Now Available: Songs of Africa, edited by Tom C. Oden
Web Special  $55.95
​In the Songs of Africa, the authors present evidence that the oldest written form of African music with embedded musical notation in the sub-Saharan region was Ethiopian chant, song, dance, and instrumentation. Those who are looking for the most ancient known roots of African song, jazz, musical phrases, composition, and scripted musical notation may find them echoing from the Ethiopian highlands from the fifth century and codified in a stable manuscript tradition dating to the fourteenth century.

These manuscript sources predate by many centuries most other oral traditions found in traditional African religions. Despite their crucial importance in centuries of culture-formation, the Ethiopian Canticles have never before been the specific subject of rigorous critical textual investigation. In this volume one encounters significant implications for jazz history, African studies, and Christian culture in eastern Africa.
​This work illustrates, as vibrantly as do the colourful manuscripts themselves, the invaluable contribution of Africa to bridging the cultures of East and West and of antiquity and the modern world.   
​-- Michelle P. Brown FSA, University of London
Described as both a bridge-builder and a gap-filler, Tom Oden’s life’s works served those purposes. He was one of the world’s leading evangelical theologians, equally at home with both Protestant and Catholic evangelicals, and respected by the leaders of organized religion worldwide including Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Catholicos of All Armenians, and many more. Oden’s self-described mission was “to begin to prepare the postmodern Christian community for its third millennium by returning again to the careful study and respectful following of the central tradition of classical Christianity.”

​Although Tom was world-renown and a leader in his field, he was happiest at his lake home, Egret Point, with his family, colleagues, and his library – which was large enough to have its own zip code. On those occasions when he would take a break from his books, Tom loved visiting with family and friends on topics both grand and trivial, reading and writing poetry and meditations, and enjoying nature – especially living by the water. He also had a passion for sports, classic movies, old radio comedies, and humor of all types.  
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Tom distinguished himself in academics. He graduated cum laude and as a Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Oklahoma in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts. In 1956, he graduated magna cum laude from Southern Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology, with a Bachelor of Divinity. He received a Master of Arts from Yale in 1957, and a Ph.D. from Yale Graduate School in 1960 under the direction of H. Richard Niebuhr. He was also honored with a Doctor of Letters from Asbury College and the Nashota House. 
 
Tom taught at Yale University, Southern Methodist University and Phillips University before joining the graduate school faculty at Drew University in 1970. He also held short term positions at Ruprecht-Karls Universität in Heidelberg, Germany, the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland, and Texas Medical School before retiring from Drew in 2003.        
A former social radical, Tom became a “mere Christian,” and finally – in his own words – a theologian 20 years after he began his seminary teaching career. He was known as a spirited professor and a rigorous dissertation supervisor. His graduates took on leading roles in colleges and seminaries from Korea and Japan to Central America and Ghana. In recognition of his scholarly production and teaching proficiency, he was awarded the Henry Anson Buttz chair of Theology and Ethics at Drew in 1980. Tom continued to publish significant works in pastoral care, pastoral theology and theology. His ambitious three-volume Systematic Theology (later revised and published as one-volume, Classical Christianity) meticulously summarizes the ancient consensual Christian tradition. In 1993, be began what he described as his life’s work — the 29volume series Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (ACCS).  
 
Early in his career, Tom’s passionate pursuit of knowledge led him to tea with Rudolf Bultmann, to Basel for a theological discussion with Karl Barth in Barth’s hospital room, meetings with Victor Frankl in Vienna, J.H van den berg in Leiden, Wolfhart Pannenburg in Mainz, Hans Georg Gadamer in Heidelberg, and Frank Lake in Nottingham. Later, this passionate search for knowledge, redirected by the challenge of Will Herberg, led him to the careful study of Athanasius, Augustine, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory the Great. Persuaded by the great minds of the ancient Christian consensual tradition, he made a 180 degree change in course. His new direction led him to lifelong friendships with Richard Neuhaus, J.I. Packer, Avery Dulles, Geoffrey Wainright, and Karl Froelich. 
 
During his tenure at Drew he produced for publication over 80 articles and book chapters, 31 books, and served as the General Editor for 10 volumes. He was the Executive Editor of Christianity Today (1995-2001), a Contributing Editor to Good News and the Journal of Christian Counseling, and on the board of the Institute on Religion and Democracy. 
 
After his retirement from Drew, Tom finished editing the remaining 16 volumes of the ACCS, edited the Ancient Christian Doctrine series, edited the Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity, and served as General Editor of the Ancient Christian Texts Series. He authored 15 books, including a four-volume series on John Wesley’s teachings and his memoir, A Change of Heart.  His works, in English and Italian, are part of the Vatican library.  ​
 
In 2006, he launched the second phase of his life’s work, the Center for Early African Christianity. His turn toward Africa included research visits to Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, and a trilogy on Ancient African Christianity. Under his directorship, an international team of scholars completed a multi-year, interdisciplinary research project on the Ethiopian Canticles. The Songs of Africa: The Ethiopian Canticles which was published as his final editorial publication.   

​In the Songs of Africa, the authors present evidence that the oldest written form of African music with embedded musical notation in the sub-Saharan region was Ethiopian chant, song, dance, and instrumentation. Those who are looking for the most ancient known roots of African song, jazz, musical phrases, composition, and scripted musical notation may find them echoing from the Ethiopian highlands from the fifth century and codified in a stable manuscript tradition dating to the fourteenth century.

These manuscript sources predate by many centuries most other oral traditions found in traditional African religions. Despite their crucial importance in centuries of culture-formation, the Ethiopian Canticles have never before been the specific subject of rigorous critical textual investigation. In this volume one encounters significant implications for jazz history, African studies, and Christian culture in eastern Africa.
​Tom’s books have been translated and published into 11 languages. Throughout his career, Tom also served in many professional and political organizations, including the American Theological Society, American Academy of Religion, American Society for Christian Ethics, Rotary Club, Americans for Democratic Action, World Federalist Movement and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He observed the Vatican Council II (1965) and participated in the White House Conference on Urban Initiatives (1985). 
 
Tom never cared about being in the majority.  His views were often at odds with his peers although the differences were intellectual and never personal.  His firm belief that Christians need to look to the early church fathers rather than relying exclusively on modern theology once led Tom to declare that he hoped “he made no new contribution to theology.” While his wish may have been fulfilled, Tom’s contributions to his field are undeniable. More importantly, his tender, caring influence on the generations of family, friends and countless others whose lives he touched will endure forever. Tom’s older brother, Tal, said, “We are all poorer because of his loss, but we are richer because of who he was and what he did.” 

Also by Tom C. Oden