Remembering Dr. Paul Bremer (1942-2021)

Anyone who interacted with Dr. Paul Bremer immediately knew one thing about him: he was a teacher who loved the Lord and served him fully. However, he was not just a teacher by profession; instead, his whole attitude was that of a person who delighted to connect with others, encouraged curiosity, and pointed people to a deeper relationship with our great God.

Dr. Paul Bremer was a beloved professor at Kuyper College from 1975 until his retirement in 2006. While attending Calvin Theological Seminary as a student, Dr. Bremer was asked to teach Greek to Calvin undergraduate students. That experience led to him teaching Biblical Greek while completing his Ph.D. at Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. Bremer then joined the faculty at Kuyper College and spent the remainder of his career there investing in students from all over the world.

While at Kuyper, Dr. Bremer served as Academic Vice President and assisted in developing a program of study in philosophy and New Testament Greek for pre-seminary students. He was also an ordained pastor in the Christian Reformed Church and preached and spoke extensively in Reformed and Presbyterian circles.

Even after his retirement in 2006, Dr. Bremer did not stop learning and teaching. He loved traveling to National Parks, exploring Civil War sites, studying Abraham Lincoln, and researching the Navajo Code Talkers of WWII. In 2013, Dr. Bremer was the recipient of the H. J. Kuiper Founder’s Service Award from Kuyper College, and in 2014, he co-authored the Kuyper College 75th Anniversary book.

Dr. Bremer had a gift for making complex and deep subjects understandable and engaging. For him, studying Biblical Greek was never just about decoding a language; it was a way to find joy in an active God and access the living scriptures.

Former Greek student and Kuyper colleague Dr. Jessica Maddox recalled, “There is something conspicuously Spirit-filled about someone who delights in lifting up another to new opportunities and privileges. There is something of the divine image we are meant to reclaim when someone unreservedly rejoices over another’s flourishing. Indeed, there are reflections of Jesus himself in someone who grasps that choosing to share a moment of mutual humility, raises us both up to greater dignity and respect. Paul lived his faith into the nooks and crannies of life.

“My prayer for us all,” concluded Dr. Maddox, “is that we, too, like Paul, will live conspicuously Spirit-filled lives into the nooks and crannies of our world—delighting in the flourishing of others.”