With the sudden and untimely passing of Stephen Webb (you can read his obituary here), I find myself thinking back to a poem by Theodore Roethke about another premature death. Oddly, I first came upon it, and was very moved by it, when it appeared in a college admissions test of some kind — the ACT or the SAT, or something of that sort — that I was taking in high school. It had such an impact on me that, many years later, I went out of my way to see the unmarked place on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where, in 1963, Roethke himself suffered a heart attack and drowned. He was just slightly older, at the time of his death, than Stephen Webb would be. There is so much unfulfilled human potential in this life.
We at the Interpreter Foundation were deeply saddened to learn of the unexpected passing of our dear colleague, the Catholic philosopher and theologian Stephen H. Webb, on Saturday, 5 March 2016. Among other things, we had been looking forward to spending time with him this coming weekend; he was scheduled to speak at the Foundation’s symposium on science and Mormonism. Stephen was a warm friend of the Latter-day Saints, both intellectually and personally. Among his many publications are Mormon Christianity: What Other Christians Can Learn from the Latter-day Saints (Oxford, 2013) and, with Alonzo L. Gaskill, Catholic and Mormon: A Theological Conversation (Oxford, 2015). His remarks on “Why Mormon Materialism Matters,” delivered at the August 2015 FairMormon conference, are available online at http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/ ... sm-matters, as is a video of his remarkable discussion with Margaret Barker at the Interpreter Foundation’s August 2015 birthday party (http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/an-eve ... phen-webb/). We had hoped and expected to hear much more from Stephen. More importantly, though, we are heartsick at this terrible loss. We pray that God’s comfort and blessing will rest upon his wife and their five children, and upon the many people who knew and loved him. And we look forward to the day when “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
54 of Brownsburg, was born March 13, 1961 to Helen and Carl Webb of Indianapolis and departed this life on March 5, 2016. Steve married the love of his life, Diane Timmerman, on July 16, 1988 in Chicago, and they had five children who, with their faith, were the center of their lives. Steve was a graduate of Warren Central High School where he wrote his first book, the History of Warren Central, and was an avid debater. He graduated Summa cum Laude from Wabash College and received his PhD with distinction from the University of Chicago.
The circumstances of his premature death aren't mentioned anywhere. Anyone know anything?
“When we are confronted with evidence that challenges our deeply held beliefs we are more likely to reframe the evidence than we are to alter our beliefs. We simply invent new reasons, new justifications, new explanations. Sometimes we ignore the evidence altogether.” (Mathew Syed 'Black Box Thinking')
“When we are confronted with evidence that challenges our deeply held beliefs we are more likely to reframe the evidence than we are to alter our beliefs. We simply invent new reasons, new justifications, new explanations. Sometimes we ignore the evidence altogether.” (Mathew Syed 'Black Box Thinking')
Webb has written a book critical of Darwinism, The Dome of Eden: A New Solution to the Problem of Creation and Evolution (Cascades, 2010). His book Jesus Christ, Eternal God: Heavenly Flesh and the Metaphysics of Matter (Oxford University Press, 2012), engages with Mormon theology in order to develop a revisionist account of Chalcedonian christology that seeks to redeem and appropriate monophysitism for modern theology.[13] His essay in defense of Mormonism as a legitimate form of Christianity, "Mormonism Obsessed with Christ," appeared in First Things (Feb. 2012) and was the topic of much discussion,[14] including an opinion piece published in the Salt Lake Tribune co-authored by Mormon philosopher David L. Paulsen.[15]
I think that part from Blair Hodges comment to the Salt Lake Tribune, of Webb's next work being Uranus Testifies of the Mormon Interpreter, may have been cut due to the uncertainty of this unfinished work being published posthumously.
Webb has written a book critical of Darwinism, The Dome of Eden: A New Solution to the Problem of Creation and Evolution (Cascades, 2010). His book Jesus Christ, Eternal God: Heavenly Flesh and the Metaphysics of Matter (Oxford University Press, 2012), engages with Mormon theology in order to develop a revisionist account of Chalcedonian christology that seeks to redeem and appropriate monophysitism for modern theology.[13] His essay in defense of Mormonism as a legitimate form of Christianity, "Mormonism Obsessed with Christ," appeared in First Things (Feb. 2012) and was the topic of much discussion,[14] including an opinion piece published in the Salt Lake Tribune co-authored by Mormon philosopher David L. Paulsen.[15]
I think that part from Blair Hodges comment to the Salt Lake Tribune, of Webb's next work being Uranus Testifies of the Mormon Interpreter, may have been cut due to the uncertainty of this unfinished work being published posthumously.
I guess they had better luck with him than they did with Father Neuhaus. Neuhaus dearly appreciated his Mormon friends at First Things, but he still couldn't quite let them into the Christian club.
