Williamson earned a Master of Divinity at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, where he studied under John H. Leith, who also held a strongly critical, conservative perspective of the Presbyterian Church.
While there, he joined two classmates on Martin Luther King Jr.'s Selma to Montgomery marches, in order to encourage Civil Rights legislation.
Upon graduation, he pursued further studies at Yale Divinity School, where he earned a Master of Philosophy in Christian Ethics.
[1] Williamson has advocated against liberation theology and accommodation of the church to post-modern cultural mores.
[1] In December 2003, the Committee on Ministry of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina voted to withdraw its validation of Williamson's ministry, prompted by his writings against what he considered to be unorthodox practices and policies of the denomination.