Allen D. Verhey
Allen D. Verhey, 68, died at home Wednesday, February 26th, after a long struggle with Amyloidosis. Allen was born and grew up in Grand Rapids, MI. He received his B.A. from Calvin College in 1966, his B.Div. from Calvin Theological Seminary in 1969, and his Ph.D. in Theological Ethics from Yale Divinity School in 1975. He taught for over thirty years in the Religion Department at Hope College before finishing his career as the Robert Earl Cushman Professor of Christian Theology, at Duke Divinity School.
Allen loved being a teacher and a scholar, continuing to teach until six weeks before he died and still working on writing projects until the very end. He wrote or co-authored several books, contributed essays to numerous books and journals, and lectured all over the country and around the world. Indeed, he was to have been one of our keynote speakers at this year’s Conference on Medicine and Religion. Among his students and colleagues, he was known for his humility, generosity, and kindness. He was not only a gifted theologian but a faithful Christian, who did not simply write about Christianity but practiced it. This was evident in the way he taught, thought, wrote, and spoke.
As we remember our friend and celebrate his life, we remember a line from his last published book, The Christian Art of Dying, where he wrote “I know that in God’s good future by God’s grace I have a part. I know that death will not have the last word. So pray, if you like, that I shall live, but please recognize that such a prayer may be answered on the far side of my death.”
Allen loved being a teacher and a scholar, continuing to teach until six weeks before he died and still working on writing projects until the very end. He wrote or co-authored several books, contributed essays to numerous books and journals, and lectured all over the country and around the world. Indeed, he was to have been one of our keynote speakers at this year’s Conference on Medicine and Religion. Among his students and colleagues, he was known for his humility, generosity, and kindness. He was not only a gifted theologian but a faithful Christian, who did not simply write about Christianity but practiced it. This was evident in the way he taught, thought, wrote, and spoke.
As we remember our friend and celebrate his life, we remember a line from his last published book, The Christian Art of Dying, where he wrote “I know that in God’s good future by God’s grace I have a part. I know that death will not have the last word. So pray, if you like, that I shall live, but please recognize that such a prayer may be answered on the far side of my death.”