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| This is George Lindbeck, the way he looked when he came to the early morning service at Bethesda Lutheran Church, New Haven. |
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| Lindbeck's later photograph, published by another periodical. About Covenant |
Quiet, modest pioneer – Covenant:
"George A. Lindbeck, 1923-2018
George A. Lindbeck’s death on January 8 brings to a close an era of extraordinarily fruitful theological work that he engaged with colleagues around the Church. At Yale, he worked with the late Hans Frei and Brevard Childs; within Lutheranism, with thinkers like Jaroslav Pelikan, Robert Jenson, and Harding Meyer; he had Roman Catholic partners like Walter Kasper, and Jewish ones like Peter Ochs. Lindbeck’s personal contributions to this network of discussion was enormous, though often modestly quiet. His writings were comparatively few, with only one monograph achieving renown — although one of towering proportions — The Nature of Doctrine (1984). Lindbeck also wrote numerous articles, only a few of which have been republished (cf. The Church in a Postliberal Age [2003]).
He tirelessly engaged in ecumenical discussion. He had a major role in the landmark Lutheran-Roman Catholic Joint Declaration on Justification (1999). His continuous teaching at Yale from 1952 to 1993 provided him with detailed research, notes, and reflection that, by the end of his life, pointed to astonishing new directions on ecclesiological reflection that not only derive from his individual creativity but embody elements drawn from his rich intellectual interactions. All scholars live within a vital network of collegial work. Lindbeck’s, however, represents a unique moment of transition in the Church’s theological self-understanding, laying on the table and engaging what are now standard, if difficult and contested contemporary, challenges of missionary witness within broadly hostile or indifferent cultural settings.
Lindbeck was born in China, to missionary parents, a formation that proved central to his vision. His advanced theological training was in late medieval philosophy, which he studied in Toronto and Paris, under Étienne Gilson and Paul Vignaux, respectively. In part this training shaped his precise, analytical approach to matters, one that sometimes masked his deep piety and Christian fervor. At Yale, he regularly taught ordinands medieval and Reformation theology, in lectures that were detailed, careful, often profound and daring in their questions, as year by year he constantly refashioned his thinking in exciting ways. He was an expert on Luther but also on Aquinas (and his seminar notes on the latter are ones I still study). His many students, Protestant and Catholic, have enriched the Church’s ministry, and many have become key theologians in their own right. Those who knew Lindbeck could not help but be transformed by his faith, humility, quiet focus, charity, sometimes sly wisdom, and profound knowledge and imagination.
George Lindbeck, left, and Kristen Skydsgaard meet Pope John XXIII during Vatican II in 1963.
For all his extraordinary historical and theological erudition, Lindbeck’s main vocation was ecumenical. He was one of the official Protestant observers at Vatican II, and he remained engaged in formal and informal dialogues for his entire career. His celebrated volume The Nature of Doctrine was a direct response to this ecumenical work."
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| Sterling LIbrary had books that were on the shelves from the earliest days of the school. Roland Bainton had his own office here, and we were invited up to see him on one trip - and that included Little Ichabod. |
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| Yale Divinity School is spartan in appearance but stunning in its setting of the fall colors of New Haven. Bainton lived a few blocks away, so we saw him often and heard him lecture. |
'via Blog this'
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GJ - As I have told one of our members, "It is not Do you know... but How do you know this person?"
When I attended Yale Divinity School, the Lutheran students mentioned that Bethesda Lutheran Church was just down the hill from YDS. In fact, the congregation bought a mansion and attached a church building to it, after moving from the inner city.
As a result, the Lutheran theology professors and students went to Bethesda. The professors were:
- George Lindbeck - theology;
- Paul L. Holmer - theology;
- Nils A. Dahl - New Testament;
- Sydney Ahlstrom - American church history; +
- Jaroslav Pelikan - European church history. +
One Sunday, we had some visitors in church for some tour of the school, so we also had in attendance -
- Henri Nouwen - pastoral theology; and
- The YDS dean.
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| Day Mission Library - YDS |
I often conducted the early service at Bethesda and preached several sermons at both service. The morning service was in a converted room of the mansion and rather small. Lindbeck was there every Sunday. We did not get to know him, so one day, the pastor and future bishop of the region said, "You don't know who George Lindbeck is? He was the official Lutheran official appointed to attend Vatican II."
I wrote about the YDS Lutheran faculty for The Lutheran (LCA) magazine. They did not call attention to themselves, so they were not celebrity professors. Late, YDS graduate Stan Hauerwas became high profile for publishing an enormous number of articles and books.
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| Harkness Bell Tower dominates the downtown campus. |
