The world lost a great teacher and scholar this week. Dr. James H. Burtness was a seminary professor for many years. His area of specialization was ethics and he was particularly known for his work on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor killed by the Nazis in 1945.
Dr. Burtness'’ class on Bonhoeffer was one of the first I took at seminary. I was a new, part-time student with no declared program. I was pretty nervous about being in this class with such a great scholar, as well as a room full of senior Master of Divinity students (students studying to be pastors)!
I was immediately taken with culture of the class. Dr. Burtness didn'’t try to prove how smart he was. He just wanted you to jump in and be as excited as he was about Bonhoeffer'’s work. I don't know that it would have been possible to leave that class without being completely taken in by Bonhoeffer's scholarship. I certainly was!
He encouraged us all to join the International Bonhoeffer Society so that we could stay in touch with the latest scholarship. Three years later I made a life-changing trip to Cape Town, South Africa for the IBS Congress. Dr. Burtness' class touched off a lifelong study of Bonhoeffer's work -- one of the biggest impacts on my faith and life.
Dr. Burtness' laugh was deep and joyful and sounded like it came from his toes. For such a big thinker, he had a great personal touch. One class night happened to fall on Bonhoeffer'’s birthday. I had wondered if he would mention it. After the break we were all delighted when Dr. Burtness brought in a birthday cake and we all sang Happy Birthday. After our last class, he had us all over to his house for a beer. His approach to learning and enthusiasm for the gospel embodied the topic of the class.
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