Leon Morris, 1914-2006

We thank gentle reader Scott for drawing our attention to the obituary of Dr. Leon Morris, whose passing we note with sadness.

As his obituary notes, Morris was a singularly prolific individual, not just as an author of widely used commentaries and other books but as a leader and builder of institutions that have furthered theological education. Those of us who excuse our lack of scholarly production because of the press of administrative duties are reminded to our shame that Morris managed to do both superbly.

Our admiration for Morris began when we were first exposed to his impressive commentaries. What made them impressive was not just their erudition but the straightforward simplicity with which they were expressed. Morris rarely wrote a sentence with more than 15 words. Yet the simplicity was never the product of oversimplification. Morris had the rare gift, perhaps nurtured by his very unconventional theological education (he was self-taught in theology except for his PhD, which, from a British university, was still largely self-directed), for expressing difficult ideas in plain language.

Circumstances made it possible for us to take two classes with Dr. Morris at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where he was a guest lecturer during the 1984 spring quarter. We found him to be a thorough gentleman of utterly humble demeanor. Our eschewing of such characteristics in our own teaching should in no way be taken as disrespect or disregard of his example.

We wish we could be half the person that this soft-spoken, slightly-built giant proved to be.