{"id":76407,"date":"2019-07-24T15:58:34","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T21:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=76407"},"modified":"2020-06-21T15:24:01","modified_gmt":"2020-06-21T21:24:01","slug":"arnold-h-green-1940-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/arnold-h-green-1940-2019.html","title":{"rendered":"Arnold H. Green (1940-2019)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Arnie,<\/a>
Dr. Arnold H. Green, BYU<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just minutes ago, I received word from one of his daughters that Arnold H. Green, our friend since we lived in Egypt between 1978 and 1982 \u2014 he was the president of the local branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> and a professor at the American University in Cairo \u2014 passed away earlier today.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Arnie was a historian of the modern Middle East, having been trained at the University of California at Los Angeles by such eminent figures as\u00a0Gustave Von Grunebaum,\u00a0Nikki Keddie,\u00a0Stanford Shaw,\u00a0Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid Marsot,\u00a0P. J. Vatikiotis,\u00a0Louis J. Cantori,\u00a0Abdallah Laroui, and\u00a0Peter Von Sivers.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because he had served as a missionary in France, he spoke fluent French as well as Arabic, and he wrote\u00a0his dissertation on the \u2018ulama\u2019<\/em> or religious leadership of Tunisia, based upon research in both French and Tunisian archives.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

His first full-time academic position, I believe, was at the University of Miami. \u00a0He was a demanding teacher, with a very, very dry sense of ironic humor that \u2014 I know for a fact \u2014 some of his rather intimidated students missed altogether but that I and others found absolutely hilarious. \u00a0Thereafter, he spent a postdoctoral research period in Yemen before being appointed to the faculty of the Department of Arabic Studies at the American University in Cairo.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finally leaving Egypt after spending eleven or twelve years there, he joined the faculty at Brigham Young University where he served for a while as chairman of the Department of History. \u00a0He also spent several years as director of BYU\u2019s Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. \u00a0After retirement, among other things, he and his wife, Lani, went to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as a service couple, called by the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to work at the behest of the family of the late King Faisal (who had been tragically assassinated by his possibly deranged nephew in 1975)\u00a0on personal history materials relating to the king. \u00a0(I was involved at the early stages in setting that project up and, somewhat guiltily, in suggesting Arnie and Lani as the perfect people to lead it.) \u00a0He also spent time, at the request of Church leaders, compiling the history of the Church in various portions of the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some readers here may find this 2002 article of his to be of some interest:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Muhammad-Joseph Smith Comparison: Subjective Metaphor or a Sociology of Prophethood?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And here is a 2005 devotional address that he delivered at Brigham Young University:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDiscernment for Journeying Through Babylon to Athens and Zion\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Arnie wasn\u2019t merely a careful scholar and a valued teacher. \u00a0(I think that I myself took one class, and only one class, from him in Cairo. \u00a0His personal advice, though, helped me make a crucial decision related to my own course of graduate study.) \u00a0He was a good friend. \u00a0Funny, helpful when asked, dedicated to the cause of the Gospel, devoted to his wife. \u00a0A very, very competitive basketball player. \u00a0A tremendous raconteur, with a fund of side-splittingly funny stories and experiences garnered in multiple countries. \u00a0With his wife, a perfect comedy team. \u00a0Capable of making the best limeade on Planet Earth.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Arnie had been in terrible health for months, so his death this morning wasn\u2019t altogether unexpected and \u2014 easy for me to say, of course, since I\u2019m neither his wife nor his child nor his grandchild \u2014 perhaps not entirely unwelcome. \u00a0(Certainly for him<\/em>: \u00a0He is free now, able to express himself and to move again, beyond pain.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But his passing is nonetheless deeply sad. \u00a0And it\u2019s personal for us, too, far down the list as we definitely are: \u00a0He and Lani have been an important part of my life and of my wife\u2019s life since just weeks after we were married, when we first showed up as newlyweds in the Cairo Egypt Branch \u2014 our lifeline in a very foreign city \u2014 which, for a long time, met in the Greens\u2019 home. \u00a0We will miss him very, very much. \u00a0And we pray for his family.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt\u00a0<\/span>weep for the loss of them that die, and more especially for those that have not hope of a glorious resurrection. \u00a0And it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not\u00a0<\/span>taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them.<\/strong> \u00a0(Doctrine and Covenants 42:45-46)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Canmore, Alberta, Canada<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Just minutes ago, I received word from one of his daughters that Arnold H. Green, our friend since we lived in Egypt between 1978 and 1982 \u2014 he was the president of the local branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a professor at the American University in Cairo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nArnold H. Green (1940-2019)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Just minutes ago, I received word from one of his daughters that Arnold H. Green, our friend since we lived in Egypt between 1978 and 1982\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arnold H. Green (1940-2019)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    Just minutes ago, I received word from one of his daughters that Arnold H. Green, our friend since we lived in Egypt between 1978 and 1982\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/arnold-h-green-1940-2019.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-24T21:58:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-21T21:24:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/07\/GreenArnold-bw.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/arnold-h-green-1940-2019.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/arnold-h-green-1940-2019.html\",\"name\":\"Arnold H. Green (1940-2019)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-24T21:58:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-21T21:24:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\"    Just minutes ago, I received word from one of his daughters that Arnold H. Green, our friend since we lived in Egypt between 1978 and 1982\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/arnold-h-green-1940-2019.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/arnold-h-green-1940-2019.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/arnold-h-green-1940-2019.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Arnold H. Green (1940-2019)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Arnold H. Green (1940-2019)","description":"    Just minutes ago, I received word from one of his daughters that Arnold H. Green, our friend since we lived in Egypt between 1978 and 1982","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Arnold H. Green (1940-2019)","og_description":"    Just minutes ago, I received word from one of his daughters that Arnold H. Green, our friend since we lived in Egypt between 1978 and 1982","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/arnold-h-green-1940-2019.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2019-07-24T21:58:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-06-21T21:24:01+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/07\/GreenArnold-bw.gif"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/arnold-h-green-1940-2019.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/arnold-h-green-1940-2019.html","name":"Arnold H. Green (1940-2019)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-07-24T21:58:34+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-21T21:24:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":"    Just minutes ago, I received word from one of his daughters that Arnold H. Green, our friend since we lived in Egypt between 1978 and 1982","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/arnold-h-green-1940-2019.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/arnold-h-green-1940-2019.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/arnold-h-green-1940-2019.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Arnold H. Green (1940-2019)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76407\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}