Wednesday, July 08, 2015
James Dunn, who told me what to do (and was right)
On the 4th of July, James Dunn died in North Carolina. Here is part of what the Winston-Salem paper had to say:
In Winston-Salem, James Dunn will be remembered for the generosity, extensive knowledge and unwavering convictions on display during his 16 years as an adjunct professor of Christianity and public policy at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity.
That was just his retirement, though.
By the time Dunn moved to
Winston-Salem in 1999 to teach at Wake Forest, he had already made a
name for himself nationally as one of the leading voice among American
Baptists and as an outspoken advocate for religious freedom and the
separation of church and state.
Dunn had a profound effect on me at two points in my life. The first time was the weekend of the new year in 2000. He and I were on a panel together at Renaissance Weekend in Hilton Head, and by chance I ran into him at a restaurant the next day. I told him that I was thinking of going to teach at Baylor, and he told me to do it. He was unambivalent and enthusiastic (and right). He believed in Texas Baptists.
Later, it was his theology that deeply affected me, and his argument that every person had access to truth-- holy truth-- without intercession. I wrote about this in the book I just finished, remembering him holding a Bible and saying "this is my creed!"
In my few brief encounters with him, I saw the wonderful and unusual combination of talents he possessed: the ability at once to be both gentle in spirit and strong of opinion.
It might be that the best we can hope for when we finish this life is to have made others better. Dunn did that for me, and many others as well.
Dunn had a profound effect on me at two points in my life. The first time was the weekend of the new year in 2000. He and I were on a panel together at Renaissance Weekend in Hilton Head, and by chance I ran into him at a restaurant the next day. I told him that I was thinking of going to teach at Baylor, and he told me to do it. He was unambivalent and enthusiastic (and right). He believed in Texas Baptists.
Later, it was his theology that deeply affected me, and his argument that every person had access to truth-- holy truth-- without intercession. I wrote about this in the book I just finished, remembering him holding a Bible and saying "this is my creed!"
In my few brief encounters with him, I saw the wonderful and unusual combination of talents he possessed: the ability at once to be both gentle in spirit and strong of opinion.
It might be that the best we can hope for when we finish this life is to have made others better. Dunn did that for me, and many others as well.
James
M. Dunn, one of Baptists’ most well-known advocates for religious
liberty and separation of church and state, died July 4 a few weeks
after his 83rd birthday in Winston-Salem, N.C.
During his nearly two decades as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and for 12 years prior to that as executive director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, Dunn’s colorful rhetoric and take-no-prisoners approach in defense of liberty earned him the reverence and fury of Baptists across the theological spectrum.
- See more at: https://baptistnews.com/ministry/people/item/30246-james-dunn-robust-advocate-for-religious-liberty-dies-july-4#sthash.5BsctetJ.dpuf
During his nearly two decades as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and for 12 years prior to that as executive director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, Dunn’s colorful rhetoric and take-no-prisoners approach in defense of liberty earned him the reverence and fury of Baptists across the theological spectrum.
- See more at: https://baptistnews.com/ministry/people/item/30246-james-dunn-robust-advocate-for-religious-liberty-dies-july-4#sthash.5BsctetJ.dpuf
James
M. Dunn, one of Baptists’ most well-known advocates for religious
liberty and separation of church and state, died July 4 a few weeks
after his 83rd birthday in Winston-Salem, N.C.
During his nearly two decades as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and for 12 years prior to that as executive director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, Dunn’s colorful rhetoric and take-no-prisoners approach in defense of liberty earned him the reverence and fury of Baptists across the theological spectrum.
- See more at: https://baptistnews.com/ministry/people/item/30246-james-dunn-robust-advocate-for-religious-liberty-dies-july-4#sthash.5BsctetJ.dpuf
During his nearly two decades as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and for 12 years prior to that as executive director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, Dunn’s colorful rhetoric and take-no-prisoners approach in defense of liberty earned him the reverence and fury of Baptists across the theological spectrum.
- See more at: https://baptistnews.com/ministry/people/item/30246-james-dunn-robust-advocate-for-religious-liberty-dies-july-4#sthash.5BsctetJ.dpuf
James
M. Dunn, one of Baptists’ most well-known advocates for religious
liberty and separation of church and state, died July 4 a few weeks
after his 83rd birthday in Winston-Salem, N.C.
During his nearly two decades as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and for 12 years prior to that as executive director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, Dunn’s colorful rhetoric and take-no-prisoners approach in defense of liberty earned him the reverence and fury of Baptists across the theological spectrum.
- See more at: https://baptistnews.com/ministry/people/item/30246-james-dunn-robust-advocate-for-religious-liberty-dies-july-4#sthash.5BsctetJ.dpuf
During his nearly two decades as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and for 12 years prior to that as executive director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, Dunn’s colorful rhetoric and take-no-prisoners approach in defense of liberty earned him the reverence and fury of Baptists across the theological spectrum.
- See more at: https://baptistnews.com/ministry/people/item/30246-james-dunn-robust-advocate-for-religious-liberty-dies-july-4#sthash.5BsctetJ.dpuf
James
M. Dunn, one of Baptists’ most well-known advocates for religious
liberty and separation of church and state, died July 4 a few weeks
after his 83rd birthday in Winston-Salem, N.C.
During his nearly two decades as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and for 12 years prior to that as executive director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, Dunn’s colorful rhetoric and take-no-prisoners approach in defense of liberty earned him the reverence and fury of Baptists across the theological spectrum.
- See more at: https://baptistnews.com/ministry/people/item/30246-james-dunn-robust-advocate-for-religious-liberty-dies-july-4#sthash.5BsctetJ.dpuf
During his nearly two decades as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and for 12 years prior to that as executive director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, Dunn’s colorful rhetoric and take-no-prisoners approach in defense of liberty earned him the reverence and fury of Baptists across the theological spectrum.
- See more at: https://baptistnews.com/ministry/people/item/30246-james-dunn-robust-advocate-for-religious-liberty-dies-july-4#sthash.5BsctetJ.dpuf
James
M. Dunn, one of Baptists’ most well-known advocates for religious
liberty and separation of church and state, died July 4 a few weeks
after his 83rd birthday in Winston-Salem, N.C.
During his nearly two decades as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and for 12 years prior to that as executive director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, Dunn’s colorful rhetoric and take-no-prisoners approach in defense of liberty earned him the reverence and fury of Baptists across the theological spectrum.
- See more at: https://baptistnews.com/ministry/people/item/30246-james-dunn-robust-advocate-for-religious-liberty-dies-july-4#sthash.5BsctetJ.dpuf
During his nearly two decades as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and for 12 years prior to that as executive director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, Dunn’s colorful rhetoric and take-no-prisoners approach in defense of liberty earned him the reverence and fury of Baptists across the theological spectrum.
- See more at: https://baptistnews.com/ministry/people/item/30246-james-dunn-robust-advocate-for-religious-liberty-dies-july-4#sthash.5BsctetJ.dpuf
James
M. Dunn, one of Baptists’ most well-known advocates for religious
liberty and separation of church and state, died July 4 a few weeks
after his 83rd birthday in Winston-Salem, N.C.
During his nearly two decades as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and for 12 years prior to that as executive director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, Dunn’s colorful rhetoric and take-no-prisoners approach in defense of liberty earned him the reverence and fury of Baptists across the theological spectrum.
- See more at: https://baptistnews.com/ministry/people/item/30246-james-dunn-robust-advocate-for-religious-liberty-dies-july-4#sthash.5BsctetJ.dpuf
During his nearly two decades as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and for 12 years prior to that as executive director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, Dunn’s colorful rhetoric and take-no-prisoners approach in defense of liberty earned him the reverence and fury of Baptists across the theological spectrum.
- See more at: https://baptistnews.com/ministry/people/item/30246-james-dunn-robust-advocate-for-religious-liberty-dies-july-4#sthash.5BsctetJ.dpuf
