E. Earle Ellis, Research Professor of Theology Emeritus at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and the founder of the Institute for Biblical Research, passed away on March 2.
His name may not be well known in the UK, except perhaps for his name on the cover of a few commentaries, but Earle was an outstanding Christian biblical scholar who fought for his faith within an often hostile academic arena.
I got to know Earle when he came to stay each summer with my pastor in Wimbledon to continue his research at the British Library, and also visited him in Fort Worth. I once took this smartly dressed, softly spoken aged professor to an open-air concert in North London, where we ate a picnic sitting on the grass. During a brief lull, he took out some tracts, and walked among the crowd, engaging people in conversation about the gospel.
