Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Scholarship's Great Loss

One of the disadvantages of not attending to the biblioblogosphere as often as I'd like is the news that I have missed. It has come to my attention today that two giants of scholarship have recently passed away, Gerald F. Hawthorne and Clark Pinnock. I knew neither man personally, but I was afforded the chance to meet Clark Pinnock in my early days of seminary. He delivered lectures that I took for a class credit in my introduction to Christian Theology class at Ashland. He was a proponent of the much discussed open view of God and I remember him signing his book Most Moved Mover for me. The impression that Dr. Pinnock left after those series of lectures was that he was very honest about where he was theologically in the past as well as the present. He was influenced by everything from strict Calvinism, Arminianism, and eventually to what was coined the 'open view' of God's sovereignty.

Gerald Hawthorne's influence on me was from a distance. From his co-edited Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, to his Philippians commentary, which set the standard for O'Brien, Fee, Bockmuehl, and others to follow in this Pauline letter.  His influence was epitomized by a standard of excellence for which every biblical scholar should strive.

Both men will be missed immensely. Thanks be to God their work lives on.

No comments: