Harold O.J. Brown 1933-2007

An appreciation by John Woodbridge at First Things:

Whether in foul weather or fair, a bicyclist would sometimes suddenly emerge from an opening in the neighboring woods. The bicyclist would then ride pell-mell on a dirt path across a meadow toward a divinity school, located in the northern suburbs of Chicago. If the weather were foul, mud could be seen splattering the bicyclist’s brownish-green Swiss pantaloons. His old bicycle had no mud guard.

There he was, Harold O.J. Brown, a lover of the outdoors (especially the Alps of Germany and Switzerland), peddling as fast as he could to reach a classroom building where forty or fifty students were awaiting him. The students would be patient, should he be a little late. After all, they would soon have the treat of listening to Professor Brown, one of the leading evangelical theologians of his generation, teach them systematic theology. This is the man who died Sunday after a long bout with cancer.

Brown was an intriguing lecturer. He could awe with displays of vast erudition regarding theology, ethics, journalism, politics, and church history. He could entertain by spouting Latin verse or by bursting into the hearty singing of an old German song. He could charm with flashes of wit and colorful anecdotes. But students especially appreciated Brown’s care and concern for them as persons. He wanted them to be educated (”civilized” with a wide-ranging culture), articulate, and activist Christians. He would generously go out of his way to help them. In 1989, students voted Professor Brown, their esteemed teacher, “Faculty Member of the Year” at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. [more]

First Things: Harold O. J. Brown