Shortly after posting the note asking for prayers for Brevard Childs, I got word that he had passed away around 2:00 pm this afternoon. He died peacefully, surrounded by his family, just a few minutes after they removed life support.
Childs will be remembered as a giant in the field of Old Testament studies. He is best known for his canonical approach to the Scriptures, an approach that fundamentally changed the way some scholars approach the field. His critique of biblical theology in the 1970s led to a revitalization of that area of study, while his An Introduction to the Old Testament as Christian Scripture was a remarkable exercise in what he thought an introduction should be.
All of this and more will be said of Childs in the coming weeks as the field eulogizes him. But I wanted to take a moment to share some memories of him from when I was a student. I had the honor of taking two courses from him: Hebrew Reading of Psalms and Isaiah as Christian Scripture. The first I took as a first year seminary student. I remember sitting in the class hunched over my BHS and BDB, scared to death that Childs would call on me.
Childs was a very soft spoken man. Listening to him lecture always sounded to me like hearing Winnie the Pooh wax poetic on the wonders of the pi’el imperfect. He was an amazingly kind and gentle man, although he never could remember my name. After I took the Psalms class, the registrar sent him a note asking for my grade. Childs replied with a hand written note, stating that he couldn’t remember if I had dropped the class or not, but he suggested that perhaps I had taken the class under a different name.
In Isaiah as Christian Scripture, I got to interact most directly with his canonical approach to Scripture. Although I loved the new questions he was asking of the text, I never quite accepted completely the answers he gave. This, of course, is not the time to be debating such matters. But whether your agreed with him or not, Childs broad knowledge was unmistakable. He could quote at will from Luther and Calvin, and for a biblical scholar he knew entirely too much Barth for my taste. Of course, Childs knew Barth, and it was rumored at school that Childs had met his future wife in Barth’s living room. 1
Childs’s impact on the field was truly monumental, and I know many voices in the coming weeks will say so. I merely wanted to add my own personal note at his passing to offer my gratitude for the profound impact he had on my own understanding of the Old Testament as Christian Scriptures.
- I never knew whether this rumor was correct or not. [back]