Athol Gill

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''William Athol Gill''' (1937–1992) was an influential Australian [[theologian]] and one of the leaders of the [[radical discipleship movement]] in Australia.<ref>Batstone, D. 1991. From Conquest to Struggle: Jesus of Nazareth in Latin America. Albany: State University of New York Press. p.xiii; Brackney, W. 1999. Gill, William Athol (1937-1992). Historical Dictionary of the Baptists. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. pp.251-2; Munro, M. 2002. A History of the Gentle Bunyip (1975-1990): A Challenge to Australian Church Life. MA History Thesis, University of Melbourne. p.45; D. Neville (Ed.)2002. Prophecy and Passion: Essays in Honour of Athol Gill. (300-325). Adelaide: Australian Theological Forum; Pidwell, H. 2007. A Gentle Bunyip: The Athol Gill Story. West Lakes: Seaview Press; Page, J.S. 2008. Review of A Gentle Bunyip: The Athol Gill Story. Journey. 20 April 2008. p.13, https://eprints.qut.edu.au/13395/, accessed 18 July 2017; Dekar, P. 2008. Community of Transfiguration: The Journey of a New Monastic Community. Cambridge: Lutterworth Press. p.38; Hughes, P.J. and D. Cronshaw. 2013. Baptists in Australia: A church with a heritage and a future. Melbourne: Christian Research Association. p.29; Emerson Teusner, P. 2014. Online religious advertising: the case of Australian Christian youth festivals. In: J.D. James (Ed.) The Internet and the Google Age: Prospects and Perils. (63-80). Dublin: Research Publishing. p. 76.</ref>

==Education== Gill attended the [[NSW Baptist Theological College]], [[Spurgeon's College]], and the [[University of London]], obtaining a [[Bachelor of Divinity]] degree with Honours in 1965; and thereafter he attended [[Rüschlikon International Baptist Seminary]] and the [[University of Zürich]], obtaining a master's degree in 1967 and a [[D.Theol.]] degree in 1971.<ref>Pidwell, A Gentle Bunyip, pp.13-41; and Brackney, W. 1999. Gill, William Athol (1937-1992). Historical Dictionary of the Baptists. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. pp.251-2.</ref>

==Professional career== Gill served as a lecturer at the [[Baptist Theological College of Queensland]] in 1971-2; with the Methodist Training College in Brisbane in 1973–1974; and with [[Whitley College]] within the [[University of Melbourne]], initially as dean of studies from 1975 to 1979, and then as professor of New Testament from 1979 until his death in 1992.<ref>Pidwell, A Gentle Bunyip, pp.43-109; and Brackney, W. 1999. Gill, William Athol (1937-1992). Historical Dictionary of the Baptists. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. pp.251-2.</ref>

==Intentional community== Gill was founder of two intentional Christian communities, the House of Freedom in Brisbane and the [[House of the Gentle Bunyip]] in Melbourne, both of which were linked informally with the House of the New World in Sydney.<ref>Pidwell, A Gentle Bunyip, pp.43-109; Brackney, W. 1999. Gill, William Athol (1937-1992). Historical Dictionary of the Baptists. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. pp.251-2; and Munro, A History of the Gentle Bunyip.</ref>

==Recognition== Gill's significance is commemorated in the naming of the Athol Gill Centre, within Whitley College and opened in 2001; in a collection of scholarly essays in honour of Gill, published in 2002; in a biography by fellow theologian Harold Pidwell, published in 2007; and in a commemorative screen by artist David Wong, completed in 2012.<ref>History of Whitley College: http://whitley.unimelb.edu.au/sites/whitley.unimelb.edu.au/files/download/Complete%20PG%20Hbk%20PDF.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005043227/http://whitley.unimelb.edu.au/sites/whitley.unimelb.edu.au/files/download/Complete%20PG%20Hbk%20PDF.pdf |date=2011-10-05 }}, accessed 18 July 2017; Neville, Prophecy and Passion: Essays in Honour of Athol Gill; Pidwell, A Gentle Bunyip: The Athol Gill Story; and The Athol Gill Commemorative Screen. 2012. http://atholgillscreen.weebly.com/index.html, accessed 18 July 2017</ref>

==Publications== * {{cite thesis |last=Gill |first=William Athol |year=1971 |title=The Cleansing of the Temple: A Study in the Editorial Methods and Theology of the Second Evangelist |type=[[D.Theol.]] thesis |publisher=University of Zürich |author-mask=1}} * {{cite book |last=Gill |first=William Athol |year=1976 |chapter=Christian Social Responsibility |editor-first=C.R. |editor-last=Padilla |title=The New Face of Evangelicalism: An International Symposium on the Lausanne Covenant |pages=82–102 |location=London |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton and Intervarsity Press |author-mask=1}} * {{cite book |last=Gill |first=William Athol |year=1989 |title=Life on the Road: The Gospel Basis for a Messianic Lifestyle |location=Homebush |publisher=Lancer |author-mask=1}} * {{cite book |last=Gill |first=William Athol |year=1990 |title=The Fringes of Freedom: Following Jesus, Living Hope, Working for Justice |location=Homebush |publisher=ANZEA Publishers |author-mask=1}} * {{cite book |last=Gill |first=William Athol |year=1990 |chapter=Human Rights: A Down-Under Perspective |editor-first1=W.H. |editor-last1=Brackney |editor-first2=R. |editor-last2=Burke |title=Faith, Life and Witness: The Papers of the Research and Study Division of the World Baptist Alliance (1886-1990) |pages=243–257 |location=Birmingham |publisher=Samford University |author-mask=1}} * {{cite book |last=Gill |first=William Athol |year=2007 |orig-year=1990 |chapter=Good news to the poor: poverty and the poor in the Bible |editor-first=H. |editor-last=Pidwell |title=A Gentle Bunyip: The Athol Gill Story |pages=180–272 |location=West Lakes |publisher=Seaview Press |author-mask=1}}

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Australian Christian theologians]] [[Category:1937 births]] [[Category:Australian Baptists]] [[Category:Australian biblical scholars]] [[Category:People from Sydney]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of London]] [[Category:University of Zurich alumni]] [[Category:University of Melbourne alumni]] [[Category:Australian expatriates in England]] [[Category:Australian expatriates in Switzerland]] [[Category:1992 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century biblical scholars]]