Clarence Bouma
American theologian
Clarence Bouma (November 30, 1891, in Harlingen, Friesland – August 12, 1962, in Grand Rapids, Michigan) was a theologian and professor at Calvin Theological Seminary.
Early life and education
Bouma was born Klaas Bouma in the Netherlands in 1891 as the son of Doeke Bouma and Trijntje de Jong. The family immigrated to the United States in May 1905. He earned his A.B. (1917) at Calvin College, and his B.D. (1918) at Princeton Seminary, where he was awarded the Gelston-Winthrop Fellowship in Apologetics. He went on to earn his A.M. (1919) from Princeton University, and his Th.D. (1921) from Harvard Divinity School.
Academic career
After briefly serving as a pastor in the Summer Street Christian Reformed Church in Passaic, New Jersey, Bouma joined the faculty at Calvin Theological Seminary in 1924. His first role was as Chair of Dogmatics, but shortly thereafter moved to a new role as Chair of Apologetics and Ethics. He was succeeded in Dogmatics by Louis Berkhof, author of Systematic Theology. In 1935, he became the editor of The Calvin Forum, and continued to serve in that role the rest of his career. Bouma also served for one semester in 1940 as visiting professor at Gordon College and Divinity School.
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