Scholarship in the Service of the Church:
More Essays in Honor of Ralph W. Klein

It is a delight to honor Ralph Klein because he does so many things well. He
has been a scholar’s scholar, a teacher’s teacher, a dean’s dean, a churchman’s
churchman, and more.

Not only do we honor Ralph for what he has done but we also honor him
for the way he has done it. For example, Ralph has an unusual capacity to give
attention to detail and at the same time to have the larger picture in mind. This was especially true of his work in various administrative capacities—such as his concern for the budgetary particulars of the seminary while having a vibrant overall vision for the school and its future. In scholarship, no one seems to be more fascinated by the details of the genealogies in Chronicles while at the same time keeping squarely in mind the overall scope of these books.

Also, Ralph has shown amazing discipline and efficiency. He is one of the most prodigious workers I know, able to get an enormous amount done in a short period of time—including the editing of this journal six (I repeat six!) times each year. The diversity of his activities and his capacity to be decisive also attest to this. And he is never behind on his e-mail correspondence! In addition, as the Letter of James says, Ralph has a “gentleness of wisdom.” I can recall countless moments when in a faculty meeting or a committee
meeting or a student examination Ralph has spoken a word of wisdom and grace. Many of us have depended on his counsel. We will sorely miss his fulltime participation at LSTC.

Furthermore, I want to point to Ralph’s generosity with humility. He has given of himself so much to every aspect of this school wherever he has been needed, and many of his contributions have gone unnoticed. He has mentored and encouraged many younger faculty members through the years. All this Ralph has done without pretension and with the humility of a person who at the end of the day simply says “I have done what I was called to do.” Finally, I want to offer a special word of gratitude for Ralph’s friendship.

Many of us faculty members have benefited from Ralph’s friendship through the years. He is always eager to ask how things are going, especially when health or tragedy or other difficulties are at hand. This was certainly true for me and my family when my wife was going through a life-threatening illness. What also strikes me about Ralph’s relationship with colleagues and students alike is that he is present to them. Every time I see him in the hallway and every time I approach his office, he puts aside whatever he is doing and gives full attention to what I am about to say. He is not distracted. He is not in a rush to get somewhere else. He is there for others.

There will be a gaping hole left here in Ralph’s absence. On my way from Wisconsin last spring, just prior to the banquet honoring Ralph, I went through the underpass on 47th Street and discovered too late that I was about to go over (or into) the mother of all potholes. The experience jarred me, tested my tire to its limits, and bounced the chassis against the pavement. I was almost lost in the hole, and I came through it only with great peril. I thought of Ralph’s impending retirement. His absence at LSTC will leave a gaping hole in the
road as we journey ahead together. And we will have to negotiate the future carefully without him!

It is a pleasure to be the guest editor again for this second issue of Currents in Theology and Mission in honor of its long-time editor. As mentioned in the first volume, the LSTC faculty wished to dedicate essays to Ralph on the occasion of his retirement. Our theme, “Scholarship in the Service of the Church,” typifies Ralph’s commitment to scholarship and to the faith. The faculty offered more contributions than one issue could hold, and we are delighted to present this second set of essays.

James Kenneth Echols likens Ralph Klein to a sports superstar like Michael Jordan who does it all and even makes those around him into better players. Ralph has “done it all” as a superb teacher, prominent scholar and writer, leader in educational technology, outstanding administrator, theologian of the church, dedicated editor, innovative archivist, and more. President Echols expresses his special appreciation for Ralph’s humility in the face of these accomplishments and his commitment to live throughout as “a disciple of Jesus Christ.” The institution and community of LSTC are clearly “that much better for Ralph’s ministry.”

Mark Bangert offers a fitting tribute to his colleague with commentary on a cantata For a Dear Teacher (dedicatee unknown) by Johann Sebastian Bach. The piece is extant in five versions, the result of a not uncommon redactional process called parody, by which Bach, after constructing a new poem for a new
occasion, devised music to go with it that was based on an existing model. Bangert points out that Bach often transposed nonliturgical compositions into liturgical ones (but not vice versa). In Bangert’s view, the ease with which Bach went from “secular” to “sacred” music was due to his Lutheran understanding of vocation, a view that did not distinguish secular from sacred but held that “Life should be experienced as a whole, faith propelling every facet.” The article concludes with words of appreciation for Ralph Klein’s wonderful sense of humor. An addendum renders in German and English the words to Cantata 36c, Soar Joyfully Upwards.

Esther Menn weaves a profound series of reflections on the importance of an unnamed servant girl in 2 Kings 5. Although she appears in only three verses, her presence exemplifies major themes for the story of Naaman, and her words are the driving force for the plot. As a refugee in foreign territory, she expresses her faith in God’s healing, shows compassion for an enemy commander, sparks a crisis between peoples in conflict, causes the crossing of ethnic borders, and triggers a healing of leprosy and Naaman’s subsequent
embrace of the God of Israel. Menn points out that few commentators have focused on children as characters in the biblical stories. She notes that many children play significant roles, such as solving problems, expressing theological insight, and serving as agents of change in political and cultural conflicts. She challenges us to attend carefully to child characters as examples of “the weak and insignificant” means through which God works wondrous things.

Richard Perry offers a tribute to Ralph Klein with reflections on what it means to be a teaching theologian of the twenty-first century. In the context of a racially mixed and religiously pluralistic society, a theologian today needs to be a public theologian who is at home in both sanctuary and world. The finite eucharistic elements that “bear the infinite” and the concept of the incarnation (both of which are rooted in the sanctuary) lead one to see the presence of God in the concrete experience of people and cultures in everyday life. Perry
cautions theologians against allowing the isolation of academic life and the pressures of publishing to prevent them from knowing firsthand the pain and struggles of poor people, listening to their stories, and walking with them in the streets of their neighborhoods. Only as we theologians walk with those who are strangers to us, learn from them, and genuinely feel at home with them will we grasp the magnitude of God’s grace. Perry affirms that Ralph Klein has been such a faithful public theologian.

David Rhoads claims that each of the writings in the New Testament reflects a distinctly different worldview—portrayal of God, view of the human condition, the understanding of Jesus, ethical standards, and image of true community. He briefly profiles seven New Testament worldviews: the empowerment
to act in the face of fear (Mark); the exposure of hypocrisy and fostering of integrity (Matthew); the announcement of a new social order based on mercy for the least and the lost (Luke); the evocation of eternal life in the present experience of the believer (John); the freedom that results from justification
by grace rather than from human traits or effort (Galatians); the wisdom of seeking unlimited grace from above as liberation from the struggle for limited earthly resources (James); and the call to come out of the evil Roman Empire based on lies and oppression so as to live for the realm of God based on truth and justice (Revelation). Honoring this diversity, struggling with it, learning from it, and seeing our diversity mirrored in it will benefit church and world today.

Barbara Rossing opens her essay with a list of threats about to come about upon Earth as a result of global warming and an account of several disasters that have already taken place due to the melting of ice. Scientists give us about ten years to make dramatic changes in our use of carbon fuels or face irrevocable damages. Rossing details the anti-creation viewpoint of 2 Peter— that heaven and earth are destined for complete destruction by fire, and believers should “hasten” this day of God’s retribution. She notes that this is the only text that prophesies destruction of creation; the text is primarily meant to induce repentance; and the promised new heaven and earth are merely “a reward for the righteous after the wicked have been destroyed.” By contrast, Revelation honors creation itself and envisions an imminent end to the Roman
imperial order when God will “destroy the destroyers of the earth” (11:18). Revelation calls for urgent withdrawal from the empire and an allegiance to the counterimperial city under God’s lordship. So, too, this generation should withdraw from our destructive ways in the face of a possible end to life as we know it due to global warming—before it is too late.

Mark Swanson brings to light a story in Arabic about a ninth-century Christian martyr, preserved in a manuscript from the St. Catherine Monastery at Mount Sinai. Swanson introduces the text and then offers a full English translation of it—a powerful account of an Arab who grew up Christian, then for thirteen years joined Muslims in a war against the Byzantines, repented and returned to Christianity to become a monk and eventually the superior at St. Catherine’s. He was martyred by Muslims as an apostate from Islam when he
was recognized for his former life as a Muslim warrior. Swanson argues that the story served to encourage Christians to remain faithful even in a time when many were converting to Islam. The story also counters a common practice of voluntary martyrdom when, in the middle of the story, God thwarts Qays’s efforts to bring martyrdom upon himself. Swanson points out that his own teaching of this story over many years has led to rich conversations about the relationships between Christians and Muslims, then and now.

David Rhoads
Guest Editor

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