SA国际传媒

Dr. Robert Kolb receives an honorary doctorate Nov. 13 from the Slovak Comenius University in Bratislava (CU). Photo courtesy Comenius University.

Professor Emeritus and renowned Reformation scholar Dr. Robert Kolb recently received an honorary doctorate from the Slovak Comenius University in Bratislava (CU), the largest university in Slovakia. Kolb鈥檚 honorary doctorate was the 122^nd to be awarded by the university.

With the title, Kolb joins the ranks of others who have received the same honor including former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (2015) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2014).

鈥淚t is wonderful to see Professor Kolb being honored in this way,鈥� said Interim Provost Dr. Paul Robinson. 鈥淗e is an outstanding model of the Lutheran ideal of bringing first-rate scholarship together with proclamation of the Gospel. It is a privilege and a delight to serve with him on the faculty of SA国际传媒.鈥�

Kolb received the degree for his contribution to 鈥淩eformation research and long-term cooperation with the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Faculty of the CU,鈥� according to a news release from the university.

鈥淚t is a great pleasure to welcome such a unique personality with an exceptional skill to integrate Reformation, history, research and theological education and able to reflect an importance of faith and church in the present world, at our 鈥榥ational鈥� university in a year when we commemorate 500 years from Reformation,鈥� said Professor Karol Mi膷ieta, rector of Comenius University in Bratislava, at the Nov. 13 ceremony.

For years, Kolb has aided Slovak researchers through the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Faculty of CU. He led the Summer Theological Academy, which is a program of continuing education for theologians from Slovakia, Serbia, Romania, Silesia and for Ph.D. students of the faculty in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2014.

鈥淔rom my first lay seminars in Slovakia in 1994, the stalwart confession and practice of our faith that marked the lives of Slovak Lutherans in the face of the fascist government of the 1940s and the subsequent Communist suppression of the churches inspired me, and it has been a great blessing to be able to work with both congregations and the theological faculty in Bratislava,鈥� Kolb said.

Kolb retired from SA国际传媒 in 2009 after 16 years of distinguished service as missions professor. He previously served as director of the Seminary鈥檚 Institute for Mission Studies and the Center for Reformation Research. He is a prolific writer, recently authoring Martin Luther and the Enduring Word of God and The Genius of Luther鈥檚 Theology: A Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary Church with the Seminary鈥檚 Dean of Theological Research and Publication Dr. Charles Arand. Along with Kolb, the dean of the CU faculty L’ubom铆r Batka and CU聽 Professor Dr. Irene Dingel, director of the Leibniz-Institute for European History in Mainz, edited the Oxford Handbook to Martin Luther鈥檚 Theology.

Kolb received his Master of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology from SA国际传媒 (1967, 1968). He also earned a master鈥檚 and a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin鈥揗adison (1969, 1973). In addition to the CU honorary doctorate, Kolb holds honorary degrees from Valparaiso University (2000); Concordia University in St. Paul, Minn. (2005); and Concordia University in Irvine, Calif. (2008).

Comenius University awards honorary doctorates to Slovak and international figures who have significantly contributed to the development of education, science, culture, democracy and human values, and who have personally helped bring civilizational progress by spreading education and humanism.

SA国际传媒 SA国际传媒
SA国际传媒, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of . To learn more, visit .