REMEMBERING JIM

Roy A. Harrisville III

“Umm.”

Rev. James A. Nestingen, ThD is remembered for his winsome explanation of God’s grace and his unyielding defense of the Christian faith. His many lectures and presentations (often laced with the occasional “umm”) and his publications of Lutheran theology rank among the best that North American scholarship has to offer. For those fortunate to have known him he was a fierce friend and loyal colleague. He knew absolutely that anything positive in his life was a divine gift and that he had contributed nothing to his own righteousness except to trouble the gracious Lord who bestowed it upon him. He was a genuine brother in Christ whose sudden absence left us grieving but whose Lord has enriched us all by the gifts Jim was given.

That is how we remember him. But that’s not how it started!

Jim and his wife, Carolyn, built a dream home near Dallas, Oregon. They made frequent trips from their first home in St. Paul, MN to Oregon and back. On one such trip Jim was on his own going through North Dakota back to St. Paul. It was winter, cold, and snowing. He stopped off at a truck stop in Jamestown where he and his brother had once lived. He walked into the restaurant and sidled up to the counter, taking a seat beside a local “old timer.” The fellow broke the ice first by asking Jim where he was from. Jim told him he was enroute from Oregon to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. “What’s your name?” the old timer asked. “Nestingen,” Jim replied. “Nestingen, … Nestingen,” said the old fellow. “There used to be a couple Nestingen boys around here … they were real hellions!” “Well,” Jim replied, “I’m one of them.” With a look of horror the old guy asked, “You’re not coming back are you!?” Jim asked the fellow how he could remember that far back. The man replied, “This is your hometown. We never forget!”

While he was attending Concordia College in Moorhead, MN he was thinking about going to the seminary. The president of Concordia at that time, Joseph Knutson (“Prexie Joe” as he was called), sent a letter to Al Rogness, the president of Luther Seminary, stating that Rogness should not allow Jim to attend the seminary because he was too much trouble!

“Umm.”

Jim, however, did attend Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN for his MDiv degree despite the advice of his college president and because Dr. Rogness saw something in Jim that was of value to the gospel. In those days a year’s internship at a congregation was required after the second year of studies.

Jim wasn’t even sure he wanted to continue his seminary training, especially if it meant enduring a whole year for an internship. Dr. Roy Harrisville, professor of New Testament, met Jim in the tunnel that stretches between Gullixson and Bøckman Halls. Jim told him that he was thinking about quitting the seminary. Dr. Harrisville told Jim to talk to his dad, who was a Lutheran pastor himself. His dad told Jim that he was still young and could afford to “spare an extra year.” So off he went on internship.

Internship for Jim was in Washington state. Sometimes internship can be as smooth as silk, and at other times as rough as sandpaper. Jim’s was the latter. But as so often happens, hardship brings great growth and maturity.

Jim’s internship supervising pastor, who had previously been in the mission field, was married. But his wife was having an affair with another woman. Jim requested a letter from then seminary president, Al Rogness, that would allow him to stay or leave as he wished. The pastor ended up resigning his call, which left Jim to do all the preaching and teaching for the whole congregation. No small task for a young seminarian. But when his internship was concluded, and he returned for his senior year at Luther Seminary, he found that he had developed a wonderfully healthy appetite for theology!

That appetite led him to graduate school at the University of St. Michael’s College of the University of Toronto, where he received his ThD. His studies would eventually lead him to a teaching position at Luther Seminary where he excelled in the classroom and the writing desk. One of his colleagues considered Jim a heretic at first because he emphasized the sovereignty of God too much, until he read what Jim wrote and then quickly changed his mind.

St. Michael's College, University of Toronto

“Umm.”

Jim shared a bond of faith with many of his family, friends, and colleagues. But he also shared struggles with those whose brand of faith was changing with the wind. Jim was never one to back down from a fight, especially when it meant the truth of the gospel was at stake. That’s why he found his way to the North American Lutheran Church and became one of its premier theologians. He was a keynote speaker at many NALC events and workshops and also helped start St. Paul Lutheran Seminary, serving as its provost and supplying weekly text studies. Jim also served on the Commission for Theology and Doctrine of the NALC where his voice was always forceful in its theological acumen and passion.

Jim spoke with a heavy Scandinavian brogue which seemed to intensify the more he spoke. The fact is that he had spent a great deal of time with both his grandparents and greatgrandparents, all of whom were of Norwegian extraction. No doubt their speech patterns had a deep and abiding effect on him. Once while he was riding the ferry from Denmark to Norway, he struck up a conversation with a woman from California. As they approached the ferry landing in Oslo and were about to part company, the woman in all seriousness asked Jim, “So, have you ever been to America then?”

Jim’s paternal grandfather, Ingar Nestingen, impressed an important truth upon Jim and his younger brother Rolf. “It doesn’t take any brains to talk fancy. What takes real brains is to talk simple.” Jim would take that to heart in both his teaching and writing. He would make many speaking trips around the United States and overseas, all the while holding on to that sound advice from his grandfather. One such trip landed him in Bergen, Norway, where he was giving a lecture. The audience was mainly local lay people. While he was speaking, he noticed that several people had tears in their eyes. He wasn’t sure if his lecture was being translated well and during a break in the session he asked his host, “Did I say something offensive?” “Oh no, not at all!” replied his host. “It’s just that it’s been so long since these people have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ so clearly explained!”

As they approached the ferry landing in Oslo and were about to part company, the woman in all seriousness asked Jim, “So, have you ever been to America then?”

May the legacy of James Arne Nestingen be that he spoke the gospel boldly, clearly, and courageously. Peace be to his memory among us.1

Roy A. Harrisville III, PhD, is a retired NALC/LCMC pastor who has taught New Testament at several institutions and has published two books with a third coming out this year –The Faith of the New Testament: A Pauline Trajectory, Pickwick, 2023. He and his family have been friends of the Nestingens for two generations.

Endnote:

1Thanks to my father, Dr. Roy A. Harrisville and to Rev. Rolf Nestingen for contributing their memories of Jim.