I received an email from the seminary in the last hour related to Dr. Ronald Nash. It said, in part:
“Our friend and colleague, Professor Ronald Nash, is suddenly at the point of death. I just talked to Betty Jane, his wife, at his bedside. He is expected to live only another few hours. This comes as shocking news, but he had been declining in recent days. He is now in a skilled nursing facility in the Orlando area.”
I was in the last doctoral seminar that Dr. Nash ever taught. It was one of a couple of classes I took from him, in addition to being in a couple of doctoral colloquiums with him. Though introverted on a personal level, Dr. Nash was a lively and engaging (and often entertaining) lecturer. We used to mimic what we called Nash’s dance, which involved swaying the hips hula style. (It often accompanied phrases like, “Calfifornia libertarians” or something like that – if you took him you know what I mean.) He was passionate about philosophy and truth, especially the truth of the gospel, and often wore his emotions on his sleeve when lecturing about ideas he felt particularly strongly about or telling stories about people he cared about. It was not uncommon to see him get himself worked up and angry when discussing those whom he disagreed with particularly strongly (like Rudolf Bultmann).
He was forced into retirement by a stroke in the first few days of 2005, right around the time I mailed him my research paper for the aforementioned seminar (the two events were not related). So it has been a painful 14 months or so. Dr. Nash leaves behind a wife, a couple of grown children and several grandchildren. He also leaves behind a voluminous body of work on a variety of topics. He is particularly known for his work in worldview apologetics. He recorded several classes that you can access for free at BiblicalTraining.org, a site and conept he heartily endorsed. I will remember him fondly. Pray for him in these final hours and for his family thereafter.
UPDATE, Friday the 10th: Dr. Nash is now with the Lord.