GRIER (Rockford) James Murray Grier, Th.D., age 80. Pilgrim James arrived at the Celestial City on January 9, 2013. He was born in Staten Island, NY to James Murray and Mary Helen (Hannah) Grier. While Jim was growing up, his father pastored at South Baptist Church of Tottenville/Staten Island, NY. He earned his B.Th. from Baptist Bible College, M.Div. from Grace Theological Seminary, Th.M. from Westminster Theological Seminary, and Th.D. from Grace Theological Seminary. Dr. Grier taught and preached extensively across the United States, in Canada, Hungary, the United Kingdom, and Zambia, pastored two congregations, served for 16 years as Executive Vice President and Academic Dean at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary of Cornerstone University, was Chairman of the Evangelical Seminary Dean’s Council (ESDC) 1993–1998, consulted pastors for more than 50 years while advising numerous hospital boards on medical ethics, was a highly sought after conference speaker on philosophical theology and Christian worldview across the globe, and was the distinguished Professor of Philosophical Theology at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary (GRTS) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His publications include The Relation of the Law to Christ, Demonstrating Truth in Our Lives, Doing Theology in the Context of Church Ministry, and Calvinistic Philosophy. Before coming to Grand Rapids Theological Seminary in 1982, he taught at Cedarville College (now Cedarville University) as a Professor of Philosophy (1969–1982) and served administratively in various roles. Beyond GRTS and Cedarville College, Dr. Grier had been a visiting or adjunct professor at Asia Biblical Theological Seminary, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, and London Reformed Baptist Seminary. Since 1978, he had been an Adjunct Professor at Grace Theological Seminary while holding a similar position since 1984 at Evangelical Baptist Seminary of Quebec. He also served two years as the Acting Academic Dean of Grand Rapids Bible College (Cornerstone University) from 1985–1986. His very first and final sermons were in the church that his father served for 47 years in Tottenville/Staten Island, NY. His various professional memberships were The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) and the Evangelical Philosophical Society. His philanthropic endeavors included work at Home of Hope and Blodgett Hospital. Jim is survived by his wife of 58 years, Shirley (Stewart) Grier whom he married on July 30, 1954, his son and his son’s wife, Dr. Kevin Blaine Grier and Dr. Robin Grier; and his sister, Joyce Elizabeth Grier, as well as several cousins, nieces and nephews. Memorial service will be at Grace Community Church, 3500 New Holland, Hudsonville, MI on Monday at 7:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the “James Murray Grier Scholarship Fund” at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.
Because he accepted a position with Grand Rapids Theological Seminary in 1982, halfway through my Cedarville years, I had only one class with him, Introduction to Philosophy. But my first husband, Jonathan Selden, knowing that Dr. Grier had accepted another position, managed to take every Grier class except one (and memory fails me what that one class was). While I didn't learn much directly from Dr. Grier, I benefited from the instruction that Jon had received and passed onto me.
I didn't know Dr. Grier as well as Jon and his friends; nonetheless, our paths continued to cross on occasion after I graduated from Cedarville. A short time after Jon and I had moved on to Chicago after finishing our master's degrees, a fellow Cedarville alum, a close friend of Jon's, who had also been a student of Dr. Grier committed suicide. Dr. Grier was called upon to preach at his funeral. We were devastated, of course, but I will never forget what happened when Dr. Grier took his place at the podium. Before anything, he said, "Some scripture for our comfort," and for what seemed a very long time, he quoted from memory various scripture passages, without comment. He clearly understood that for those of us present who knew Christ, only his words would bring us relief from this painful experience. I was also moved when, in 1996, Dr. Grier came to the funeral home to express his sympathy when Jon died. It had been years since he and Dr. Grier had had any contact, so I was somewhat surprised to see him.I have recently learned that Jon and his friends were the only students of Grier ever to honor him with a festschrift.
I've had two occasions in the last five years or so to hear Dr. Grier preach: once while I was working at Discovery House Publishers he spoke during chapel, and a couple of years ago, he spoke at the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary Conference. On both occasions he spoke about heaven, about leaving this world behind. At the conference, Dr. Grier was ill and suffering from shingles, but he spoke passionately from Revelation about the vanities of Babylon, and how it would all be gone one day when there was a new heaven and a new earth. I learned today from a person who attended his funeral last night that one of the speakers said that he had told his young son that Dr. Grier had died. His son said, "You mean that man who preaches about heaven like he's already been there?" And it was clear when he preached about heaven that he was eager to go there, to meet in person the one he had been talking about for so many years.
I also remember that this great man with so much understanding once told our Intro to Philosophy class that his favorite hymn was "Jesus Loves Me" because the song explains that we know this because the Bible tells us so and not because of some subjective human experience. Today Dr. Grier knows that Jesus loves him because the Bible tells him so, and because he is with him, and his faith has been made sight.
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