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| Earle Hilgert Photo collection of John R. Jones |
Published: SpectrumMagazine.org
January 14, 2021
William Earle Hilgert passed to his rest at the Westminster-Canterbury Retirement Community at Charlottesville, Virginia on December 22, 2020. Born in Portland, Oregon on May 17, 1923, he was 97.
The first child of William T. and Katie Ann (Earle) Hilgert, a Seventh-day Adventist minister and Bible instructor couple, Earle graduated from Laurelwood Adventist Academy, Oregon, in 1939 at the age of 16. During the subsequent year he received private tutoring in French and German from Leona Glidden Running, a mentor destined to later become a particularly valued colleague. By 1945, a five-year stint on the campuses of La Sierra College and Walla Walla College had led to a Bachelor of Arts degree in theology and history, and a Bachelor of Theology with emphasis in biblical languages. Earle was president of WWC’s student association in 1943–44.
Years later, Earle described the next 12 months after his college graduation as a particularly “dizzying time,” during which he hitchhiked to Washington, D.C., saw the end of World War II, earned a Master of Arts degree in church history from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary (thesis on the Waldenses), signed up for international service as a missionary, and on August 4, 1946, married his Swiss sweetheart Elvire Roth. Weeks after their wedding they sailed to Manila aboard the newly decommissioned troop carrier, the USS General M. C. Meigs, in what they remembered as a rough winter crossing of the north Pacific, with stops in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
The couple’s four years (1947–51) on the campus of Philippine Union College were devoted to teaching history and Bible courses in Earle’s case, French and English courses in Elvire’s, plus joining in a concerted effort on the part of all the faculty to help the institution re-launch itself after the war. For Earle, this included, among other things, accepting the duties of conductor of the college band!
Upon completing their circumnavigation of the globe by returning to the U.S. via southeast Asia, India, the Levant, and Europe, Earle taught for a year at Lodi Adventist Academy in California. In 1952, they moved to Takoma Park, MD, where Earle joined the faculty of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary on the premises of Washington Missionary College. Simultaneously he contributed to the book Problems in Bible Translation (General Conference of SDA, 1954), and earned his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1955 (thesis on early Christian baptism).
While there, Earle also served on the editorial team charged with producing the seven-volume Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, a watershed effort that for the first time modelled for Adventist readers a historical approach to the scriptures. This five-year project both arose from and contributed to a climate of openness and freedom within the denomination to study the Bible objectively — a 15-year window of marked progress in Adventist understandings of Scripture and doctrines. In addition to his editorial role on the commentary, Earle authored two substantive essays in it (“Chronology of the Pauline Epistles,” and, together with Siegfried Horn, “’Lower’ and ‘Higher’ Biblical Criticism”). He also wrote the commentary on Lamentations and on portions of Jeremiah, Daniel, John, and Revelation.
On study leave from the Seminary, Earle studied from 1956–59 toward the Doctor of Theology degree at the University of Basel, under Karl Barth. With his major in New Testament studies and minors in systematic theology and in church history, his studies there also included courses from Oscar Cullmann and Bo Reicke. His dissertation, entitled “The Ship and Related Symbols in the New Testament,” was published in 1962 (Assen, NL: Van Gorcum), the year of the conferral of his degree.
Back at the SDA Seminary, now newly relocated to the campus of Andrews University, Earle joined a cohort of colleagues energized by a sense of new potential for contributing to the denomination’s maturation and mission. One of the organizing editors of Andrews University Seminary Studies, launched in 1963, Earle regularly published scholarly articles in the journal, plus book reviews in Theologische Zeitschrift. He contributed to the Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (undertaken in 1962 at his urging), and to the Biblisch-historisches Handwörterbuch. Denominational periodicals (Ministry, Journal of True Education, Review and Herald, These Times) benefitted from his regular contributions, which sought to bring non-specialist SDA readers into familiarity with the perspectives of their scholarly fellows. As a member of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, he attended and reported to SDA members on the Commission’s triennial meeting in Bristol, England, July 30–August 8, 1967 (Review and Herald, October 12 and 19, 1967).
In his teaching role, Earle conducted an ongoing seminar that met weekly in the Hilgert home for years, attracting other Seminary faculty as well as advanced graduate students in biblical studies and related fields. Students who went on to doctoral work in top-level universities have credited those sessions with best preparing them for their further study. Earle’s summer study tours to Europe and the Near East were especially valued by serious students (English-, French- or German-speaking) of history and scripture.
While chairing the Seminary’s department of New Testament studies, his administrative abilities brought him into the role of acting dean of the Seminary during the dean’s study leaves, in the summers of 1961 and 1963, and the 1965–66 year. He was known to remark, however, “I wish I had two heads: a teacher’s head and an administrator’s one — and a shelf in my office where I could stash the one when I’m wearing the other. The two roles represent such different ways of seeing and thinking — but of the two, I prefer the teacher’s one!” Even so, when invited by the University’s Board of Trustees to assume the position of the institution’s vice presidency for academic administration effective August 1, 1966, he accepted. He held the position until spring of 1969, when he requested to be allowed to return to the classroom.
After a period of extended reflection, Earle and Elvire came to the radically life-altering decision to leave the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Accordingly, Earle submitted his resignation from Andrews University, a move announced by President Richard Hammill on April 10, 1970. With her extensive knowledge of (especially Continental) periodical literature in theological and related fields, Elvire had accepted employment in 1965 at McCormick Theological Seminary as their head cataloguer. Earning a Master of Arts in library science from the University of Chicago in 1970, Earle joined her at McCormick as Reference Librarian and Lecturer in New Testament Greek during the 1970–71 academic year.
Earle received ordination into the Presbyterian Church (USA) on November 9, 1972. Among his first projects at McCormick, he joined with faculty colleague Robert Hamerton-Kelly and others in organizing the Philo Institute in 1971. Under the aegis of this body and the editorship of Burton Mack and Earle Hilgert, six issues of Studia Philonica were produced from 1972 to 1979. In a later incarnation, as the Studia Philonica Annual, the publication’s 1991 issue comprised a festschrift in Earle’s honor (Heirs of the Septuagint: Philo, Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity: Festschrift for Earle Hilgert). It was under his leadership that the program unit for Philo of Alexandria was established in the Society for Biblical Studies in 1984 — a thriving circle that continues active to the present.
Their two decades at McCormick were especially productive and rewarding for the Hilgerts. Earle collaborated with colleagues, contributed as editor and reader, and supported cooperative consortia agreements among libraries serving theological schools. In addition to his extensive editing and teaching responsibilities, he co-edited festschrifts in honor of Calvin Schmitt (Essays on Theological Librarianship, 1980) and Samuel Sandmel (Nourished with Peace, 1984), contributed an essay (“Formgeschichte und Heilsgeschichte”) to the Oscar Cullmann festschrift, co-authored with Carl Dudley a book on New Testament Tensions and the Contemporary Church (1987), and, after retiring, co-authored with Lib Caldwell the Horizons Bible Study for Presbyterian Women: Prayers of the Bible for a Faithful Journey (1993–94).
Earle’s breadth and expertise are reflected in the variety of positions and roles he filled at McCormick. Beyond his initial positions there, he variously served as Professor of Bibliography, Professor of Bibliography and New Testament, Acting Dean of the Seminary (1972–73 academic year), visiting Professor at Pacific Theological College in Suva, Fiji Islands, and Interim Dean of Doctoral Studies, retiring as Professor Emeritus of New Testament in 1990.
In retirement at Charlottesville, Earle contributed to the community via his regular preaching appointments. At 96, he was still volunteering time to teach at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Virginia, sharing his ideas and expertise with other engaged learners. His beloved wife Elvire, and his only sibling, Willa Hedrick, both predeceased him. He had no children, but is survived by a nephew (James Hedrick) and two nieces (Merideth Trott and Priscilla Brunner); all of Dayton, Ohio; brother-in-law Ariel Roth, and his wife Lenore, of Loma Linda, California; and by many grand and great-grand nephews and nieces. He enjoyed warm and lasting friendships with many others at Westminster-Canterbury, throughout the Charlottesville area, and across the country.
In his unfailing graciousness Earle modeled the grace of the Kingdom he advanced. Summing up his own father’s life, he said, “My father was the most non-judgmental person I have known. Although imbued with strong feelings of right and wrong for himself, he simply did not express judgments regarding the conduct of others.” Earle held himself to the same standard. He lived a life of joyous service, genuine appreciation of others, devoted self-discipline, and great integrity. His influence will continue to carry forward among the students and colleagues who knew him, as they pass it on.
This life sketch was written by John R. Jones, PhD, associate professor of New Testament Studies and World Religions at La Sierra University.
https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/RH/RH19470130-V124-05.pdf#view=fit
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, VOL. 124, NO. 5 JANUARY 30, 1947 pp 15-17
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| Philippine Union College, 1948 |
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| Irene Wakeham Lee: Mountain View College: the Pioneer Years |
https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/RH/RH19470130-V124-05.pdf#view=fit
The Ministry,VOLUME XXXII JULY, 1959 No. 7, pp 30-32
https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/MIN/MIN19590801-V32-08.pdf
The Ministry, VOLUME XXXII August, 1959 No. 8, pp 21-23
https://spectrummagazine.org/arts-essays/2021/dr-hilgerts-chess-table
Published:
February 17, 2021
My youth is full of mostly good memories — of parents who loved me, grandparents who cared, siblings, uncles, aunts, and friends who made my life full. Church, Sabbath observance, tithing, avoiding coarse language — these were also realities which circumscribed my life. In my family, the writings of Ellen G. White were taken seriously. An argument could easily be won by quoting “We have been told…” Your knowledge of the exact book and page number of the reference cemented your position as being correct and your argument as being irrefutable.
During boarding academy years, I began to question some of the verisimilitudes. How could we be so sure that the music of the Beach Boys was evil and degenerate? Why was it wrong to wear Levis, the most popular pants for adolescents of the day? Was it okay if they were white? And why could we not even walk from the administration building to the girls’ dorm with our favorite girl friend?
And there was that semi-condemnation of the table games of chess and checkers. I don’t recall the exact Ellen White quote and resist even today the inclination to seek it out; suffice it to say that we occasionally played checkers in our home but never chess. The game was a mystery to me that was not to be cleared for years. The disapproving statements were not absolute, thus providing a little “wiggle room” for interpretation. But they were clear enough to discourage any thoughtful engagement with this apparently “dangerous” table game.
An acceptable table game was “Five in a Row.” Golf tees were used in a board you could make at home by cutting a piece of perforated hardboard into a four-foot square and attaching a wooden frame. Two colors or more of tees were used one at a time with the goal to achieve five tees in a row with your assigned color. Perhaps because of its sheer simplicity and low cost, this game was just fine.
We also had a carrom board and played that game occasionally on Saturday nights. We also used the same pieces to play checkers at times but without chess pieces, I never played chess until I reached medical school.
One of my earliest chess memories comes to my mind whenever I visit my wife’s youngest brother Harry. As an eight-year-old, he challenged me, a nearly-graduated physician, to a game of chess which he won in a memorable three or four moves! Ah, the humiliation and chagrin are unforgettable!
***
As a freshman at college, I was invited to a blind date with one of my classmate’s sisters. I was attending Andrews University in the autumn of 1966 and was pining for my girlfriend from academy. So, I did not really give this date much of a chance. Since the young woman was related to one of the faculty members, we were invited to his home for the dating experience. His name was Dr. Earle Hilgert and he was professor of New Testament at the Seminary. He passed away recently, and his obituary appeared in Spectrum Magazine online.
I recall his generosity and the liveliness of the evening, but neither the young lady nor I made arrangements to further develop our relationship. One thing I recall about that date, strangely enough, is a furniture piece that was present in the living room of Dr. Hilgert’s home. It was a lovely wooden table, with drawers and accompanying chairs and the top of the table was a chess board, made of inlaid hardwoods. I had never seen such a beautiful table and the very thought that a Seminary professor might be interested in playing chess was intriguing!
As I recall, chess was not played that evening. There were too many people to be entertained and other activities to engage us. But the table remained in my memory.
From the recent obituary for Dr. Earle Hilgert, I now know that he was Vice President for Academic Administration for Andrews University at that time. Then in 1970, he left Andrews University — and the SDA Church — for a position at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.
I had no further encounters with Dr. Hilgert but his chess table has been in one of those memory banks that remain accessible to this day, more than fifty years later.
***
This chess table, or the memory of it, became associated with other memories, dreams, fantasies, and concepts as time has passed. These accretions have complexified into a rich set of associations which were constellated for me by the reading of Dr. Hilgert’s obituary.
His chess table was on the margin of my boundaries at the time, a symbol of independence from the advice and admonitions of my parents, church, and Ellen White. It was not necessary for the game of chess to actually be played for the table to be representative of liberation from previous indoctrination. And yet it was not far enough from the boundary to be unacceptable either. A deck of playing cards would probably not have had such symbolic value for me, since it would have been far enough from my world to be plainly unacceptable. This table stood just over the bridge and invited me to cross the river!
The table also represented craftsmanship. It was a beautiful carved masterpiece, at least the way I remember it. I was used to products from Harris Pine Mills but this table — this chess table — was crafted from hardwoods that would endure. As a furniture piece, it was obviously valued and chosen for decorative and social reasons. It made a statement of quality and beauty.
Chess is one of the most intellectually challenging of games. Having just recently viewed the series The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, I have just been reminded of the depth of commitment required to really play the game well. Some people are obviously better at the game innately, but anyone who attempts to beat another player at chess must learn to think with complex subtlety. For me, the Hilgert Chess Table also represented intellectual aspiration at a time in my life when such thoughts were just beginning to emerge. The table might not have been as powerful an archetype for me several years earlier. But at eighteen years of age, I was eager to engage with cerebral pursuits.
The Hilgert Chess Table nudged its way into my mind, then, as representative of the Good, the Beautiful, and the True. It thus became an archetype for me, a riff on an “original table” with added significance. It had become a symbol of Union, Completion, and Wholeness.
***
I had these thoughts as I read Dr. John Jones’ obituary for Earle Hilgert. They led to feelings of sadness and loss as well as joy and satisfaction. Being aware that each person who knew Dr. Hilgert remembers him in a different way made my little perspective feel very small, yet important to me at the same time. Archetypes live on, having a persistent existence related to their primordial associations. We recognize them since they remind us of a reality we already know at some deep level. I invite the reader to ponder their own story that Dr. Hilgert’s Chess Table evokes.
Gary Huffaker, a graduate of Andrews University and Loma Linda University's School of Medicine, retired several years ago from the practice of pediatric ophthalmology, lastly at Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Since then, he has obtained an MA degree in Integral Theory from John F. Kennedy University. Father of three, husband of one, and new grandparent of one, he is entering 2021 with freshened hope!
