2013-2014 Bill 1122: Dr. William John Larkin, Jr. - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 120th Session, 2013-2014 3 4 S. 1122 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 Senate Resolution 9 Sponsors: Senator Jackson 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\gm\29956sd14.docx 11 12 Introduced in the Senate on March 13, 2014 13 Adopted by the Senate on March 13, 2014 14 15 Summary: Dr. William John Larkin, Jr. 16 17 18 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 19 20 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 21 3/13/2014 Senate Introduced and adopted ( Senate Journalpage 5) 22 23 24 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 25 26 3/13/2014 27 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A SENATE RESOLUTION 10 11 TO EXPRESS THE PROFOUND SORROW OF THE 12 MEMBERS OF THE SENATE UPON THE PASSING OF DR. 13 WILLIAM JOHN LARKIN, JR., OF RICHLAND COUNTY 14 AND TO EXTEND THEIR DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO HIS 15 LARGE AND LOVING FAMILY AND HIS MANY FRIENDS. 16 17 Whereas, the South Carolina Senate was saddened to learn of the 18 death of Dr. William John “Bill” Larkin, Jr., at the age of 19 sixtyeight on February 18, 2014; and 20 21 Whereas, born in Donora, Pennsylvania, on August 12, 1945, Bill 22 Larkin was the oldest of five children born to Dr. William J. 23 Larkin, Sr., and Margaret C. Morgan Larkin and spent his 24 formative years in western Pennsylvania and Chicago; and 25 26 Whereas, when he was just a lad in high school, he received his 27 call from the Lord to fulltime Christian service, and in preparation 28 to fulfill this calling, he earned a bachelor’s in history from 29 Wheaton College in Illinois in 1967 and a bachelor’s of divinity 30 from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1970; and 31 32 Whereas, after completing seminary, Bill married his beloved 33 wife, fellow Wheaton graduate Edna Ruth Dennis, and together 34 they reared two outstanding children, Thomas Larkin and Priscilla 35 Larkin Harris, and he was blessed with two adoring grandsons, 36 Benjamin and Daniel Larkin; and 37 38 Whereas, he was ordained in the United Presbyterian Church, the 39 denomination in which his father served for almost sixty years, and 40 he served as the assistant pastor in the Olney Presbyterian Church 41 of Philadelphia before pursuing doctoral studies abroad; and 42

[1122] 2 1 Whereas, from 1971 to 1975, the young couple lived in Durham, 2 England, where Bill studied under distinguished New Testament 3 professor C. K. Barrett; and 4 5 Whereas, in his doctoral dissertation, he argued that Luke’s use of 6 the Old Testament, especially the Servant song of Isaiah 53, 7 demonstrated that Jesus’ death was for the atonement of the sins of 8 His people. This marked the beginning of Bill’s lifelong work 9 with the Gospel of Luke and Luke’s second volume, Acts; and 10 11 Whereas, for the next thirtyeight years, he served with distinction 12 as professor of New Testament and Greek at Columbia Biblical 13 Seminary and Graduate School of Missions in Columbia, investing 14 joyfully in thousands of lives by teaching them to read, understand, 15 and live out the Scriptures; and 16 17 Whereas, Dr. Larkin authored five books, three of which were 18 commentaries on Acts, one was the exegetical method he had 19 crafted and refined over the years, and the other dealt with culture 20 and biblical hermeneutics; and 21 22 Whereas, he participated in three scholarly societies: the 23 Evangelical Theological Society, Society of Biblical Literature, 24 and the Institute for Biblical Research; and 25 26 Whereas, Dr. Larkin not only trained others to serve Christ all over 27 the world, but he also traveled himself to teach in Europe, Asia, 28 and Africa; and 29 30 Whereas, deeply committed to the ministry of the local church, he 31 served as a teaching elder with the Palmetto Presbytery of the 32 Presbyterian Church in America, in several Columbia churches, 33 and as an adult Christian education teacher with First Presbyterian 34 Church of Columbia for many years; and 35 36 Whereas, following his retirement in June 2013, Dr. Larkin was 37 named Emeritus Professor of New Testament and Greek with 38 Columbia International University and Visiting Distinguished 39 Professor of New Testament and Missions for Erskine Theological 40 Seminary of Columbia; and 41 42 Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate are grateful 43 for Dr. Bill Larkin’s life, characterized by disciplined study,

[1122] 3 1 careful research, and depth of humility and kindness, and for the 2 exemplary legacy he left for all who knew him. Now, therefore, 3 4 Be it resolved by the Senate: 5 6 That the members of the Senate, by this resolution, express their 7 profound sorrow upon the passing of Dr. William John Larkin, Jr., 8 of Richland County and extend their deepest sympathy to his large 9 and loving family and his many friends and colleagues. 10 11 Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to 12 the family of Dr. William John Larkin. 13 XX 14

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