By Robert Dilday
Glen Stassen, a Baptist theologian widely known for his work on the ethics of war and peace, a topic he explored with seminary students for 30 years, died April 26 in Pasadena, Calif., following a battle with cancer. He was 78.
Stassen, who taught at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., for 20 years, had been professor of ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena since 1997. He also was executive director of Fuller’s Just Peacemaking Initiative. Earlier he taught at Duke University, Kentucky Southern College and Berea College.
For three decades Stassen was a leading Baptist voice for peacemaking around the world. His groundbreaking book Just Peacemaking outlined an alternative to pacifism and just-war theory in the form of positive and practical steps to abolish war.
Last year the Baptist World Alliance conferred on him its Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award. In 2012 he was EthicsDaily.com’s Baptist of the Year.
His book Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context, co-authored with David Gushee, was awarded Best Book of the Year in the theology/ethics category by Christianity Today in 2004. His last published book, A Thicker Jesus: Incarnational Discipleship in a Secular Age, was named a top 10 book by The Christian Century.
Stassen is survived by his wife, Dot, and three sons. Funeral arrangements are pending.
A complete obituary will be posted by ABPnews/Herald on Monday. Read a tribute by columnist David Gushee here.