Background
Van Buren was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia.
philosopher priest theologian university professor
Van Buren was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia.
Van Buren attended Harvard College, from which he graduated with a bachelor"s degree in government, in 1948.
An ordained Episcopalian priest he was a Professor of religion at Temple University, Philadelphia for 22 years. He died of cancer on June 18, 1998 at age 74. During World World War II, he had served in the United States Coast Guard.
He then attended the Episcopal Theological School, and received a bachelor"s in sacred theology in 1951.
lieutenant was after this that he was ordained as an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Massachusetts. He received a Doctor of Philosophy in theology in 1957 from the University of Basel in Switzerland studying under Karl Barth.
He was a Director of the Center of Ethics and Religious Pluralism at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.