A Short Sketch of my Life and Thought

Kenneth Cauthen

My autobiography is now available under the title Born into the Wrong World: My Life and Thought (Rochester, NY: John Wilfred Press, 2004). For information about how it can be obtained email me at:

Please remove * from my e-mail address before sending. The * was added to prevent spamming. Thank you. My E-Mail Address

From the Back Cover:
ABOUT THIS MEMOIR

Born into the Wrong World is the story of a country boy from the rural, segregated South who grew up among farmers and millhands. Kenneth Cauthen has spent a lifetime trying to make sense of life and its mysteries. He has always been troubled that there is so much suffering and injustice and puzzled that we do so little about it. He defends the view of a limited, suffering God as the only credible way to explain why the world is not better than it is.

Born in 1930, Cauthen’s life covers a span from the Great Depression to the Age of Terror. This memoir views his seventy plus years in the context of these tumultuous decades. His evocative descriptions of childhood in the country are marked with humor and appreciative feeling as he talks about outdoor toilets, life in a small Baptist church, the eccentricities of colorful individuals, the family grocery store, and the sights, sounds, and smells of that rustic time long ago. He speaks candidly of early sexual trauma and the pain caused by parental conflict.

It is all here – his life experiences with all their sorrows and joys, inner struggles, his brief career as a pastor who barely escaped dismissal over the race issue, his four decades as a professor of theology and author, his first marriage, family life, episodes of depression, a devastating divorce, a happy second marriage, his theological development and mature thought, his ambivalence about the church, and his social and political views.

The author says, “I have laughed a lot and cried a lot. Humor and tears have kept me sane. I wanted to conclude with an account of my funeral, but I was not willing to meet the publisher’s deadline.”

Kenneth Cauthen is the John Price Crozer Griffith emeritus Professor of Theology, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Rochester, New York. He is the author of eighteen books, including The Impact of American Religious Liberalism, which was the standard text in the field for a quarter of a century.

I was born in rural Georgia and grew up among farmers and textile mill workers. My parents were ambitious that I continue with my education, and following my graduation from Zebulon High School, I headed off to college. After a year at South Georgia College, I transferred to Mercer University. Having been infected by a call to the Baptist ministry, I pursued this urge by journeying North and entering Yale Divinity School. After graduating, I received a call to a Baptist church in a small town. I was successful at that task, although my views on the race question almost led to my dismissal. But I was nevertheless able to earn a Master's degree from Emory University before enrolling in Vanderbilt University to pursue a Ph. D. in Religious Studies. I accepted a teaching job at Mercer University, where I remained for four years.

Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, was in need of a professor of theology and offered the job to me. Reluctantly I left the South but eagerly responded to the opportunity to specialize in theological topics rather than span the variety of subjects that my college teaching required. There I remained for nine years until the authorities at Crozer decided we should merge with Colgate-Rochester/Bexley Hall in Rochester, NY. ROCHESTER, NEW YORK! That was a destination that I had never dreamed of in my wildest fantasies but found it a pleasant place except for the LONG winters and ALL THAT SNOW! I shall never forget the measurement -- 142 inches of snow that first season in the land of Kodak and Xerox.

There I remained until I retired. Space does not permit, and merciful compassion on my part does not allow, the recital of how many lectures, faculty meetings, student exams, and term papers occupied my days and nights during all those years, not to mention the financial crises, faculty disputes, and graduation ceremonies, at which time we annually released a new crop of ministers upon an unsuspecting world.

These days I spend a lot of time writing books and articles and expanding my offerings on the Internet, as well as watching the Atlanta Braves during baseball season and the North Carolina Tarheels during basketball season.

Along the way I have been married twice, to Eloise Nelson and to Gloria Fish. From the first marriage I have three children: Paul, Nancy, and Melissa. From Gloria's side I have inherited Christopher, Stephen, and seven grandchildren. When Nancy and Ric welcomed Jacob into this world, he was my first contribution to the grandchild population.

*At least my Mother, my Wife, and my Children think so!

This site contains a series of essays on theological and ethical topics. The best way to begin is with my home page, which has links to all currently available articles: Theological Essays Following is a partial list: About the Author
A List of my Books
What I Believe
Interpreting the Bible Today
The Authority of the Bible
Using the Bible with Integrity
Natural Law and Moral Relativism
What is Truth -- and Does it Matter?
A Doctrine of God
Hints Toward a Doctrine of God
Trinity: God, Christ, Spirit
God as Masculine and Feminine
Theodicy: the Problem of Evil
Theodicy: A Heterodox Alternative
The Many Faces of Evil
Christ and Christians
A Critique of Niebuhr's Christ and Culture
The Incompatibility of Christianity and Civilization
Christian Ethics
Process Christian Ethics
The Ethics of Belief
Relativism, Morality, Belief
Capital Punishment
Physician Assisted Suicide
Bioethical Decision-Making
Prostitution
Abortion
Drug Policy
Homosexuality
Theology and Ecology
Religion and Politics
Science and Theology
Church and State
A Short Biographical Sketch

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Last updated Monday, June 18, 2001, 1:30 PM