In memorial: Christian apologist John Warwick Montgomery passed away yesterday.

[Ain't Zwinglian]

My theological hero, Dr. Montgomery died yesterday at the age of 92. In 1981, I went to Strasbourg, France to study apologetics under him personally. We used to joke that he had more earned degrees than a thermometer (Eleven earned degrees). He will be sorely missed.

I first heard of JWM from Walter Martin in the 1970's. I bought his book The Suicide of Christian Theology, which contained his seminal essay The Theologian's Craft which influenced me greatly. It is also around this time, Os Guinness published the Dust of Death, another work which influenced me as I was studying Philosophy at San Jose State.

JWM was an evidentialist....with heavy emphasis on historical apologetics, literary apologetics, and in these last thirty years....legal apologetics.

One book which everybody recommends: History, Law and Christianity....a short but stout book, which with effort could be read in a weekend.

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[chevyontheriver]

My theological hero, Dr. Montgomery died yesterday at the age of 92. In 1981, I went to Strasbourg, France to study apologetics under him personally. We used to joke that he had more earned degrees than a thermometer (Eleven earned degrees). He will be sorely missed.


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For bio see..
file:///Users/NWS/Downloads/Jwm_Full_Obituary_With_Footnotes.pdf

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While he wasn’t my ‘hero’ per se he was an astute observer of the Lutheran situation. I have one of his books which included a letter correspondence between him and the previous owner of the book.

He will be missed.

 

[Ain't Zwinglian]

While he wasn’t my ‘hero’ per se he was an astute observer of the Lutheran situation. I have one of his books which included a letter correspondence between him and the previous owner of the book.

He will be missed.

Yes. He was the person who coined the term "gospel reductionism." This term accurately describes the liberal theology of Gerhard Forde and of the ELCA as a whole.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Yes. He was the person who coined the term "gospel reductionism." This term accurately describes the liberal theology of Gerhard Forde and of the ELCA as a whole.

I have misfiled that book in my library. I'll look for it again later and see if I can't send you a copy of that correspondence.

 

[AlexB23]

My theological hero, Dr. Montgomery died yesterday at the age of 92. In 1981, I went to Strasbourg, France to study apologetics under him personally. We used to joke that he had more earned degrees than a thermometer (Eleven earned degrees). He will be sorely missed.


_______

For bio see..
file:///Users/NWS/Downloads/Jwm_Full_Obituary_With_Footnotes.pdf

​

I prayed for John W. Montgomery, that he is in Heaven above with our Lord Jesus Christ. Christian apologetics, while I do not know much about the technical aspects of apologetics, is important to help defend the message of Christianity.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Yes. He was the person who coined the term "gospel reductionism." This term accurately describes the liberal theology of Gerhard Forde and of the ELCA as a whole.

The book I have of his is 'Crisis in Lutheran Theology: The Validity and Relevance of Historic Lutheranism vs. Its Contemporary Rivals" (1969) Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI.

I suspect it is ex libris from Oliver Harms and I got it at the St. Louis Book Fair. I got the book in 1974, the same year as the split at the Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. I was an undergraduate at a college physically very close to Concordia at the time and it was hard not to know about what was going on there.

The letter I mentioned is actually a copy of a letter from Mr and Mrs David Kloha of Flat Rock MI to Rev Oliver R. Harms of St. Louis MO. It appears to be just a part of a longer correspondence between them. I misremembered in thinking it was correspondence to or from John Warwick Montgomery. It is ABOUT things in Montgomery's book but not to or from him. Let me know if it is of interest to you.

 

[Ain't Zwinglian]

The book I have of his is 'Crisis in Lutheran Theology: The Validity and Relevance of Historic Lutheranism vs. Its Contemporary Rivals" (1969) Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI.

I suspect it is ex libris from Oliver Harms and I got it at the St. Louis Book Fair. I got the book in 1974, the same year as the split at the Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. I was an undergraduate at a college physically very close to Concordia at the time and it was hard not to know about what was going on there.

The letter I mentioned is actually a copy of a letter from Mr and Mrs David Kloha of Flat Rock MI to Rev Oliver R. Harms of St. Louis MO. It appears to be just a part of a longer correspondence from them. I misremembered in thinking it was correspondence to or from John Warwick Montgomery. It is ABOUT things in Montgomery's book but not to or from him. Let me know if it is of interest to you.

I already read that book. As I recall Crisis in Lutheran Theology was in two volumes. But not sure.

Our church organist was at Concordia St. Louis during the walkout with her husband. They stayed and didn't participate in the walkout. It was a horrible experience for them as they lost all of their friends they made for the last few years at the Seminary. The redeeming factor here is they only had to endure the isolation, loneliness and jeers for a few months before her husband received a call on the West Coast....far away from St. Louis.

The walkout also affected other families....father/son and brother/brother splits so bad, their relationships became irreconcilable.

 

[chevyontheriver]

I already read that book. As I recall Crisis in Lutheran Theology was in two volumes. But not sure.

Our church organist was at Concordia St. Louis during the walkout with her husband. They stayed and didn't participate in the walkout. It was a horrible experience for them as they lost all of their friends they made for the last few years at the Seminary. The redeeming factor here is they only had to endure the isolation, loneliness and jeers for a few months before her husband received a call on the West Coast....far away from St. Louis.

The walkout also affected other families....father/son and brother/brother splits so bad, their relationships became irreconcilable.

The book I have is described as Book I. I have never seen book II.

 

[RileyG]

May he rest in peace.