William Edgar
William Edgar was born in Wilmington, NC, in 1944.
He grew up in Paris (France), Long Island (NY), and Geneva (Switzerland).
Bill received his education at Harvard University (Honors B.A. in Music), Westminster Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and the University of Geneva, Switzerland (Dr. Théol).
He has taught at the Brunswick School, in Greenwich, CT (1970-78), and at the Faculté Libre de Théologie Réformée, in Aix-en-Provence, France (1979-89), where he continues as Professeur Associé.
Bill is currently Professor of Apologetics, Coordinator of the Apologetics Department, Director of the Gospel and Culture Project, and Moderator of the Faculty at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, where he has been since 1989.
Dr. Edgar belongs to a number of learned societies, including the American Musicological Society, the Evangelical Theological Society, the Forum on Music and Christian Scholarship, the American Historical Association and the Society for Ethno-musicology.
He serves on several boards, including the Huguenot Fellowship (President), the IRB and the Medical Ethics Committee of the Chestnut Hill Hospital, is a Fellow at the Wilberforce Forum, Honors Trustee at the Greenwood School, and is a Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum. Dr Edgar is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America. He is on the editorial advisory committee of La Revue Réformée. He regularly takes part as a speaker and advisor in the Veritas Forum programs. He frequently participates in the China Christian Scholars Association, and often travels to China. He has taught in French-speaking Africa in several countries.
Dr Edgar's books include Taking Note of Music (London: SPCK, 1986); Reasons of the Heart (Baker/Hourglass, 1996); La carte protestante (Labor et Fides, 1997); The Face of Truth: Lifting the Veil (P & R, 2001); Truth in All Its Glory: Commending the Reformed Faith (P & R, 2004); and Les dix commandements (Excelsis, 2007).
He has written numerous articles on such subjects as cultural apologetics, the music of Brahms, the French Huguenots, and African-American aesthetics. His favorite avocations are Brazilian soccer and jazz piano. He manages a professional jazz band, and has recently composed music in an African mode, based on the Psalms. His compositions include La Sainte Victoire, which premiered in Aix, June, 2007.
Bill is married to Barbara Smyth Edgar, who is Administrator of the Huguenot Fellowship and also teaches French at the Westminster Language Institute. They have two children, and three grand children.