Having received the news from our colleagues at Westminster John Knox, with great sadness, we must inform you of the passing of William C. Placher, LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Wabash College, on November 30, 2008.
A remembrance service was held on December 6 at Wabash College to honor this great scholar, teacher, and friend.
William C. Placher, with Ronald F. Thiemann, edited Why Are We Here?: Everyday Questions and the Christian Life for Trinity Press International in 1998.
A one-of-a-kind book in which several outstanding theologians use their expertise to examine everyday questions that Christians ask. Christians do not just believe; they think about what they believe. Moreover, they are not content with simple answers to their questions about life and meaning. The contributors to this volume therefore provide thoughtful responses to the following questions: Why are we here? Why are we so indifferent about our spiritual lives? Why do the innocent suffer? Is Jesus Christ the only way to salvation? Are there angels? Why go to church? The unity of the church--why care? What shall parents teach their children? What does my faith have to do with my job? Must Christians believe in hell? Is there life after death? The eleven contributors to this volume--which include, in addition to the editors--Kathryn Tanner, David Dawson, Thomas F. Tracy, J.A. DiNoia, Bruce D. Marshall, James J. Buckley, Michael Root, William Werpehowski, and George Hunsinger) are friends who attended the same graduate school (Yale) and had many of the same teachers. For twenty years they have been meeting once a year to talk about their work, their lives, and their thinking about the Christian faith. In this book they share with fellow Christians and curious bystanders the intellectual and spiritual wealth and excitement and complexity they have found in that faith. Ronald F. Thiemann is John Lord O’Brian Professor of Theology and Dean of Harvard Divinity School. William C. Placher was Professor of Contemporary Theology and Philosophy of Religion at Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN.
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