Krister Stendahl (1921-2008), professor emeritus of New Testament and former dean of Harvard Divinity School, Bishop of Stockholm, and parishioner at University Lutheran Church, Cambridge, died on Tuesday.  He is mourned by many.  For students of Bible and theology he enlarged our sense of God, deepened our love for the church (and Judaism) and for humanity, and always conveyed a sense of wry humor mixed with deep wisdom in our ongoing conversation with God and one another.

For your pastors he was mentor and friend.  In Cambridge and especially in Jerusalem.  On one difficult occasion we remember driving him back from Bethlehem in order for him to participate in a Shabbat meal with an important rabbi –  in fact, his host at a conference.  Every exit from Bethlehem was blocked by the Israeli military. It was very slow going.  He was finally able to reach his host by cellphone.  He explained our predicament this way:  I will be late for our dinner together because your army is blocking every way out from Bethlehem!

But he also said on any number of occasions:  The measure of love is its ability to bear tension.  The more love, the more tension it can sustain.  One last image.  We recall him telling us that while he was dean, every fall he used to fall asleep with the Harvard Divinity School Facebook resting on his chest.  The last thing he would do would be to match name and face to “his” students.  Knowing his students was important to him: no wonder his students loved him.

For such wisdom and friendship we are deeply grateful.  And, some may recall, he preached at our installation service at OSLC on December 1, 2002.  He was a wise friend of this congregation.

Krister has now fallen asleep in God.  He is hidden in Christ.  May the joy of the Resurrection profoundly exceed his joy in living as a child of God.

Krister Stendahl, 1921-2008
Friend of God

The photo is from March, 2001 and is taken in Bethlehem, the West Bank.

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