Dr. William J. Abraham was born in Northern Ireland in 1947. He is currently teaching at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University in Dallas Texas. Educated at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen and Queen's University, Belfast, Abraham went on to receive a Master of Divinity Degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky and a doctorate in Philosophy of Religion from the University of Oxford, England.
He has served as a Methodist minister in Ireland and held the post of Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, Washington. From 1985 to 1995 he was the McCreless Professor of Evangelism and Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Perkins School of Theology, S.M.U. In 1995 he was appointed to the Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies at Perkins, working as a philosophical and systematic theologian in the Wesleyan tradition. In 2003 he was appointed as University Distinguished Teacher at Southern Methodist University.
Professor Abraham has authored numerous articles in philosophy, theology, and evangelism. In 1991 he wrote a major review article on "The State of Christian Theology in North America" for the Encyclopedia Britannica's Great Ideas Today. His books include: The Divine Inspiration of Holy Scripture (Oxford, 1981), Divine Revelation and the Limits of Historical Criticism (Oxford, 1982), The Coming Great Revival: Recovering the Full Evangelical Tradition (Harper and Row, 1984), An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (Prentice-Hall, 1985), The Logic of Evangelism (Eerdmans, 1989), The Art of Evangelism: Evangelism Carefully Crafted into the Life of the Local Church (Cliff College Publishing Co., 1993), Waking from Doctrinal Amnesia (Abingdon, 1995), Canon and Criterion in Christian Theology (Oxford: Clarendon, 1997), Logic of Renewal (SPCK/Eerdmans, 2003), John Wesley For Armchair Theologians (Westminster/John Knox, 2005) and Crossing the Threshold of Divine Revelation (Eerdmans, 2006).
Beyond his academic endeavors and achievements, Abraham has in conjunction with First United Methodist Church, Uvalde, Texas, developed a catechumenate entitled Basic Christianity for use in local churches to provide a means of initiating new Christians and seekers into the Christian faith.
Abraham regularly accepts invitations as lecturer and preacher and is in demand throughout the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia.
Abraham and his wife of 29 years, Muriel, have three children, Timothy, Siobhan, and Shaun. They live in Dallas, Texas, and attend Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas.