GIANT!

A giant went home last week.

Harold Hoehner, Distinguished Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Seminary, died unexpectedly Thursday morning.

Our weekly Faculty Meeting that day was agonizing; the sharing of memories, the prayers, and even the laughter as we recollected his wry humor and dry wit brought a heaviness of heart, a numbness of mind. Shock and grief.

I met Harold in the early 90s. With a couple of PhDs under his belt—one from Cambridge—this giant of a scholar thought nothing of flying down to Houston, two Sundays in a row, to preach at a small international church plant I was pastoring, that met in a cafeteria. There he was, the erudite DTS professor, Greek New Testament and all, patiently sitting through my Sunday School class in Wyatt’s! Though this “gentle man” did his best to put me at ease, even now I cringe at the memory!

Who among you is wise and understanding?
Let him show by his good behavior
his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.
James 3:13

That was Harold … just like his Lord.

Years later, I would be his student, after that, his colleague and, on occasion, his family dermatologist! Until last week, I was also privileged to serve under his leadership on the PhD Studies Committee at DTS. He, one of the senior-most profs at the Seminary and I, among the junior-most. The rank differential didn’t matter. He was a friend, an encourager, and a champion for you, no matter where you were situated on the totem-pole. In fact, last year, this kind giant took it on himself to write a glowing letter of recommendation to a publishing house, T. & T. Clark in London, to get them to accept my book proposal. They did!

So, as those who have been chosen of God,
holy and beloved,
put on a heart of compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness and patience.
Colossians 3:12

Harold did—chosen of God, holy and beloved!

It is so hard to believe he is gone! He leaves behind an immense legacy. Over four decades at Dallas. Hundreds of students mentored, taught, guided, entertained, edified …. An institution!

And now he is in heaven, in the very presence of the God he loves.

In Him, you also,
after listening to the message of truth,
the gospel of your salvation
—having also believed,
you were sealed in Him
with the Holy Spirit of promise,
who is given as a pledge of our inheritance,
with a view to the redemption
of God's own possession,
to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 1:13–14

Harold remarked on this verse in his 960-page magnum opus, a commentary on Ephesians. That inheritance, he declared there, “qualifies believers to live eternally in the presence of God … because of the Father’s election, the Son’s redemption, and the Spirit’s sealing.”

I bet he is beginning to enjoy his well-deserved inheritance now!

In a recent Seminary faculty-authored festschrift to this giant (Interpreting the New Testament Text), the editors put it best:

“[Harold] is a man of integrity, energy, frugality, … coupled with a genial sense of humor, humility, and a loyal and collegial spirit. Those of us who have served with him at DTS have had the rare favor of genuine mentoring: he guided us as students, recruited us as neophyte faculty, defended us and challenged us when necessary, and all along modeled for us what scholarship in the service of Christ can be.”

Amen!

Harold Hoehner, man of God. A giant. Finally home!

We were blessed by his life. I, and the rest of the DTS community, will be proud to stand on his shoulders.

I’ll miss him.