Roger Nicole

Roger R. Nicole (December 10, 1915 – December 11, 2010) was a native Swiss Reformed Baptist theologian and proponent of Christian egalitarianism and biblical inerrancy. He was an associate editor for the New Geneva Study Bible, assisted in the translation of the New International Version, and was a founding member of both the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy and the Evangelical Theological Society, serving as president of the latter in 1956.

Early life and education

Nicole was born to Swiss parents December 10, 1915, in Charlottenburg, Germany. During his childhood, the family moved back to Switzerland, where he lived until 1935. He earned his M.A. from Sorbonne, France, and then emigrated to the United States to continue his studies. He received a B.D. (1939), S.T.M. (1940), and Th.D. (1943) from Gordon Divinity School, his Ph.D. (1967) from Harvard University, and his D.D. (1978) from Wheaton College. In 1946, Nicole married Annette Cyr (1917 - 2008).

Career

In 1944, Nicole joined the faculty at what was then called Gordon Divinity School, now known as Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. He was appointed professor of theology in 1949, where he remained until retiring in 1986. He continued to teach theology during his retirement at Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida. A devotee of mathematics and prolific writer, he produced some 100 articles and contributed to fifty books and reference works. A bibliophile and distinguished librarian with a massive collection, he owned Calvin's Commentaries on the Gospels and Acts and other volumes from the 16th and 17th centuries. The library of Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando contains over twenty thousand of his personal books. They take up one half of the current library.

Legacy

Respected internationally for his Christian statesmanship and scholarship, he was an acknowledged expert in the thought of Reformation leader John Calvin. An avid philatelist, Nicole had a personal collection of approximately one million stamps. Evangelical commentator David F. Wells dedicated his 1985 release, Reformed Theology in America, simply “to Roger Nicole, a man of God.” J. I. Packer has written this tribute to Nicole: "Awesome for brain power, learning and wisdom, endlessly patient and courteous in his gentle geniality, and beloved by a multitude as pastor, mentor and friend."

Publications

Nicole has written more than 100 articles and contributed to 50 books and reference works, including

• "A postscript on theology" in Basic Christian doctrines. Edited by Carl F. H. Henry. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1962. ISBN 0-8010-4033-7
• "Christians for Biblical Equality: Statement on Men, Women and Biblical Equality." Contributor. Minneapolis: Christians for Biblical Equality, 1989.
• "Hermeneutics and the gender debate" in Discovering biblical equality: complementarity without hierarchy. Edited by Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis. InterVarsity Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8308-2834-6
• Moyse Amyraut: a bibliography with special reference to the controversy on universal grace. New York: Garland Pub., 1981. ISBN 0-8240-9350-X
• Our Sovereign Saviour. Christian Focus Publishers, 2003. ISBN 1-85792-737-0
• Reformation Study Bible. Associate Editor.
• Reformed theology in America: a history of its modern development. Edited by David F. Wells. W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1985. ISBN 0-8028-0096-3
• Standing Forth Collected Writings of Roger Nicole. Christian Focus Publishers, 2002. ISBN 1-85792-646-3
• The Glory of the Atonement: Biblical, Historical & Practical Perspectives: Essays in Honor of Roger R. Nicole, by Charles E. Hill, Frank A. J. L. James, and Roger R. Nicole. InterVarsity Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8308-2689-0
• "The Nature of Inerrancy” in Inerrancy and common sense. Edited by Roger R. Nicole & J. Ramsey Michaels. Baker Book House, 1980. ISBN 0-8010-6733-2
• "True and false assurance" in Doubt & assurance. Edited by R.C. Sproul. Baker Book House [for] Ligonier Ministries, 1993. ISBN 0-8010-8352-4