Document Type
Finding Aid
Publication Date
9-15-2026
Inclusive Dates--Span
1960s-2025
Inclusive Dates--Bulk
1960s-2025
Scope and Content Note
These papers contain one box of materials from the research, scholarship, and work of Dr. Allan J. McNicol.
Biographical Note
The following biographical note is excerpted from McNicol’s profile found at the beginning of his Theological Essays:
“Allan McNicol is an Australian citizen and permanent resident of the United States. He was born in Queensland, Australia, and received his early education there. His parents and grandparents were closely associated with the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement and he works within that tradition as a professor in a seminary associated with the Churches of Christ.
In 1962 McNicol came to America and received degrees from Abilene Christian University, Yale, and Vanderbilt (Ph.D. in New Testament). Since 1972 he has lived in Austin, Texas, teaching at Austin Graduate School of Theology. He is married to Patricia Burke McNicol from Midland, Texas. Patricia majored in piano performance at Texas Tech and the University of Texas in Austin and now teaches piano at her studio in Austin. Two sons: Rob and his family live in San Antonio, Chris lives in Austin.
For the past fifty years since he began graduate work at Yale, McNicol has pursued several major academic interests. He worked for many years with the late William Farmer in the area of Gospel Studies, particularly on the Synoptic Problem. McNicol continues to research and publish in this area. Since the deaths of farmer and his close associate David Dungan at the beginning of the new century, McNicol and David Peabody maintained and consolidated defense of a view on the Synoptic Problem known as the Two Gospel hypothesis. Advocates of this position argue that Matthew was the first canonical Gospel to be written; the second was Luke who used Matthew and other sources; and the third was Mark who was reliant primarily on Matthew and Luke. Since the untimely death of Peabody, McNicol now remains the scholar who did long-term work with the Farmer team and is continuing this legacy by publishing critical studies in this area.
Besides his work on the Synoptic Problem, McNicol has published extensively in several other areas of biblical studies. Of current interest he has followed up years of teaching his course in biblical theology by publishing a volume asserting his views in this area. This is titled The Persistence of God’s Endangered Promises: The Bible’s Unified Story. Emerging from certain themes of late twentieth century Yale Theology, McNicol argues for an approach to reading the Bible as a realistic narrative covering the spectrum of the history of the people of God from the creation account in Genesis to the N. T. Vision of the new creation in the age to come. As the reader is drawn into the dynamics of this narrative he or she finds that the Bible is more than a good story but is also where one is brought into an actual world to be confronted with the dynamics of absolute reality.
In the area of seminary teaching and church life McNicol maintains a deep interest in the witness of Churches of Christ and the theological journey of this heritage on several continents. He has written a number of articles taking the position that the Churches of Christ, whether constructed either within the historical development of the Stone-Campbell Movement or the wider ecumenical community, constitute a definable theological tradition. Thus this fellowship has its own special identity. McNicol argues that, as a non-denominational Restorationist fellowship seeking to restore the common faith of the first century church as the basis for the unification of all believers in Christ, Churches of Christ stand or fall on a set of ecclesiastical assumptions. As such he contends that it is a mistake for leaders in Churches of Christ to view themselves either as part of the Evangelical Movement (at least in its American iteration) or the various kinds of denominationalism that characterize mainstream Protestantism. At the heart of the ecclesiology of Christ stands an adherence to allegiance to a particular understanding of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Believers baptism for the forgiveness of sins marks the transition of the believer into the church: the body of Christ. Weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper marks the place where one regularly continues to claim the benefits of Christ’s expiatory sacrifice for sustenance of the Christian life within the fellowship of believers. In short, in pursuing this ‘third way’ between Evangelicalism and mainstream denominationalism one best represents the direction to genuine recovery of the biblical insights into the nature of the church--a vision that stands at the center of the witness of Churches of Christ.”
Source: Theological Essays, Volume 1, by Dr. Allan J. McNicol, Dr. Allan J. McNicol Papers, 1960s-2025. Center for Restoration Studies MS #628. Abilene Christian University Special Collections and Archives, Brown Library. Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX.
Donor Note
James Thompson
Arrangement
The processors retained the original order as received.
Content List
See PDF finding aid for inventory.
Language
ENGLISH
Extent of Collection
1.5 linear feet (1 box)
Manuscript Number
Center for Restoration Studies Manuscripts #628
Physical Location
Center for Restoration Studies
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], [file or folder name], Dr. Allan J. McNicol Papers, 1960s-2025. Center for Restoration Studies MS #628. Abilene Christian University Special Collections and Archives, Brown Library. Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX.
Use Restrictions
Open to researchers. Contact Abilene Christian University Special Collections and Archives to make an appointment.
Processing Status
Processed
Finding Aid created by
Beverly McCallon, Amanda Dietz, Mac Ice
Comments
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