Edward John Carnell (28 June 1919 – 25 April 1967) was a prominent Christian theologian and apologist, was an ordained Baptist pastor, and served as President of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He was the author of nine major books, several of which attempted to develop a fresh outlook in Christian apologetics. He also wrote essays that were published in several other books, and was a contributor of articles to periodicals such as The Christian Century and Christianity Today. Family Carnell was born in Antigo, Wisconsin on June 28, 1919, and was the third of four children born to Herbert Carnell and Fannie Carstens. He was married to Shirley Rowe, a school teacher from Wisconsin. Education Carnell began his tertiary education at Wheaton College, Illinois, where he majored in philosophy and received his B.A. degree. His philosophical mentor at Wheaton was the Calvinist apologist Gordon Clark. Carnell then commenced theological studies at Westminster Theological Seminary where he was awarded the Th.B and Th.M degrees. John Murray and Cornelius Van Til were two of his lecturers who influenced him greatly. He then proceeded to doctoral studies in history and the philosophy of religion at Harvard Divinity School. During his candidacy at Harvard, Carnell also enrolled as a doctoral candidate in philosophy at Boston University under the tutelage of Edgar S. Brightman. Carnell's theological dissertation at Harvard was on Reinhold Niebuhr, while his philosophical dissertation at Boston was on Søren Kierkegaard. Apologetic writings During the period of his doctoral studies, Carnell composed a work in Christian apologetics that he submitted to William Eerdmans in a competition for the Evangelical Book Award. Carnell's manuscript won the five thousand dollar prize, which in 1948 was a considerable sum of money. It was hailed in Evangelical circles as a masterly new work in apologetics, and established a reputation for Carnell as a brilliant young and rising theologian. The book, which was released as An Introduction to Christian Apologetics, reflected the apologetic influences of his mentors Gordon Clark and Cornelius Van Til, and also the philosophical influence of Edgar Sheffield Brightman. In the book he sought to show that Christian faith was systematically logical, factual and rationally satisfying as it best fitted the facts as an explanation for the human condition. His apologetic gambits dealt with topics such as Biblical criticism, the problem of miracles, evolution, and the existential problem of soul-sorrow in an effort