Obituary: James P. Carse

James P. Carse

1932-2020

The Roothbert Fund notes with regret the death of Senior Fellow James P. Carse on September 25, 2020. Born in Ohio in 1932, Carse earned his undergraduate degree at Ohio Wesleyan University in 1954. He also earned both B. D. and S. T. M. degrees at Yale Divinity School. In 1966, while studying at Drew University in New Jersey for a Ph. D., he was awarded a grant from the Fund.

Dr. Carse would have a long career as a Professor of Religion at New York University. He was also a visiting professor at Drew, Sweetbriar and Yale Universities. Carse was the recipient of many awards including NYU’s Distinguished Teaching Award several times. Georgetown University awarded him a Doctor of Humane Letters degree. At NYU, he ran their Religious Studies Program and was instrumental in the Fund’s establishing the Robert M. Perry Scholarship for Excellence in Humane Studies at NYU in 1979. The award honors Robert M. Perry, who taught religion for twenty-nine years at the university and served as a director of the Fund from 1960 to 1984.

Carse was the author of a number of books, including Jonathan Edwards & the Visibility of God, Breakfast at the Victory, The Mysticism of Ordinary Experience, The Silence of God, Finite and Infinite Games, and The Gospel of the Beloved Disciple.

In 1968, Carse was elected to the Fund’s board of directors. In that capacity he chaired the committee that evaluated the Fund’s first ten years of operation. He also helped with interviewing applicants for scholarships. Upon his retirement from the board in 1999 he was elected a Senior Fellow.

On behalf of the entire Roothbert family, the board offers its sympathy to the Carse family for the passing of this beloved teacher who enlightened the lives of so many over his career.