Their deaths lead us to be grateful for their lives and remember what was important to them.
Both men exercised ministries locally and globally. Hall was a pastor in Pennsylvania churches and moderator of the 200th General Assembly of the PC(USA); Guthrie a professor of theology at Columbia Seminary where he began teaching in 1958. The reach of both extended well beyond pulpit and classroom.
Hall was ordained in the United Presbyterian Church of North America and was a chemical engineer before being called into the ministry. He graduated from Pittsburgh-Xenia (now Pittsburgh) Theological Seminary and was pastor of the Hill church in Butler, Penn. for thirty-one years before being elected Moderator of the General Assembly. Hall served the church on all levels and after retirement from the pastorate was minister-at-large for the Presbyterian Foundation. He was a trustee of Pittsburgh and Dubuque Seminaries and actively engaged with the Inter-Church Committee on Northern Ireland, aiming for peace by ecumenical cooperation. As an interpreter of stewardship for the denomination and a tireless worker for reconciliation and social justice, Hall traveled widely and gained the respect of those who would disagree with him on a particular issue. His enthusiasm for mission, his dry wit and humor, as well as his incisive intelligence are memorable.
Guthrie was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.), did his doctoral work under Karl Barth in Basel, and began teaching at Columbia Seminary in 1958. He served on Presbytery and General Assembly committees and was an important member of the PCUS committee that produced, a new confession, A Declaration of Faith that, though not receiving constitutional status, was widely used throughout the denomination. His book, Christian Doctrine was published in 1968 (revised 1994; Westminster John Knox Press) for the Covenant Life curriculum of the PCUS and has been a best selling introduction to theology ever since. It makes theology accessible for laity in churches, college students, and seminarians. Other books followed. Guthrie lectured and preached widely in addition to influencing thousands of Columbia Seminary graduates. The editors of Many Voices One God: Being Faithful in a Pluralistic World (Westminster John Knox Press, 1998), essays in honor of Guthrie, commented, “He has spoken so often on the topic ‘What Presbyterians Believe’ that it is rumored he has given the lecture in his sleep!” (p. 2).
Times of death evoke celebrations of life, and especially so in the church. I was blessed by friendship with both these extraordinary leaders, Hall for over thirty years and Guthrie for twenty years. I dedicated a book to Hall (Major Themes in the Reformed Tradition [1992]) and contributed to the volume in honor of Guthrie. Those who knew and were influenced by these two committed Christians cannot help but reflect gratefully on the gift of their lives among us in the church. Three points about Hall and Guthrie are real to me.
Theology Matters. The preacher and the professor both embodied the best of the Reformed tradition in emphasizing the importance of theology for faith and practice. Hall’s sermons were biblically based and theologically focused. Guthrie’s teaching and writing ministries were grounded in the desire to make theology accessible to all, because theology is important. Both carried out Barth’s assessment of his own theology: “My whole theology you see, is fundamentally a theology for pastors” (Final Testimonies [Eerdmans, 1977], 23). Hall and Guthrie were church theologians and passionate to bring biblical and theological insights to bear for building up the church of Jesus Christ and serving the world God loves.
Humor Helps. Hall and Guthrie both liked to laugh. Hall’s fund of stories was inexhaustible and Guthrie could rock with laughter in the midst of theological discussions. It was true of both what the editors said of Guthrie: “He never takes himself or his theology too seriously.” This too reminds us of Karl Barth’s dream about which he said: “The angels laugh at old Karl. They laugh at his trying to capture the truth about God in a book on dogmatics. They laugh, because volume follows volume, each thicker than the last, and as they laugh they say to each other: ‘Look! There he goes with his barrow full of volumes on dogmatics” (Fragments Grave and Gay, 124-25). Through their ministries, Hall and Guthrie could laugh—because theology is a joyful science and God gives us humor as a good gift to help us keep perspective. But humor also reminds us that in all our “achievements” we are considerably “less than the angels.” We do not need to take ourselves “too seriously,” precisely because God has already done so, by loving us in Jesus Christ.
Christ is the Center. Hall’s friend, Richard Young said, “Ken Hall was one of the most Christ-centered people God has given me the privilege to know.” His pastor reported that when he visited Guthrie recently and told him the Sunday sermon would focus on forgiveness, Guthrie “smiled, a kind, deeply wise smile, and said, ‘You know, Scott, it’s all about forgiveness” (https://www.trinityatlanta.org/cgi-bin/viewer.pl?date=20040926). Both Hall and Guthrie had strong passions for theology and for peace, love, and justice. For them, these were all of one piece: doctrine and life. These are all core Christian convictions because Jesus Christ is the center of Christian faith. Barth said it when he commented: “The last word that I have to say as a theologian or politician is not a concept like grace but a name: Jesus Christ. He is grace and he is the ultimate one beyond world and church and even theology” (Final Testimonies, 29-30).
The PC(USA) and thousands of people have been nurtured by the lives of Ken Hall and Shirley Guthrie. Our church is grateful to God for their ministries among us and will continue to be blessed by their witness to Jesus Christ. Our church can continue to honor what was vital for their lives of Christian faith in the Gospel.
Their passing reminds us of the truth of a passage from Karl Barth’s lectures on the Heidelberg Catechism in explaining its first question and answer: “What is your only comfort, in life and in death? That I belong—body and soul, in life and in death—not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ…” (Book of Confessions 4.001). Shirley Guthrie translated Barth’s words in Barth’s book, The Heidelberg Catechism for Today (John Knox Press, 1964):
Therefore the appearance of human life, the anxiety in which man exists, is not only alleviated but totally changed. Because Jesus Christ by his Holy Spirit assures me of eternal life, my life in time may also stand under this assurance. The ‘radiant morning of eternity, the light of inexhaustible light,’ may announce itself in the temporal morning light of every day of my life. The command, ‘Do not be anxious about tomorrow,’ has become unnecessary. ‘In him you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.’ That is valid now, finally valid (32-33).
Soli Deo Gloria!
DONALD K. McKIM is academic and reference editor for Westminster John Knox Press and lives in Germantown, Tenn.
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