Robert H. Smith (theologian)
| Robert Harry Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Robert Harry Smith October 30, 1932 Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA |
| Died | March 16, 2006 (aged 73) El Cerrito, California, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | A.A. Concordia Junior College, Bronxville, New York B.A., M.Div., S.T.M., Th.D. Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri |
| Occupation | Theologian |
| Spouse(s) | Emita M. Rivas (m. 1955–her death), Rev. Donna Duensing (m. 1993–2006) (his death) |
| Children | Roberta, Judith, Maria |
Robert Harry Smith (October 30, 1932 - March 16, 2006) was a Lutheran clergyman, theologian, prolific author and lecturer on the Bible's New Testament, and dean of a Lutheran seminary in exile in the early 1980s. Smith was one of 40 faculty members from the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri who walked out in 1974 in a theological dispute that ended with the ousting of Concordia's president, John Tietjen, who disagreed with a literal reading of the Bible.
Robert Harry Smith was born on October 30, 1932 in Holyoke, Massachusetts to Harry and Gertrude Smith, the eldest of six children. He grew up in Massachusetts, graduating from Holyoke High School in 1950.
After earning an Associate of Arts degree from Concordia Junior College in Bronxville, New York, and his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Divinity, Master of Sacred Theology, and Doctor of Theology degrees from Concordia Seminary, Smith served as pastor of the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Chappaqua, New York from 1959 to 1968. He then taught at Concordia Seminary from 1968 to 1974.
After the theological dispute in 1974, which led to the dismissal of Smith and roughly 40 dissident professors, he helped form the seminary formally called Christ Seminary-Seminex. The dismissed faculty members, along with the vast majority of Concordia’s 750 students, continued their studies "in exile" for nine years in St. Louis. They studied in classrooms supplied by Jesuit St. Louis University and Eden Seminary. Christ Seminary-Seminex later merged with the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Smith served as dean for the "seminary in exile" from 1981 until 1983.
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