator of the Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley (2001); moderator of the PCA General Assembly (2004), making him the youngest elected to this position in the denomination's history.<ref name="monergism.com">[http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/bio/duncan.html Ligon Duncan bio]. Monergism.com. Accessed 22 August 2008.</ref>

He is also a council member of the [[Gospel Coalition]], a "group of (mostly) pastors and churches in the Reformed heritage who delight in the truth and power of the gospel, and who want the gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected to lie at the center of all we cherish, preach, and teach." They have created The Gospel Coalition Network, which is a consortium of "Christian pastors and other leaders who stimulate one another to faithfulness and fruitfulness in life and ministry in this rapidly-changing, increasingly urbanized, and spiritually hungry world."<ref name="The Gospel Coalition">[http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/about/council-members/ligon_duncan The Gospel Coalition council members: Ligon Duncan]. Accessed 22 August 2008. Archived from the original on 21 September 2008.</ref>

Ligon Duncan is the Chancellor/CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary and the John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology. Ligon was born in Greenville, SC, and reared in the home of an eighth generation Presbyterian ruling elder. A 1983 graduate of Furman University (B.A. History), he received the M.Div. and M.A. (Historical Theology) from Covenant Theological Seminary. He earned the Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, New College, Scotland, in 1995 (under the supervision of renowned Reformation and Patristics scholar, David F. Wright). While in Scotland he also studied Systematic Theology at the Free Church of Scotland College (now Edinburgh Theological Seminary) with Professor Donald Macleod.

*''The Westminster Assembly: A Guide to Basic Bibliography'' (co-author with David W. Hall). Reformed Academic Press, 1993.

*''A Short History of the Westminster Assembly''(co-author/editor with William Beveridge). Reformed Academic Press, 1993.

*''The Genesis Debate: Three Views of the Days of Creation'' (co-author with David W. Hall, Meredith Kline, Lee Irons, Hugh Ross, and Gleason Archer). Crux Press, 2000.

*''Should We Leave Our Churches?'' (co-author with Mark Talbot). P&R, 2004.

*''Matthew Henry’s Method for Prayer'' (editor). Christian Focus Publications/Christian Heritage, 1994.

*''The Westminster Confession in the 2lst Century: Essays in Remembrance of the 350th Anniversary of the Westminster Assembly'', (general editor and contributor) Mentor, Vol. 1, 2003; Vol. 2, 2004; Vol. 3, 2008.

*''Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship'', (editor and contributor) P&R, 2003.