The author of 16 books and prodigious Old Testament scholar Dr.Patrick Miller Jr., died Friday in Black Mountain, North Carolina at his age of 84 after a long illness.
Miller also taught at two seminaries affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, and Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey, Presbyterian Mission noted.
Pat and his wife were mentors, teachers, and friends to generations of UTS students and Pat's contributions to Old Testament scholarship proliferated.
The president of Union Presbyterian Seminary, Dr. Brian K. Blount, said in a statement, "I had recently graduated from the Graduate School of Religion at Emory University. I was beginning my call as an assistant professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary where Pat was the chair of the Bible department. As he had been and continued to be for countless young biblical scholars, Pat became both role model and mentor.
A gifted scholar, he was also one of the most beloved professors on campus. His lectures were akin to sermons. In his deep, rich voice, he captivated students as he introduced them to the Old Testament and the various books of which it was composed. Determined to see students engage the texts in heretofore unimagined ways, he pushed them to see beyond their scriptural and theological horizons. He did not, though, only convey information; he invited focused concentration and energetic debate, using powerful lectures as invitations to think with him in preparation for later conversations."
"Watching him, listening to students talk about him, observing the way faculty colleagues respected him, I learned much about the craft of being a professor," Blount said. "And I deeply appreciated the way that he made time to help me think about course preparation, student engagement, and scholarly publication. Pat was a significant mentor whose influence I, along with many others, count as instrumental to my growth as a teacher and an interpreter of the biblical text. Like those many others, I shall miss him greatly. And I will give great thanksgiving continuously that I had the opportunity to be his colleague and his friend."
Since 1984, Millier served Princeton Theological Seminary as the Charles T. Haley Professor of Old Testament Theology until his retirement in 2005. During his years at Princeton, he wrote 16 books and a multitude of journal articles, undertaking responsibilities as the editor of "Theology Today".
In his childhood, Pat absorbed theology he believed to be magnificently expressed in Psalm 103.
In Pat's own words, "Praise responds to the experience of God's grace and power, exalts the Lord, and bears witness to all who hear that God is God." His life came to express the refrain of Psalm 103: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless God's holy name."
His wife, Mary Ann preceded him in death.
Survivors include the Millers' son, Jonathan, his spouse Suzy and their children, Isaac and Claudia; son Patrick James, his partner Katie McWeeney, and children Jessica, Rachael, and Alex; and granddaughter Adeline; sister Belle Miller McMaster and twin sister Mary Miller Brueggemann.
