Ed Dobson’s Passing

Last updated on: December 29, 2015 at 2:58 pm by Scot McKnight

Ed Dobson’s Passing 2015-12-29T14:58:04-06:00 Scot McKnight

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This post is by Stan Gundry of Zondervan.

This post was originally published on the Bible Gateway Blog. (link to https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2015/12/remembering-ed-dobson-a-guest-post-by-stan-gundry/).

Edward G. Dobson, known as Dr. Dobson to some, as Pastor Dobson to others, as author to still others, and as Eddie to many close friends, died on December 26, 2015. I was his publisher, he was my pastor, but to me he was “Ed.” I have prayed for him many times since he was diagnosed with ALS in the year 2000, a disease that he fought valiantly but that finally got the better of him.

My first contact with Ed came in the mid 1980s, but given the nature of our contact, I would not have dreamed that we would ever be close. You see, at the time he was associated with Liberty University, involved with the Moral Majority, the right-hand man for Jerry Falwell, and Editor-in-Chief for the Fundamentalist Journal. In fact, my first contact with Ed came when he wrote me as Editor of the Journal and asked me to write an article for it. At the time I had little idea of who Ed was, but I did know that I was not Jerry Falwell’s kind of Fundamentalist (I am willing to be called a Fundamentalist, though, in the original sense of the term, that is, as one who believes and accepts the Fundamentals of the Christian faith). I do not even remember what Ed asked me to write about, but I do remember that I did not even bother to respond to his invitation.

Fast forward to 1987 when Ed left Liberty University and accepted the call to become the pastor of Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan where I live and work. I occasionally attended Calvary and was apprehensive about its future with Ed as pastor. I wondered if he would attempt to reshape the church in the image of Thomas Road Baptist Church and Jerry Falwell. But what I did not know was that Ed himself had become disillusioned with the rationale behind the Moral Majority that cultural and moral problems could be successfully addressed through the political process. So, while he remained a close and loyal friend of Jerry Falwell, Ed moved on and eventually we at Zondervan published the book he co-authored, Blinded by Might, a book the explores the futility, mistaken priorities, and temptations associated with what he had left behind when coming to Calvary Church.

So Ed turned out to be quite a different kind of person and pastor than I had imagined, and I began to regularly attend Calvary Church. We got together for lunch every couple of months. Originally, as a publisher I was interested in getting him to write for Zondervan. That did happen, but more significantly, he became my pastor, even though I once told him I could never officially join Calvary Church because I had a basic disagreement with the church on a matter of church governance. Ed knew what I was referring to, and his response was very simple, “I understand,” and that never became a barrier in our relationship. I mention this because this was so typical of Ed—he accepted people for who they were and welcomed them all into the congregation. He was well-known for having told his congregation that gays and lesbians were welcome at Calvary Church and that they would be right at home with the rest of the sinners in the congregation whether they be liars, cheats, swindlers, or gossips (not an exact quote, but this was the gist of what he said).

One day I decided to probe Ed a bit further in terms of his ongoing friendship with Jerry Falwell. I said something like this, “Ed, it is no secret to you that I am not a big fan of Jerry Falwell, and I am embarrassed every time Jerry is portrayed in the media as the representative of what it means to be an evangelical Christian. So, my question for you is, “What would you want me to know about Jerry that I would not otherwise know that would explain your loyalty to and friendship with him in spite of the fact that you have moved on and are no longer formally associated with the organizations he leads or with his agenda?” His twofold response was a jolt to me and tempered my own attitude toward Falwell, reminding me that Falwell for all of his warts, was a Christian brother. “Stan,” Ed said, “Jerry is the most loyal person I know. I know that if anything were to happen to me, he would make sure that Lorna and my children were taken care of. But more than that, I would want you to know that I have never known anyone who makes prayer a priority in his life more than Jerry!”

During our lunches, I would sometimes try to draw out Ed on theological questions, especially the kinds of questions bandied about by biblical scholars and theologians. Most of these attempts were futile because Ed’s typical response would be something like this, “Stan, these are important and interesting questions, but frankly, these are not the questions and issues that the people in my congregation are wrestling with in real life.”

I always appreciated Ed’s teaching and preaching. He took the Bible seriously and handled it carefully. He explained the text and then applied it to the real life situations of those in front of him. When he was diagnosed with ALS and it became clear that the disease was taking its toll, I felt his preaching became even more insightful and convicting. I grieved when he decided that he could no longer carry the pastoral burden of preaching three times on Sundays. We continued to have the occasional lunch together, and my last lunch with him at Marco’s is etched in my memory; somehow I knew that this would be the last lunch we would have. And I grieve now over the loss of my pastor/friend who gave to me far more than he realized. Thank you, Ed, for all of those gifts.

Stan Gundry

Senior Vice President and Publisher, Zondervan Academic

Editor-in-Chief, Zondervan

Uncategorized

Previous Post

December 29, 2015

Police Shootings: Some Perspective

Next Post

December 30, 2015 Calvinism and Pantheism and the Good (Wesley Walker)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Acts of the Apostles Adam Advent Anabaptism Angels Anglican Apologetics Atonement Baptism BCP Prayers Bible Biblical Studies Birds Blogging Bloglossary Bonhoeffer Books Calvinism Christianity Church Church History Coffee Colossians Commentary Recs Conversion Creation Creeds Culture Death Ecclesiastes Economics Education Embracing Grace Emergent Emerging Movement Eschatology Essays Ethics Eucharist Evangelicalism Family Fasting Fathers Fellowship of Differents Footsteps Tour Fun and Whimsical Gospel Grace Happiness Heaven Hell Holy Spirit Irenaeus James Jesus Jesus Creed Job Justification Kingdom of God Law Lectures Lent Liberalism Love and Marriage Mabanteneni Manhood Mary Miracles Missio Alliance MissioLife Missional Missional Jesus Movies and Film New Perspective Northern Seminary OneLife Origins Project Orthodox Parables Pastor's Spouse Pastoring and Leading Pastoring and Preaching Patristics Paul Paul-John Tour Pharisees Pietism Political Theology Prayer and Formation Preaching Problems for Faith Psalm 119 Psalms Public Issues Purgatory Religions Resurrection Revelation Romans Rule of JCreed Science and Faith Sermon on the Mount Sports Ten Commandments Theology Third Way Top Ten Lists Translations Uncategorized Universalism University Ministry Way Out Weekly Meanderings Wisdom Women and Ministry Work Worship Writing & Blogging Youth Ministry

Select a Month July 2021 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What book of the Bible comes after Genesis?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Numbers Deuteronomy Exodus Leviticus