Loraine Boettner was born on March 7th, 1901 at the town of Linden in extreme north-west Missouri. His father William was the Sunday School Superintendent at the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) at Linden; his mother was a member of the Methodist Church. He attended the Linden church until he was sixteen years of age, and at eighteen he joined what was then the Centennial Methodist Church. Because of the influence of his father, he was baptised by immersion in a pond that can still be seen. For the next three years he continued attending the regular autumn 'revivals' that were part of rural life in Missouri. Dr Boettner would never pinpoint his conversion to any dramatic experience, but said that as he heard the Word the Lord gradually revealed himself to him. 'Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.'

In 1917 Boettner attended the University of Missouri, studying in the field of agriculture. He then transferred to Tarkio Presbyterian College in Tarkio, Missouri, and graduated cum laude with a B.S. degree. While at Tarkio he felt a call to some form of Christian service. It was here that Professor J. B. Work influenced him greatly, particularly in his postmillennial views, which Boettner adopted. Professor Work also urged him to investigate the doctrine of predestination, which at that time he did not hold to.

Princeton Years: 1925-1929⤒🔗

Upon his graduation from Tarkio, Boettner enrolled at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1925. He received the Th.B. degree in 1928, and the Th.M. in 1929.

On his first Christmas vacation while at Princeton, he 'digested' Hodge's Volume II, Part III, the soteriology section of his Systematic Theology, and embraced the Calvinistic system. His thirst for knowledge was insatiable at this point, and he read everything he could find on the subject. This prompted him to write his Master's thesis on Predestination.

Summer vacations were spent in serving as interim pastor: in Sunnyslope, Alberta, Canada in his first year and Titusville, New Brunswick, Canada in his third year. The second year he spent the summer working on his brother Clifford's farm in Rockport, Missouri.

By his own admission, he was not a good public speaker, and was never ordained or felt a call to the preaching ministry. His two summers in Canada confirmed this in his mind.

While at Princeton, Boettner studied under Caspar Wistar Hodge, Jr., grandson of Charles Hodge. He felt that Caspar was a very capable theologian in his own right. A close friend whom he frequently met with at Princeton was Samuel G. Craig, editor of The Presbyterian. Craig invited Boettner over for dinner frequently to discuss the latest happenings on campus in the Modernist-Fundamentalist controversy that raged in the late 1920’s. Fellow students at Princeton included Carl McIntyre and John Murray. The controversy culminated in 1929 with the resignation from Princeton of Oswald T. Allis, J. Gresham Machen, Cornelius Van Til and Robert Dick Wilson, and the formation of the new Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

Later Years: 1929-1958←⤒🔗

Upon graduation from Princeton, Boettner taught Bible at Pikeville Presbyterian College in eastern Kentucky. He served in this capacity until 1937. 1932 was an important year for Boettner, as he married Lillian Henry from Tennessee, and published his first book, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination which has been expanded five times from his original Master's thesis.

Boettner and Dr Allis were assistant editors of Christianity Today from 1935 to 1939. This magazine is not the same as today's Christianity Today; however, in 1957, Dr Boettner served for three months as editorial associate in the offices of the present magazine in Washington, D.C., working with Carl F. H. Henry and Marcellus Kik.

In 1933, Tarkio College conferred upon Loraine Boettner an honorary Doctorate in Divinity (D.D.), and a Doctorate in Literature (Lit.D.) in 1957.

From 1937 to 1948 he was at Washington, D.C. These years were marked by his work in the Library of Congress and the Bureau of Internal Revenue while he continued to write. He and Lillian were members of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church where Peter Marshall was pastor.

In 1948 Dr Boettner and his wife moved to Los Angeles, California, because of Lillian's failing health. Her two sisters helped care for her until her death in 1958. While living in Los Angeles, Boettner resided just a few blocks from where a young evangelist named Billy Graham was getting his start in a tent crusade, and he heard Graham speak for about a third of his meetings there.

After Lillian's death, Dr Boettner came back to Rockport and continued his writing and correspondence. Here he was to live until his death in 1990. In 1962, his book Roman Catholicism was published, which surpassed The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination as his best­seller.

These years were marked by much correspondence, distribution of his books, and frequent visits from many Calvinistic theological students, including this writer. I remember numerous times placing a tape recorder on his lap and asking him about those early years at Princeton and his views on all phases of Christian doctrine.

The Man and His Books←⤒🔗

Loraine Boettner was best known for his books, which include: The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, Studies in Theology, Immortality, The Christian Attitude Toward War, A Harmony of the Gospels, The Millennium, Divorce, Roman Catholicism, and The Reformed Faith. Many of these books were translated into several languages, including Italian, Portuguese, Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Arabic. He also wrote numerous articles and pamphlets, including 'The Mass' pub­lished by the Banner of Truth Trust.

In 1965, Boettner became concerned about the liberalism in the Presbyterian church, and wrote a letter to a former Princeton classmate, William Harllee Bourdeaux, pastor of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church of Weschester, Illinois, requesting membership of the church. His application for absentee membership was accepted, and he remained a member of that church until his death.

Throughout his life, Boettner kept a very low profile. He was a truly humble man who did not want recognition for his accomplishments, and gave all the glory to God for any achievements. He was a Christian gentleman in every sense of the word, kind, loving and considerate; one whom God set his grace upon in a very special way.

The Last Months←⤒🔗

In 1989, Dr Boettner's physical health deteriorated rapidly. He had contracted diabetes, leukemia, and cancer which led to kidney disease and heart failure. He had received four blood transfusions after which he rallied, but each successive transfusion was less effective than the previous one. He refused any kind of artificial means to prolong his life, saying only, 'I'm ready to go.' In December he declined even more, with failing eyesight that went completely in the last two weeks of his life. All during his illness, his cousin, Mrs. Esther Wolf, showed true Christian love. A lady in her seventies, she would go to his home to read him his mail and feed him. Finally, he had a slight stroke which affected his voice and his ability to swallow. He received no nourishment except water through a straw, and later through a syringe. He suffered much pain, as the cancer had eaten deeply into his bones.

How one dies tells much about the reality of one's life. Dr Loraine Boettner went to his everlasting rest at a little past eight o'clock in the evening of Wednesday, January 3rd, 1990 at the Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax, Montana, room 226. That night, Rockport was blanketed with seven inches of fresh snow.

The day of his funeral, Friday, January 5th, was sunny with temperatures in the 40s. The service was held at the Minter Funeral Home in Rockport because of the weather. Rev. Carroll Fischer, ordained Southern Baptist minister and pastor of the Linden Christian Church; and Tony Mattia, pastor of the Trinity Southern Baptist Church of Wamego, Kansas, officiated. There was a very small crowd of thirty-five mourners in attendance, mostly relatives. Mark Woita, a member of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Omaha, heard of his death and drove down to attend.

After the forty-minute service, approximately twenty people continued to the Linden Christian Church, about seven miles from Rockport, for his burial. He was buried close to the house where he was born almost eighty-nine years before, which is still standing.

Carroll Fischer related this story at Dr Boettner's funeral. He had visited Loraine in the hospital before his death. His body was so weak that he could not pick up a straw to drink from, and could barely whisper. Pastor Fischer gave him a drink and stooped over to talk with him. Boettner whispered to him,

There's a time to be born and a time to die. My time has come, so don't feel bad. Just tell everyone how I loved the Lord and what I thought, and do not be sorrowful for me but to be sorrowful for those that don't know Jesus Christ.