By Brian Nixon —
With tea in hand, I open my email shortly after 8:00 AM, only to read heartbreaking news.
The email was from Dallas K. Miller and Craig Parton. It simply read:
“To Friends and Students of Professor Montgomery:
“It is with deep sadness that we provide you, on behalf of his wife Carol, the attached notice of the death of John Warwick Montgomery.
“Details of the funeral service will be provided shortly.
“Christ have mercy”
The email arrived shortly after 7:00 AM.
It included this short notice:
“Dr. John Warwick Montgomery, born October 18, 1931, Warsaw, New York died on Wednesday, September 25, 2024 at the the Bischwiller Regional Health Centre in France. Dr. Montgomery was a citizen of the United States, United Kingdom and France.
“He resided in Soufflenheim, France for much of the past three decades. Details of the funeral to be held in the Alsace will be forthcoming. A full obituary will be posted at www.apologeticsacademy.eu.”
Again, my heart sank.
As a life-long admirer of Montgomery and his work, I count it an honor to be one of this “friends and students.”
Though I’ll need to process his life and work more over the next few months, I’ll briefly say this.
I was first introduced to Montgomery during elementary school. In the late 1970’s, I asked my mom to drop me off at a local theater to watch a documentary on Noah’s Ark entitled “In Search of Noah’s Ark.” Low and behold, Dr. Montgomery was one of the people interviewed. I was smitten.
During high school, a mentor of mine encouraged studying Dr. Montgomery’s books. Due to their depth, I only dabbled.
But when it came time to attend seminary, I specifically chose the one Montgomery was teaching at the time so I could glean and learn from him. I’m glad I did.
Later, Montgomery spoke at our graduation in Canterbury, England.
During my doctoral work, I attended several of his seminars, including one at Concordia University in Irvine, California. His work heavily influenced my dissertation, The Master Teacher: Developing a Christ-Based Philosophy of Education.
It was later, that our mentorship grew. Dr. Montgomery endorsed one of my books, Tilt: Finding Christ in Culture and I later hosted him for a three-day apologetics conference in New Mexico.
We became publishing mates at Wipf and Stock Publishers.
In Tilt I recall finding a first edition of a C.S. Lewis book in Canterbury, England. I write,
“True, I walked the graduation – in robe and cap-at Canterbury Christ Church University, with evening vespers being held afterwards at Canterbury Cathedral. True, I caught up with one of my theological heroes and professors, John Warwick Montgomery—himself a Lewis fan. Dr. Montgomery gave the commencement address, challenging us to live, think, and act Christianly in all we do.
“And true, I was able to see some of England’s finest Christian historical sites, bathing in the beauty and majesty of the land and people. But just as memorable as all these marvelous occurrences were, the little book that I now owned matched them in worth; a short volume with the simple name, CS Lewis, attached to it.”
To further the family connection, my son, Brendan Isaiah, flew off to France to study with Montgomery at the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Our friendship grew to the point I was invited to his wedding and even received a mention in his memoirs.
In an announcement of a time change for his wedding he wrote:
“Même mariage, mais changement de date (samedi 12 février). RSVP avant 1er février.”
It was a very Montgomery thing to say!
I can go on-and on, but I won’t. I’ll leave you with this, the endorsement I wrote for his book Theology: Good, Band, and Mysterious.
“I can count on one hand the people that have deeply influenced my life and thought. Dr. John Warwick Montgomery is one such person. Whether he’s the index finger (#1) or the thumb (the get it done digit), I’m not sure. But chances are he’s the ring finger—a symbolic gesture to his fidelity to Christ, a man to his Master. Whatever finger Dr. Montgomery represents, the reason he has so influenced my life is bound in the pages of his newest work, Theology: Good, Bad, and Mysterious. In these pages, Dr. Montgomery’s voracious scope of knowledge and interests are on full display. From apologetics to theology, Dr. Montgomery’s mental prowess is manifest in his keen insight and wit. As a fellow bibliophile, I was smitten by his chapter on “Choosing Books for a Theological Library.” And as a cultural critic, I found his acumen on law, morality, race, and religion—quite engaging. My only advice is to use both your hands—all the digits—to pick up this fine work and read it! In its pages you’ll find that Montgomery—in his 80 plus years on earth—has fulfilled what C.S. Lewis wrote in his essay Why We Read,[1] “We seek an enlargement of our being.” Dr. Montgomery—through his writings and life—has expanded our being, and I’m thankful for it.”
Dr. Montgomery will be missed. But his legacy looms large, and thankfully, he’s left us a library of books to continually learn from him. He’d have it no other way. Montgomery’s papers can be found at the Lanier Theological Library in Houston, Texas.
Adieu, mon frit. Jusqu’à ce que nous nous rencontrions au paradis !
[1] Originally written in the epilogue from An Experiment in Criticism. As quoted, from The Reading Life, 3.
R.I.P , John Warwick Montgomery .
Thank you, Brian. I had my first class with John in 1979 (History of Christian Thought) in Anaheim. I later attended Simon Greenleaf and received the MA in Apologetics. John encouraged me to attend Strasbourg University where, in 1987, I received the doctorate in philosophical theology. John was supportive throughout those years (my wife and I even rented his apartment on rue de Palerme during our year of academic coursework).
I taught with John for a few years at Greenleaf (Logic and Critical Thinking) before moving to Kansas. In 1994, we returned to Europe, this time to Brussels, where we lived for almost five years. John was in London during most of that period so we were able to visit him and Lanie several times. They also came to Brussels on two or three occasions and we hosted them at our home. Toss in a few visits to Strasbourg and a guest lecture or two at the Summer Conference, and I believe I might have seen more of John in those five years than I had in the previous five.
Like you, it would be difficult to overestimate John’s influence on my academic life. I have a number of notebooks filled with my notes from his conferences, classes, and other events, all treasured. He instilled in me a love for good scholarship and precision of thought, not to mention a hunger for good books.
I wasn’t sure I was quite yet on the other side of Rod Rosenbladt’s passing when I saw the news about John. (Rod was my doctrine prof in both BA and MA programs.) Yes, processing will take a while.
I was surprised to find my name in John’s memoir, but that was John – unexpected blessings could abound. He was a great help during my Strasbourg sojourn.
I regret to say that my only communication with John’s wife Carol has been via surface mail. We have not met in person. Please let her know that we are in prayer for her. I will send her a letter this week. And do post when you have further details about memorial services and such; I’m not likely to be in France anytime soon but I would like to make the day a time of prayer and thanksgiving in John’s honor.