Allan Carlson, President of the Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society and John Howard, Senior Fellow, today expressed deep sadness at the death of Harold O.J. Brown, who passed away on Sunday, July 8, and called Joe “a hero of Christian faith, service and scholarship.”
“As our editor of The Religion & Society Report for 18 years, our director of the Center on Religion & Society and our friend, Joe will be greatly missed by everyone at The Howard Center,” said Drs. Carlson and Howard.
Dr. Brown leaves behind a legacy of Christian scholarship. Since 1989, he was editor of The Religion & Society Report and brought theological and philosophical rigor to ethical and civic debate in America, reminding citizens that theirs is a nation founded “under God” and their liberties rest on this moral foundation.
Through The Religion & Society Report, Dr. Brown offered uncompromising, but civil analyses of cultural controversies and public issues from a Christian framework. Issues discussed included the relationship of civil authority to the Bible, abortion and euthanasia, medical ethics, theological trends in American and European churches, religious liberty, and reports on the persecution of Christians and other faith groups in foreign lands. Dr. Brown’s articles frequently built understanding between believers from different denominations in areas of sexual morality, bioethics and family life.
Perhaps other leaders best described Dr. Brown’s work:
“Harold O.J. Brown has one of the keenest minds I know. I devour anything and everything he writes. I look forward to receiving each issue of Religion & Society Report. It is relevant and always useful to me.”
~ Charles Colson, Prison Fellowship
“The Religion & Society Report, edited by Professor Harold O.J. Brown, is a monthly reminder that the clear and sparkling well of Christian traditional scholarship and timely commentary has not yet faded from America.”
~ Otto Scott
In Dr. Brown’s last article (“No Diga Mentiras”) in The Religion & Society Report, he writes a personal history of the pro-life movement and sends a heartfelt message of encouragement to all of us. Joe exhorts, “I write these deeply personal lines to encourage others not to despair, but to sound the clarion call to him [George W. Bush] and all leaders, No diga mentiras, diga la verdad! Do not tell lies, tell the truth!”
Thank you, Joe, for showing us how to live and tell the Truth! Godspeed.
Dr. Brown’s recent articles in The Religion & Society Report are available online at www.profam.org/pub/archive_rs.htm. Past issues and subscriptions to The Religion & Society Report can also be ordered from The Howard Center at 1-800-461-3113.