Two follow-ups to my post on Robert Jenson. First, and precisely in relation to Glenn Gould, I should have mentioned the prominence of musical imagery in Jens’s own theology: God as fugue, creation as harmony (the latter a major theme in his beloved Jonathan Edwards). There’s a reason Chris Green’s excellent companion to Jenson’s thought is titled The End Is Music.
Second, as prickly as Jens could be at times, he was also extraordinarily generous. If you showed up at his office in Princeton and just wanted to shoot the breeze, he’d make clear he had no time for it. But if you came to him with a serious question or asked him to read your work in progress, he would give you his undivided attention. I was present at an AAR panel once where six younger scholars delivered short (c. 15 minutes) papers on a set topic. Then Jens got up and responded to all six papers, making incisive criticisms to be sure, but also reading charitably and offering words of encouragement to his junior colleagues. It was a tour de force of teaching and mentorship.
