Dr. Ron Nash, 1936-2006

I found out today that Dr. Nash passed away Friday morning. Russell Moore has a great article about him at The Henry Institute.

I had Dr. Nash at Southern my first full-time semester there, in the fall of 2004. I was a little intimidated at first, because of the ammount of reading we were going to be doing -- and all his books. I learned quickly that there was a good reason for that -- the books are valuable resources. I read them all, cover to cover, and still refer back to them frequently.

I was also a bit nervous about the class. I took Philosophy at Liberty my sophomore year, but wasn't a very diligent student. I had to work hard for that C. By the time I reached seminary, I'd forgotten most of what I'd learned.

Dr. Nash made the class not only bearable, but fun. I actually looked forward to 11:20 Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday the weeks we had class. He was able to engage everyone in the class, no matter how much we didn't want to be engaged, no matter how busy we were with everything but philosophy.

Dr. Nash made the classes fun. Dr. Moore mentions his hip-swaying, as he quoted someone he thought was wrong. I think that's one of the things that I'll remember about him -- that and his profound relief at George Bush's victory in the 2004 election. Dr. Nash pulled no punches -- you always knew where he stood. He didn't like liberal theologians, Aristotilian philosophers, or Democratic politicians -- and he would let you know in no uncertain terms.

Whenever I read Augustine, whenever I read Plato, I'll remember Dr. Ron Nash -- the greatest philosopher to ever come out of Cleveland, Ohio. At least, that's what he told us, and how could he have been wrong about something like that?