This is from the obituary.
Dr. Rhodenhiser, professor emeritus and former chairman of the department of religion at the University of Richmond, died of pulmonary problems Friday in a local hospital. He was 83.I graduated the year he retired. I took three classes from Rhody. He was gentle, kind and smarter than most people. I think he used text books in two of the classes I took from him all with the caveat that they were for us, so that we felt like we were learning something. He tought without notes, from memory. This meant that we could get away with a lot. We would read the NY Times in class, pass the crossword puzzle around. We were idiots.
Of all the classes I took in college, I remember more and use more from the classes I took with him. From Rhody I learned obedience to a call, honesty, curiosity and respect for things and people I do not understand. I also was able to read the Upanishads and get an intro into contemplative prayer. He was a most unusual Baptist.
My father and I spoke of him this past Sunday. Daddy had him for classes as well and had the same things to say.
Thank you, Professor. Well done, good and faithful servant.
During the 1970s, Dr. Oscar William Rhodenhiser widened the spiritual and cultural understanding of college students, laymen and clergy members with his teachings in contemporary Hinduism.Posted by tripp at June 8, 2005 10:13 AMHe had lived in India for a time and studied under a guru, said his longtime colleague at the University of Richmond, Dr. Philip R. Hart. What he brought back to his classroom and to teach in churches and groups in Richmond was typical of his penchant to push students to a wider view of life.
Dr. Rhodenhiser, professor emeritus and former chairman of the department of religion at the University of Richmond, died of pulmonary problems Friday in a local hospital. He was 83.
A memorial service will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Grace Baptist Church, 2400 Dover Road.
A Stonega native, he earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Richmond, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa honorary scholarship society, and a doctorate in theology from Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
He became assistant professor of Bible at the University of Richmond in 1955 and was promoted to associate professor of Bible in 1959. He became a full professor in 1967.
Dr. Rhodenhiser was named George and Sallie Cutchin Camp Professor of Bible and also to the Solon B. Cousins Chair of Religion at the school in 1988. He retired in 1992.
"My father was an adventurer," said his daughter, Ann Verlander of Kiln, Miss. "He liked to travel. He invited international students to our house for meals and got to know them and invited them back."
In addition to his many years as a religion professor, he served as pastor of Baptist churches in Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina and had served more than 20 interim pastorates.
Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Nancye Haymes Rhodenhiser; two sons, William Rhodenhiser of Richmond and James Rhodenhiser of Ann Arbor, Mich.; another daughter, Linda Rhodenhiser of Richmond; a brother, Robert Rhodenhiser of High Point, N.C. ; and nine grandchildren. link
A teacher who leaves a permanent mark on their students is worth more than gold and rubies.
Posted by: greek shadow at June 8, 2005 10:30 PMAh, good old Rhodenhiser. I was just thinking of him and his stories of Baba Faqir the other day. Seven levels of being and all that.
A permanent mark, indeed. There's not much I remember so well from fifteen years ago.
Posted by: Rich at June 9, 2005 01:37 PMThese are remarks I made at my father's memorial service, for any interested.....
On behalf of the Rhodenhiser family, thank you for coming to celebrate the life of my father, Dr. Bill Rhodenhiser. My father knew that as we live life out of relationship to the Holy One, the more we live as Jesus lives, the more grace-fully our lives resonate profoundly, as songs of praise and meaning.
I want to share a bit of his exploration. Particularly to bless and challenge his grandchildren and the rest of us to make our lives resonate with the God of wonder and blessing. My dad was fond of quoting the prophet’s promise,
Be still and know that I am God.
My dad challenged people to experience the holy more fully. To be liberated from neat theories, of the right or the left, that ignore messy complexity and close doors to growth, greater reality, and the human compassion we owe all people.
My dad used to preach country revivals at Baptist churches. He also taught hundreds of people and college students to meditate, borrowing freely from eastern faith traditions. Not many college professors were comfortable in either of those contexts. But for 37 years at the University of Richmond, my father spanned a variety of context, teaching Bible, Psychology and Religion, and Eastern Religions .
My dad was critical of all groups and ideologies, and generous with all people. When Longwood College in Farmville integrated and a black pastor’s daughter wanted to attend the local Baptist church where he was interim, he was not allowed to speak at an emotionally charged church meeting. After the congregation voted not to welcome black students to worship with them, he was then asked to give a benediction.
He declined, saying, how in good conscience could you ask any Christian minister to bless this assembly? And walked out, pursued by angry and upset people into the street. He did return to preach on Sunday.
My dad saw God at work in all the great faith traditions of the world. He saw Jesus as the ultimate revelation of God. He took me to the most Pentecostal gathering of my childhood in Richmond, which was led by orthodox Hasidic rabbis who danced and sang before God with hundreds of our Jewish brothers and sisters. And culminated in all of us numinously, joyfully dancing in the in the aisles. We were the only Christians in the room.
My dad saw God in India, and his beloved Hindu mystic and guru, Baba Faqir Chand. In the Buddhist Dalai Lama, whom he was privileged to meet. In his teacher and mentor, the great Baptist preacher Dr. Cousins. In his long time Baptist foreign missionary friends, Anne and Lloyd Neil. In his former student and personal confessor, Pastor Ray Allen. And in all of you.
To those who wanted to restrict God’s love and activity to one in-group, or one religious system, he would quote Acts 14:17, God has not left himself with out a witness in doing good among any of the peoples of the earth.
My father knew that God was the transcendent other, beyond our feelings or ideas. As the Holy Spirit within, and beyond, God leads us into more resonant lives of grace.
In this 21st century, post 9/11 world, fruitful people learn to love and relate across boundaries of ideology and faith tradition. And to stand with Jesus in loving embrace of the outcastes. In the words of Jesus, the measure we give will be the measure we receive.
Gut check: which outcastes are you afraid of? Muslims? Religious liberals? Fundamentalists? Gays or lesbians? Democrats? Republicans? In the words of 1 John 4:18, God’s unbounded love casts out fear. We who lives as captives to oppositional energies have not yet been perfected in that love.
I pray that in each of his god-gifted grandchildren, and you his god-gifted friends, my father can behold lives dedicated to knowing and serving a generous God. Who defies our attempts to tame or limit his love, justice, and holiness.
Dear James,
I am very saddened to read that your father has died. Although I did not know him, I wish I had. I know he was a great man and going to be missed terribly. I wish you peace. Sincerely,
Cynthia Rhodenhiser