J. I. Packer (b 1926)

James Innell Packer is known by his initials and surname across the world -
J.I. Packer. He must be the most influential English evangelical theologian of the 20th century.

J.I. Packer was born in Twyning, Gloucestershire, England. He went up to Oxford in 1944 and the same year became a Christian following a Oxford Christian Union Meeting at the college.

He won a scholarship to Corpus Christi College at Oxford - B.A. (1948), M.A. (1952) Dr Ph (!955). C.S.Lewis ,of Narnia fame was one of his professors.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones treated me like in the way that I imagine Paul treated Timothy.

In 1949 he entered Wycliffe Hall, Oxford to study theology. He was ordained a deacon (1952), and a priest (1953) in the Church of England, in which he became recognized as a leader in the evangelical movement. He started off as a curate in Birmingham but he soon became the Librarian of Latimer House, Oxford (1961/2) and then principal (1962-9). In 1970 he became principal at Tyndale Hall Bristol and then Associate Principle of Trinity College, Bristol (1971-9).

In 1978 he signed the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, which affirmed a conservative position on Biblical Inerrancy.

!979 he moved to Vancouver, Canada. where he eventually became at Regent College the first Sangoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology. In 1996 he was named as Regent College Board of Governor’s Professor of Theology until his retirement.

He served as the general editor of the * Revised Standard Version of the Bible* RSVB) and theological editor of the study Bible version.

Knowing God (1973) was a Christian best seller considered by many as the definitive classic evangelical book of the 20th century -sold over 1 million copies in North America alone.
In Finishing Our Course with Joy (2013) he offers us a model of what it means to grow in grace and grow older gracefully.

Over the years he trained, face to face, and continues to train through his many books, countless leaders of the church.

J.I.Packer is associated with St. John’s Vancouver Anglican church and since 2009 has been the theologian emeritus of the Anglican Church in North America, He was involved with Texts for Common Prayer (2013) and
general editor of the task force which wrote *To be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism *(2014)

He is in favour of the ecumenical movement but not at the cost of abandoning orthodox Protestant doctrine i.

On 27th June 2014 he was awarded the St. Cuthbert’s Cross for his* unparalleled contribution to Anglican and Global Christianity * by retiring Archbishop Robert Duncan.

Aged 89 he was diagnosed with macular degeneration which meant he could no longer preach, write or travel - a disease which had started in his left eye 10 years earlier.

J.I. Packer is England’s and Canada’s greatest living theologian.
On 26th July 2020 he will be 94.

Sources used
wikipedia
Christianity - interview with Krish Kandish in 2015
monergism.com
Christian News