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Goetz's Last Book

Ronald Goetz's daughter, Elmhurst Adjunct Professor Rebecca Clancy, helped finish her father's final work.

You might remember him lecturing in Old Main or giving you a friendly "Hello" under the shady elms outside. Maybe you discussed the finer points of theology in his office or watched him smile as the Elmhurst Jazz Festival moved into full swing. Perhaps he was discussed by your friends over coffee or your children at dinner. For nearly 43 years, until his passing in 2006, Dr. Ronald Goetz inspired a passion for theology and a love of learning for generations of the Elmhurst College family.

Remarkably, three years after his passing, Goetz continues to affect both the Elmhurst College community and the academic community as a whole. His daughter, Elmhurst adjunct religious studies professor Rebecca Clancey (pictured with her father), and colleague Larry Mattera have been putting the finishing touches on Goetz final, unfinished book, which will see publication later this year.

Clancy describes the book, Clear and Definite Words, as an indictment of “modern and postmodern attempts to ground theology away from God. . . in faith or experience,” a defense of theology’s “license to speak of God in clear and definite words.”

“It may sound abstruse,” Clancy continues, “but the book is extremely engaging.... At times it’s laugh out loud hilarious.”

For Clancy, finishing her father's book helped her obtain a sense of closure and understanding of his life. “To me, this means a great deal. My father was the central formative influence of my life. I am foremost his daughter. That's my identity.”

Clancy believes her dad would be mildly amused by the publication. “I actually had a dream that he came to me while I was working on it and asked what it was," she said. "When I told him he tried to conceal a smile, as he used to do.”

Goetz joined the Elmhurst College faculty as an instructor in 1963 after earning a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Northwestern University, in addition to a S.T.B. from Harvard Divinity School. Embarking upon a career of meaningful scholarship, Goetz went on to publish 200 articles and reviews, serving as editor-at-large for The Christian Century and as the Chair of the Department of Theology and Religion at Elmhurst.

In 1986, he was appointed the Niebuhr Distinguished Chair in Christian Theology and Ethics, and in 2003 he was awarded the prestigious Elmhurst College Founders Medal for his service to the community.

Goetz left behind much more than a powerful record of scholarship and community involvement, he also had a deep personal impact on those who knew him. In a festschrift—a traditional colllection of tributes and short essays presented to an academic by colleagues and former students— that celebrated Goetz's 2002 retirement, Elmhurst College alum John Helt wrote, “Ronald Goetz taught me that Christian faith commands respect for doctrine and tradition. In my case, this was a pedagogical miracle.”

Elmhurst College Chaplain H. Scott Matheney reminisced about Goetz's warm friendship and hospitality in the same publication. “The parties that Ron hosted in his backyard Greek garden, complete with constant conversation, marked a life of love for God and for humankind."

Clear and Definite Words is scheduled to be published by Wipf and Stock Publishing later this year.

by Nathan Dunlap '09
A senior double major in English and history, Nathan is interning with the Alumni Relations office as part of the English department’s writing track.

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