Martin Marty Died February 25, Age 97

 

 Born in 1928, he attended the earlier version of the now-fading Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. He gave lectures at Notre Dame and helped get my dissertation published with a positive review. The family behind A. D. Mattson wanted to publish the book via Augustana College. LSTC claimed the money was all spent from the Mattson funds. Too bad. I told the daughter, "Say these words softly and politely - 'I already talked to my attorney about this.'
     She said, "But I don't have an attorney."
     She repeated the words and soon had all the Mattson money needed.

PS - I almost forgot. I went to the Mattson book meeting with Christina, but she forgot to pack my entire suit. She realized close to the dinner that I needed slacks, too. We raced to some place where the problem could be resolved. That left the seamstresses rocking with laughter. "Mr. Jackson, could you just stand behind the podium when speaking?" 
     The story was shared, wherever and whenever possible, for some time after that.
   

A Reader's Request - Incomplete List - Some Famous People in My Life

 

These are famous people I have met. Attending a lecture does not count. Having a book signed by the author does.

VP Richard Nixon. I shook hands with him during his 1960 presidential campaign, Moline Airport.

Former Augustana College President Conrad Bergendoff. I often saw him in the library and at various college events. Christina told him we met on the first day of college. He said, "Then it was fore-ordained." He was a reader for my PhD dissertation at Notre Dame. He was also at the book promotion event at Augustana.

Otto Heick, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. He was retired but still taught Christology. His two-volume work on Christology is still very useful. Fortress Press dumped it. Christina and I went out to lunch with him numerous times, to the hospital for some visits, and also to visit his wife's grave.

 

Waterloo Lutheran Seminary President Ulrich Leupold was part-Jewish, from Germany, where he earned his doctorate at the age of 23. He was an accomplished organist and a PhD in musicology. He encouraged me to go to graduate school. He died young of a neurological disorder so I only had one class with him. I visited him just before he died. 

 Paul L. Holmer, Yale University

My vicar supervisor Henry Opperman was on a Lutheran Church in America board with Paul Holmer, so he suggested I attend Yale and spurned the thought of going to the University of Toronto. Holmer came to Waterloo Seminary on an academic visit, got a cold shoulder from the faculty, and ate supper with us at our humble basement apartment. We talked about graduate school there and he left, saying "See you in the fall." I was accepted for the STM degree. I took a class with Holmer at Yale and enjoyed seeing him at Bethesda Lutheran Church down the hill from Yale Divinity. I later took a class with him for summer school and stayed in touch with him. 

 Nils Alstrup Dahl, New Testament Professor, Yale

Like Dahl, who welcomed him to Yale, Malherbe emphasized the Biblical text. He was especially good at eviscerating the theories and fantasies of liberal Biblical scholars.

Robert Wilson taught the Hebrew exegesis of Genesis class, and it was all I could do to keep up with him. He skewered the apostate interpretation of Genesis.

 When I became "the Lutheran I always was" (Neuhaus quip) I read this book.

Bainton was a star among historians in his day and deserves to be remembered for his graduate students who also became great lecturers.

Bainton was very popular at Yale. We went to his lecture in the basement of our dorm. I often saw him on campus. Christina said, "Bainton is the only one who makes you stutter." He offered to xerox material for me when I was working on my dissertation. How many professors do that?

Stan Hauerwas, Yale PhD, was fired at Augustana College, left Notre Dame, and became ultra-famous at Duke University. He was on my dissertation committee, and I took his ethics class at Notre Dame.

Martin E. Marty is retired. He lectured at Notre Dame and agreed to recommend my Mattson book for publication. His blessing helped get it in print.

David Preus, cousin to Robert and Jack, worked for the ALC to commune with the Calvinists. He was not keen on the ELCA merger, and he was right about that. I talked to him at one of the last LCA Michigan district's meetings.

Jack Preus did a lot for Martin Chemnitz in English. I wonder why LCMS avoided that for so long. Hmmm? I talked to him several times, at one LCMS convention and also at Bethany.

I talked to Robert Marshall, LCA President, more than once. Jack Preus, on the left, seems unamused by cousin David on the far right.

Robert Preus clobbered his own past statements about Objective (Faithless) Justification, but his sons and relatives remain stuck to the old Pietistic errors.

WELS donated a lot of money to Cho's publications. He was a pan-denominational wonder, like that Willow Creek skirt chaser.

WELS ate this stuff up, under the guidance of Paul Kelm and other Church Growth knuckleheads.

How did I meet Cho? Christina and I went to Wheaton College for the Billy Graham Evangelism School there. We were LCA at the time and wanted to go where people still believed in God. My theory has always been to meet someone important because it likely will never happen again. When he was done giving the prayer at one session, I went up and shook his hand. I was unimpressed with his magic and later told WELS Cho fans he published nonsense. I met Chuck Colson (Nixon staffer) the same way, at Wheaton.

Hugh Jackman

Christina and I got to know Alice Walton at her Crystal Bridges Museum. We were early volunteers so we had brief chats with her. I also took a picture of her brothers and Alice, with my camera and theirs, at the museum.



I went to the Saturday Morning Meetings at Walmart, so I made a point of meeting two of the CEOs: Doug McMillon and his predecessor Mike Duke. Both men were startled that a mere human walked up and said hello.

Of all the celebrities that entertained for the meetings, only one - Hugh Jackman - came into the audience and shook hands. So I went over to say hello, too.

Lutheran scholar Martin Marty on faith, Luther, the state of religion | Chicago Sun-Times

Marty and I attended the Martin Marty lectures at Notre Dame.
MM endorsed my book/dissertation on A. D. Mattson.
LCMS-WELS worthies would say MM is a liberal,
but he teaches the same UOJ as WELS-LCMS.
His son Peter is an ELCA pastor,
and his radio show was Grace Matters.

Lutheran scholar Martin Marty on faith, Luther, the state of religion | Chicago Sun-Times:



"Martin Marty, Lutheran pastor, retired University of Chicago professor, author, has a new a book on Martin Luther’s “95 Theses” as 500th anniversary approaches, believes that a new Reformation, spanning denominations, would have to focus on “a recovery of love and justice.”

Ordained a Lutheran minister 65 years ago, Marty taught for 35 years at the U. of C. Was once editor at The Christian Century magazine and won a 1972 National Book Award for “Righteous Empire: The Protestant Experience in America.”

He’s retired but still writing, including a new book on Martin Luther called “October 31, 1517 — Martin Luther and the Day that Changed the World.”"

 Bishop Martin Marty, St. Meinrad's Seminary.
Martin Marty gave lectures there and posed with the
portrait of Martin Marty.

'via Blog this'

Shocking Expose - Team Jackson Listened to a Real PhD, Martin Marty

I took this photo after the endowed lectures that Martin Marty gave at Notre Dame, about 1983. Marty (not LI) was kind enough to endorse my dissertation for publication.

The Fox Valley plagiarists would jump all over this, except for one little fact. Marty also lectured at Wisconsin Lutheran College, even though the Michigan District of WELS passed a resolution opposing it. Not only that, but Thrivent/AAL/LB paid him to lecture WELS-ELCA-LCMS in Orlando, Florida.

It works this way - if WELS does it, there is nothing wrong. Before that, they may publish against it. But once they participate, their drones at the Love Shack make up a reason to support it with Enthusiasm.

I was digging around in our hope chest, looking for my birth certificate. I found a lot of great photographs instead. Some made me pause, as I looked at the transition of my mother from college co-ed in 1930 to white-haired great-grandmother holding Josie.

The photos of our sainted daughters made me a little sad and very nostalgic, but I also saw them adoring their brother and being adored.