| LEAVE A MESSAGE READ MESSAGES ED'S LIFE ED'S WORK MORE TO COME HOME |
MESSAGES, TRIBUTES AND COMMENTS
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| Bill Newman, Indianapolis |
| William Scott, Longmont, CO |
I came to look up more information of Dr. Clowney this afternoon. My great interest is because, as I have told all I can remember to tell, Edmund P. Clowney preached the greatest sermon I have ever heard in my life - and I believe the greatest I will ever have the privilege of hearing. Much of that could be the majesty of the subject he chose, or was given. I attended the Pittsburgh meeting of the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology in 1979, while a freshman at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA. And Dr. Clowney spoke the first or second night on "The Unchanging Christ." Masterfully preached, and full of the feeling of a true believer. I have had copies of that sermon with me almost ever since, and have to distribute some to my friends as I've been meaning to for some time. Having been a believer from childhood, I was warmed to hear the sermon that night and in the years since. Thank you for helping him to deliver that great gift, and so many others over the years. I am indebted to you for that.
Peace and love to each of you,
Bill Scott
| David Bartlett, Olney England |
David Bartlett
| Kate Schrecengost, Charlottesville, VA |
I was a third year medical student graciously accepted by your family to join you in celebration of Mr. Clowney's life near the time of his death. I am now taking a class called Literature in Medicine and for my final project am writing about my experience caring for your beloved husband/father/grandfather and the impact your family had upon me as a person and upon my medical education. This man and your love for him will forever stand out in my mind as a time of love, grace and God's presence. Thank you again for allowing me to join you. It was such a holy time and I was privileged to be a small part of it.
Blessings,
Kate
| Linda Sellers, West Melbourne, FL |
My first exposure to Dr. Clowney came after my husband, whose own background was in the Presbyterian USA church, was converted. At that point he recognized the bankruptcy of the liberal church and we began a search for a denomination or church that was faithful to the Bible, eventually ending up in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
What a revelation it was to me to be exposed to such teaching and it was my first introduction to a real theology beyond the Godly teacher who exposited Romans who was the means of my conversion years earlier.
After a few years I began to teach the junior level Sunday School classes using the materials prepared by Dr. Clowney. Well, you can guess who learned the most from those lessons, though my pupils benefited greatly as well!
Later my husband and I were priviledged to hear him speak at a PEF conference on Christ in the Psalms, and that was another eye-opening and educational experience.
Linda Sellers
| Howard and Hunter Jones, Brevard, NC |
We have only recently been made aware of Dr. Clowney's writings, specifically through his article about Christ's being the subject of the Old Testament in the Reformation Study Bible. We were thrilled and encouraged by his treatment of the subject and will become a collector of his writings as well as spreaders of the gospel he so beautifully explained. We are sorry we missed him in this life, but will look forward to meeting him in heaven.
Thank you and blessings,
Hunter and Howard Jones
P.S. We live in the residential section of the Ridge Haven Conference Center.
| Charles Drew, New York, NY |
Memories of Ed Clowney
Charles Drew
When in the early 1970s I was contemplating going to Westminster Seminary some friends told me, “Don’t go there! You will lose your humanity.” To which I could only reply, “That’s nonsense. I know the president of the school and he is very human.” Ed Clowney had spoken three times at the Harvard Radcliffe Christian Fellowship during my undergraduate years and had at least once slept in my dorm room because we were too cheap to put him up in a decent hotel. (I will never forget the resplendent red pajamas he wore and the forbearance with which he bore the ribbing, then and from time to time over the next thirty years, about them.) Ed had always been gracious, despite the accommodations, and he had always demonstrated in his talks a deep love for the message of the gospel and the God of the gospel. He was anything but “inhuman”—demonstrating that it was entirely possible to be very clear about one’s reformed theology while at the same time loving Christ and people.
One of the talks he gave at Harvard, entitled “The High Cross” (I think), has shaped my thinking to this day. In it he showed us something of how much the sufferings of Jesus wounded the Father. Up until that point I had thought only of the cost of the cross to the Son. Up until then the Trinity had been little more than a standard for orthodoxy—a way of distinguishing what I believed from the faith of Mormon friends. But now I began to see something of the dynamic love within the Godhead—the commitment of all three Persons to the rescue of the human race from its self-imposed misery. It planted wonder and worship deeply within me.
I would never have guessed in those undergraduate days how much our paths would cross in the years ahead and how much those crossings would mean in my life. It was Ed who got me fired up about biblical theology, about the fact that the whole Bible is redemptive history designed to point us towards the appearance and ministry of Jesus Christ. He taught me to love the Bible not only for its coherence, but also for its beauty. God emerged from Ed’s teaching not merely as Redeemer, but as beautiful Redeemer, weaving together patterns of revelation that no human author or set of human authors could have designed. Many years later, when I endeavored to put in writing what I had been discovering in these matters, he graciously read and critiqued the manuscript and wrote me a preface.
Following Ed’s retirement from WTS we found ourselves serving under Skip Ryan as associates in the same church in Charlottesville, VA. It was scary at first preaching to my former homiletics professor, but he was so gracious and encouraging that I quickly got over the weirdness of it. His contribution in that setting was enormous—his wisdom in staff meetings, his preaching, his theology of the diaconate and diaconal ministry, his insights on the church.
I especially remember Ed’s work with James B., an indigent local who kept getting himself in trouble—and dragging Ed into the trouble with him (eliciting groans of exasperation from Jean). On one occasion (and this is just one story of many) James rented a TV and then sold it for cash. When he found himself in trouble with the law he called “Brother Ed” to help him out. And Ed did help him out, despite the fact that he was swamped writing his commentary on 1 Peter and fulfilling a range of other pastoral duties—all while he was in theory “semi-retired.” Ed and I had some quiet laughs and some hair-pulling sessions about “Brother James”, but Ed never evidenced a bitter spirit. He never gave any indication that he considered serving James any less important than serving the broader church in his writing.
Many years have passed since our time in Charlottesville. Throughout that time, beginning with a poem he wrote for me when I left to take a church up north, Ed showed continuing interest in my life decisions while at the same time being always very open about the doings of his extended and growing family. And then, as the Lord would have it, Jeannie and I decided to invest in the purchase of a retirement home in Charlottesville, and it turned out to be across the street from the Clowney’s residence. This afforded us at least one occasion not long before Ed died to catch up face to face. At that meeting he showed me with pleasure the place where he was still working on his writing projects, gave me an autographed copy of one of his recent publications, and asked at length after my family. I was delighted to tell him that my son was now at WTS—and seemed to be in no danger of losing his humanity.
I cannot end without remarking on some of Ed’s sayings. Three of them have come back to me repeatedly in pastoral ministry.
One of them: “Tee up before you drive.” Many times as I have been on the verge of critiquing someone, I have remembered these words and backed off the critique long enough to summon something encouraging. It has always helped.
Another: “That is irregular but not wicked.” I have found it immensely helpful in hundreds of decisions through the years to keep this distinction before my eyes. Machen’s warrior children need to pick their battles—and Ed’s advice has proven very wise.
A third: “I’m a split pea”. This is closely related to the second statement and needs a little explaining. I came to WTS out of an Episcopal and parachurch background. I was surprised and dumbfounded by how many brands of Presbyterians there were: BPs, FPs, RPCES types, PCUSers, UPs, RPs, OPs, ARPs, RP (Evangelical Synod)s—and so the list continued. In some distress I asked Ed which of them he was—to which he gave the above answer. In a short phrase he communicated to me that he knew about the problem, grieved over it, but didn’t want me to be debilitated by it. Back of the wry humor was the confidence that Christ will build his church, despite us.
Ed was many things to me—a mentor, a colleague, a teacher, a friend. Perhaps the fullest and best designation is father in the faith—a term that points both to his kindness and to the role he played in my thinking. Ed engendered in my mind a love for the Scriptures, the gospel, and the reformed faith. I am very grateful to God for him.
| Gordon Smestad, |
Perhaps a collection of his teaching on mp3 would be in order a 10 cd collection could contain 500 hours at a very low cost.
| Lori, charlottesville |
Sincerely,
Lori
| Bea Merzig, Oneonta, NY |
Bea Merzig
Wheaton College '43