Renowned Religious Scholar Martin Marty Dies at 97
Influential theologian and church historian Martin Marty died on February 25, 2025 at age 97. He taught for 35 years at the University of Chicago Divinity School and published a number of books, articles, essays, newsletters and columns.
Marty’s groundbreaking work “Righteous Empire: The Protestant Experience in America” won the 1972 National Book Award in philosophy and religion. He published around 60 books and served for a half-century as an editor and columnist for “The Christian Century” magazine.
After completing his theological training at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Marty was ordained to the ministry in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and began serving in suburban Chicago parishes, including one he founded, the Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit in Elk Grove Village. During those early years in parish ministry, Marty pursued postgraduate work at the University of Chicago, and in 1963 he was invited to join the faculty at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
Emily D. Crews, executive director of the Martin Marty Center, praised him as “a devoted teacher and adviser who leaves a legacy of boundless energy and creativity. I’m surrounded by so many people who were influenced by his work — his advisees, fellow clergy, members of his former congregations. He lived a life of generosity — generous with his work, with his time, with his students and with colleagues, parishioners and friends.”
Religion writers for daily newspapers counted on Marty as a go-to source of information, but also winsome wisdom and a generosity of spirit. He was prompt to answer calls and lent greater clarity and nuance to the often obscure points of religion stories. As with his students, his expertise often came with friendship, including invitations to lively gatherings in his John Hancock Building apartment in Chicago.
Among his most significant scholarly achievements was the six-year “Fundamentalism Project,” which he co-directed with his former advisee R. Scott Appleby. Funded by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the MacArthur Foundation, this international project examined the role of conservative religious movements in societies worldwide, expanding Marty’s focus beyond the American context to global interfaith concerns. The project resulted in five pioneering volumes of case studies and analytical essays that quickly became the standard works in comparative political religion.
Marty is survived by his wife, Harriet; sons Joel, John, Peter and Micah; foster daughter Fran Garcia Carlson and foster son Jeff Garcia; stepdaughter Ursula Meyer; nine grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.
–Alan Goforth
