22 November 1914 A.D. Rev. Dr. Prof. John H. Gerstner—Church Historian
at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Archivist. “November
22: Dr. John Gerstner.” This Day in Presbyterian History. 22 Nov
2014. http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/2014/11/november-22-dr-john-gerstner/.
Accessed 22 Nov 2014.
November 22: Dr. John Gerstner
We are pleased and honored to have a guest post today from Dr. Carl W.
Bogue, who served as pastor of the Faith Presbyterian Church (PCA), Akron,
Ohio, 1975-2007. Dr. Bogue received his M.Div. from the Pittsburgh Theological
Seminary (1965), where he was mentored by Dr. John Gerstner, and he maintained
a close friendship with Dr. Gerstner until the latter’s death in 1996. He has
graciously allowed us to post here his recollections of the life and ministry
of a dear saint greatly used by the Lord in the building of His kingdom.
This
day, November 22, 2014, is
the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr. John H. Gerstner – pastor, professor,
author, and friend of thousands to whom he ministered in so many ways
throughout his life. I heard him preach at our church and at a youth conference
as a teenager; in seminary he was an intellectual anchor as well as an
inspiration; in grad school his love of Jonathan Edwards motivated me to do my
doctoral dissertation on a central but much neglected theme in Edwards’s
writing and preaching, and when I was ordained and installed at the beginning
of my pastoral ministry, he graciously honored me by preaching the sermon for
the occasion, challenging me “not to be ashamed of the Gospel.” Now that I am
“officially retired,” one of my great encouragements is that a new generation
is beginning to discover “the good doctor.” I hope it would not seem
inappropriate for me to include here, an obituary I wrote in 1996 for my
congregation, but which also appeared in a couple publications.
John H. Gerstner: Defender of the Faith
On
Sabbath afternoon, March 24, 1996, Dr. John H. Gerstner went to be with the
Lord. For most readers little more needs to be said. You know the man, and you
know the respect and affection so many of us had for him. Nothing I can say
here will adequately express what this man of God meant to me personally. But I
also know that my loss is his gain, for all the glory of God and the beauty of
the Savior which he so comprehensively taught to his students is now his to
behold and enjoy without any of the limitations brought about by sin.
Dr.
Gerstner’s life began in Tampa, Florida. His childhood years were spent in
Philadelphia where he graduated from high school in 1932. It was that summer
while visiting Philadelphia College of the Bible that he was wonderfully converted
to the Gospel. That fall he began his studies at Westminster College. Gerstner
next attended Westminster Theological Seminary at the time when many of its
early giants were present. It was during the time at seminary that he met Edna
Suckau, who was to become Mrs. Gerstner. They have three children.
After
receiving a masters degree from Westminster Seminary, he pursued his doctoral
studies at Harvard University where in 1945 he was awarded a Ph.D. Dr. Gerstner
received further education at the Universities of Pittsburgh, Temple,
Pennsylvania, Boston, Zurich, Barcelona, and Oxford. He served in the pastorate
for a brief period prior to accepting a position as a professor at
Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary, later to become Pittsburgh Theological
Seminary.
The
volume written to honor Dr. Gerstner was appropriately entitled, Soli Deo Gloria. One of my happy privileges was to have
been invited to be a contributor to that volume. The opening sentence of my
article was: “The student of John H. Gerstner is never adequately designated as
a ‘former student.’” I never stopped learning from this “teacher of Israel,”
and he surely never ceased to be the consummate teacher. Only those who know
this first hand can adequately comprehend the loss many of us feel with his
passing.
On
various occasions I have heard Dr. Gerstner express his indebtedness to his
beloved mentor from college, Dr. John Orr. Perhaps more than any other human
being, Dr. Orr shaped the thinking of my beloved professor. Early in my
ministry, Dr. Gerstner invited me to attend a special celebration at
Westminster College to honor Dr. John Orr. Apart from being honored that Dr.
Gerstner would invite me to anything, I was also working with a very forceful
self-imposed guide in such matters. When Gerstner requested or even suggested
something, it had, for all practical purposes, the force of a command with me.
But on this occasion it was more that just an invitation. His words were
approximately these: “Carl, if I have been a significant influence in your life
and vocation (and he knew this was the case), if you are indebted to me at all,
then you need to be there to honor Dr. Orr.” I had never met Dr. Orr, but
typical of Gerstner’s humility, he would pass along my praise of him to the one
who helped shape him for his teaching ministry.
In
announcing Gerstner’s death to my congregation, I made this comparison: “Many
of you are often very kind in your praise of me. I feel very unworthy of such
praise, and I thank God for our many years together. I am not trying to put
myself in the similar position or stature as that of Dr. Gerstner. But I would
humbly draw this parallel. If I have been, by God’s grace, permitted any
usefulness in your life, if you see an approximation of faithfulness to the
Word of God, a zeal for the purity of the Church, a desire to proclaim the
whole counsel of God – if I have been of any value to you, it would not be
inappropriate for you to be thanking God for the ministry of Dr. Gerstner which
happens to be through me. Humanly speaking, my claim on you is for you to join
with me in praise to God for giving us such a soldier of the cross.”
I
never had a better teacher; I never heard a better preacher, and to the extent
that we may tentatively judge such things, I never witnessed greater piety. And
it is at this point that the good doctor would gently remind us, that all the praise
is to be given for the righteousness of Christ, imputed to us, by which we are
permitted to enter into glory.
Rev.
14:13
And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that
they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”
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