Herald Press Author Passes

James Reimer of Waterloo, Ont., author of the Herald Press book The Dogmatic Imagination: The Dynamics of Christian Belief (2003), passed away August 28. He was 68.

Reimer graduated from Canadian Mennonite Bible College in 1963, and the University of Manitoba in 1971. He spent a year at Union Theological Seminary in New York before completing graduate degrees at the University of Toronto. He was a professor of theology at Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo, and at the Toronto School of Theology, where he helped found the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre in 1991.

In The Dogmatic Imagination, Reimer asked: Can the average churchgoer speak intelligently on divine will, the sacraments, or the Trinity? Or has the modern, western church has largely forgotten its creeds? And does it even matter?

He believed it did matter, and that the church ignores these discussions at its own peril. In his collection of short, accessible essays, Reimer approached the dogmas of the Christian faith—things like heaven, hell, prayer, judgment and others—with humor, insight, and imagination, providing historical insight and contemporary application.

Of his book, Arthur Paul Boers, Associate Professor at Tyndale University College and Seminary, said: "With wisdom and wit, Reimer explores the big questions of our faith. I wish this book was available when I was a pastor teaching catechism!"

Reimer was the husband of Margaret Loewen Reimer, author of the Herald Press book One Quilt Many Pieces: A Guide to Mennonite Groups in Canada (2008).

The funeral was held Sept. 2 in Waterloo.