Popular Theologian, Author Charles Ryrie Dies

Christian leaders are paying tribute to Charles C. Ryrie, a leading Christian theologian and author of the popular Ryrie Study Bible.

Ryrie, 90, died in Dallas on Tuesday. He was former dean and professor of systematic theology at DallasTheological Seminary. Although he retired from DTS 30-years ago, he has left a lasting imprint on the seminary and Christian dispensationalists.

Dispensationalism is the belief that God uses different people for different purposes during various periods, or dispensations of history. The thought is, the divine approach has differed for Israel and the church.

DTS President Mark Bailey paid tribute to Ryrie saying he had a rare gift of explaining, "complex theological ideas in succinct statements. All of us are indebted to his efforts to articulate and defend dispensational premillennialism."

Ryrie was perhaps best known as author of the Ryrie Study Bible, a book that includes more than 10,000 footnotes written by him. Ryrie also authored more than 50 books, but his study Bible was the most popular, selling more than 2.6-million copies.

One of his former students, Doug Tiffln who is currently serving as dean of the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics said Ryrie was a tough task master.

"Senior theology—commonly known as 'Ryrie Roulette'—was a terrifying experience, but was one of the best preparations for ministry," wrote Tiffin. "Dr. Ryrie would announce the topic for the next class and tell us to be prepared. We never knew what to expect, so we had to work hard to be ready for anything."

An obituary posted on the DTS web site states that Ryrie passed only weeks before his ninety-first birthday.

It notes that he grew up in Alton, Illinois where he was the fifth generation of his family to reside there. He attended First Baptist Church of Alton, and was also "valedictorian of Alton High School, where he played the piano for his own commencement in January 1942, a mere six weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor."

At the time of his death, Ryrie lived in Dallas. He had three children and three grandchildren.