"The Strife is O'er, the Battle Done" - we often sing that at funerals. Especially when we see how it is true not just for our Lord, but for the person He has gathered home to Himself. I wish I could have known Jaroslav Pelikan - just to have thanked him for all his work; I've relied on his scholarship for many years.
Anytime a person picks up a volume of Luther's Works (American Edition), you can't help but think of him. Anytime a person turns to "Tappert's" Book of Concord, one thinks of Pelikan (and Piepkorn!). Anytime I need a quick answer to something from the early centuries, where to look but his series on Church History? His *Riddle of Roman Catholicism* remains a classic, even after some of its points were mooted after the Second Vatican Council. His insight into the interplay of catholic substance and protestant principle in the Reformation remains a most helpful light to those seeking to understand the history of Lutheranism in particular and the Reformation in general.
A mind that absorbed and processed such a staggering amount of data - and all in service to Christ and His Bride! He was a great gift of God to the Church in these "gray and latter days." Rest in peace, Father in Christ! Rest in peace!
May his memory be eternal!
ReplyDeleteDeb
Alas! When did it happen?
ReplyDeleteSaturday, I believe, Eric. I don't think Christianity will see another such for many years.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was Sat afternoon
ReplyDeletehttp://www.svots.edu/News/Recent/2006-0513-pelikan/
May his Memory be Eternal. He was a giant in late 20th Century Christian history and will be missed deeply.
ReplyDeleteI echo Pastor Weedon's sentiments. He has been extremely instrumental in my own personal studies in church history. His christian history series, is one of the few series I will pick up and read again and again. God bless that sweet soul.
ReplyDelete