KRISTER STENDAHL, 1921-2008

Dated 15 April 2008

To the HDS community--

It is with immense sadness, but also with immense thankfulness for a singular life wonderfully well-lived, that I write to inform you that Krister Stendahl, our beloved friend, teacher, colleague, and former Dean, died this morning. A funeral service is planned for Friday morning at University Lutheran Church, and a memorial service to be held at Harvard's Memorial Church is being planned for sometime in May. Details on that University event and on other chances to recall, celebrate, and honor Krister will be communicated as soon as we know them, by email as well as on the HDS website. Please keep all of the Stendahl family in your thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely,

William A. Graham,
Dean

(Posted by Bob Kraft on the PSCO list.)

I was a postgraduate at Harvard during Professor Stendahl's last year there before he left to become Bishop of Stockholm, but I didn't really get to know him. Regarding his scholarly career, note this from the Wikipedia article on him:

Stendahl is perhaps most famous for his publication of the article "The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West." This article, along with the later publication of the book Paul Among Jews and Gentiles, conveys a new idea in Pauline studies suggesting that scholarship dating all the way back to Augustine may miss the context and thesis of Paul. His main point revolves around the early tension in Christianity between Jewish Christians and Gentile converts.

Through his interest in the Jewish context of the New Testament, Stendahl developed an interest in Jewish Studies and has been active in the Jewish-Christian dialogue.

He also edited the seminal and classic collection The Scrolls and the New Testament (New York: Harper, 1957), which I have on my book shelf and still refer to.

Requiescat in pace.