OBITUARY

DAVORIN PETERLIN (19592010)

Dr. Davorin Peterlin, Professor of Early

Christianity and History of Minority Religious
Groups, Head of the Research Department and
Academic Resources Officer at the Evangelical
Theological Faculty in Osijek, Croatia, died at the
age of 51, on the 14th of June, 2010, in Zagreb,
Croatia.

Prof. Peterlin, a respected theologian, author of

Pauls Letter to the Philippians in Light of
Disunity in the Church (E. J. Brill), as well as of
numerous other studies in the areas of Early
Christianity and Baptist History, was born in Zagreb, Croatia, on the 24th of February, 1959. After
completing an undergraduate degree in linguistics (English and Polish) at the University of Zagreb, he
began pursuing his desire to study theology. He earned in 1988 a Masters Degree in Biblical Studies
from Regent College, Vancouver, Canada and a PhD in New Testament in 1992 from Aberdeen
University, Scotland.

Prof. Peterlin began his teaching and administrative career in 1994 as a lecturer in New Testament
studies at the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Osijek, Croatia and as the Dean of the same
institution from 1995 to 1997. After 1997 his professional journey took him to various positions and
institutions throughout Europe: International Baptist Theological Seminary, Prague, Czech Republic;
Regents Park College, University of Oxford, England; Keston Institute, Oxford, England; Milltown
Institute, National University of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland; Faculty of Philosophy of the Society of Jesus,
Zagreb, Croatia and Theological Faculty Matthias Flacius Illyricus, Zagreb, Croatia. In September
2009 Prof. Peterlin once again joined the community of the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Osijek,
Croatia as Professor of Early Christianity and History of Minority Religious Groups, Head of the
Research Department and Academic Resources Officer.

Prof. Peter Kuzmi, the President of the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Osijek, Croatia, and a
lifelong friend of Prof. Peterlin stated: The unexpected passing of Prof. Davorin Peterlin is a great
shock to all of us his friends and colleagues. To use a biblical metaphor, death came to him as a thief
in the night unexpected, unwanted and unwelcomed. It robbed him of a life full of anticipation,
research and writing, teaching and mentoring. Davorin was an effective leader, a constructive team
player and a scholar who had the capacity to think critically and comparatively. The academic
community at the Evangelical Theological Faculty will miss him greatly for we were all convinced that
along with all of his many accomplishments his best work still lay ahead of him.

The funeral service will be held on the 17th of June at 10 AM at the Zagreb Crematorium, in Zagreb,
Croatia. A Memorial Service will take place in Osijek at the Evangelical Theological Faculty on the 24th
of June at 11 AM.

Prof. dr. Marcel V. Mcelaru

Executive Dean, Evangelical Theological Faculty