A Personal Tribute to Wayne Grudem

Grant Castleberry and Wayne Grudem

Theologian Wayne Grudem announced his retirement from the public teaching ministry yesterday (May 2, 2024).

When I read the announcement, my mind rushed back to my first hearing of the name Wayne Grudem. Between my sophomore and junior years at Texas A&M, my father, Preston Abbott, took me to The Masters Seminary in Sun Valley, California. We sat down with the head of admissions at the seminary, Ray Mehringer. In our discussions with Ray, I expressed my desire to be a pastor-teacher, an expositor of the Word of God. After listening, Ray gave much counsel and wisdom about the preparation for an expository ministry. In addition to much other counsel, he implored me to start reading systematic theology. Naturally, my father and I asked where I should start. He said, ‘Though we have an issue with his view on the charismatic gifts and some of his eschatology, you need to read Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology. It’s down in Grace Books.’ After we met with Ray, we walked over to the bookstore and purchased the book just as he instructed. That night, I began what has now been nearly a twenty-year journey of reading systematic theology. But it all started with Grudem’s clear articulation of theological doctrines. Through Grudem, I learned the doctrine of faith and repentance, the doctrine of justification by faith only, the biblical doctrine of election, and probably, most importantly, the doctrine of the person and work of Christ. Grudem’s work is written as an introduction for anyone to pick up and read. And for that reason, it played a pivotal role in the rise of God-centered Christianity in the early 2000s. I have some disagreements on secondary and tertiary issues, but still, to this day, I would recommend it to anyone embarking on the journey of understanding Christian doctrine.

Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

After I graduated and before attending seminary, I went into the Marine Corps as an officer, per the advice of Ray Mehringer (mentioned above — it’s a long story!). In my first year in the Marine Corps, I began to wrestle with gender roles in marriage. It directly applied because I was praying and thinking about the type of woman God would have me marry. Enter Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood into the conversation! Wayne Grudem and John Piper produced the volume in their work with the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. I do not remember how I got my hands on this book. Perhaps my pastor had recommended it. But I remember bringing this book with me on a flight from New Orleans to Houston, and I was hooked. Its teachings were a breath of fresh air in our egalitarian/feminist culture, which tries to bleach men’s and women’s roles away. I decided on that flight that I needed to marry a thoroughly complementarian woman who understood what it meant to be a woman and embraced God’s unique calling to be a wife and a mom. These convictions led me to begin pursuing my wife, GraceAnna, just a few months later. So, I guess you could say that God monumentally used Wayne Grudem to lead me to my wife and the love of my life!

The ESV Study Bible

When I read Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, I was in the Navy’s and Marine Corps’s Air Traffic Control School in Pensacola, Florida. From there, I was sent to Iwakuni, Japan. Once I got settled in Iwakuni, I began devouring theology books, most of which I ordered online from Ligonier Ministries (and waited impatiently for two to three weeks for the books to cross the Pacific and reach my Bachelor Officer Quarters!). One day, I returned to my room and, through social media, saw the release of a new study Bible produced by Crossway Books called The ESV Study Bible. I ordered it immediately when I saw that Wayne Grudem was the General Editor! I waited a month for it to arrive, and when it finally did, I was stunned by its depth. The inlaid notes, charts, maps, and articles introduced me to the world of top-flight biblical scholarship. Over the next four to five years, I carried the study Bible with me wherever I went (not a small feat considering how large it is!). Even though I graduated to carry around more portable Bibles, there has been hardly a week since I consulted my ESV Study Bible. It is hard to estimate this Bible’s impact on the global reformed evangelical movement or even what its continued implications will be, but suffice it to say that I think it is monumental. Many Christians’ lives have been changed due to immersing themselves in the ESV text and its study notes. I thank God for using a Cambridge-educated New Testament scholar in Wayne Grudem to produce this monumental project.

My Work with Wayne Grudem at CBMW

In a surprising turn of events, I became the Executive Director of the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) in 2014. I had begun attending Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, under the leadership of Dr. Albert Mohler. The CBMW office was at the seminary! When Owen Strachan became executive director, he recruited me to start helping with writing and events. And when he was promoted to president of CBMW, the board asked me to fill his role as executive director. I did not have to think about it when I was asked. I felt grateful to the organization since CBMW, Grudem, and Piper had played such vital roles in my life years earlier. After I accepted the position, Wayne Grudem flew to Louisville for a board meeting. He was still on the board of CBMW and helped guide its vision and ministry. I’ll never forget Dr. Grudem pulling me aside when we first met, imploring me to faithfulness, and then praying over me. I noticed something unique in Grudem. Humility. He did not act like a big shot. He was noticeably kind and humble. Over the next few years, I will get to know him much closer. And he was always kind and humble. He was relentlessly dogmatic about his theological convictions but always loving toward his opponents. I learned a great deal watching him. One of those things is how to live as a Christ-like theologian.

Finishing Well

Seeing Grudem taking a step back from public teaching did not take me off guard. He has been battling Parkinson’s Disease for several years, but he stepped back with grace and humility.

Grudem’s perspective on finishing well in the Christian life is reminiscent of what Paul said at the end of 2 Timothy about “finishing the race” and “keeping the faith.” Grudem said:

I find it interesting that I’m not thinking of old age as something to be feared. It rather feels like I’ve been running a long race and I’ve turned a corner and now I see the finish line in the distance. Thinking that perhaps 80% of the race is over is, for me, a comforting feeling.

This statement struck me because Grudem is living what he has preached. He has written on “Perseverance of the Saints.” And now he, himself, is persevering to the end. May the Lord give him many more years with us. But I, for one, am very thankful for his public teaching ministry.