| I. John Hesselink | |
| Birth Name: | Ira John Hesselink |
| Birth Date: | 21 March 1928 |
| Birth Place: | Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA |
| Death Place: | Holland, Michigan, USA |
| Alma Mater: | |
| Occupation: | Theologian, professor |
| Tradition Movement: | Reformed |
| Main Interests: | John Calvin |
Ira John Hesselink Jr. (March 21, 1928 – October 28, 2018) was an American theologian, born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.[1]
An expert in John Calvin, he was Albertus C. Van Raalte Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan.[2] After his retirement, he was an honorary professor and continued to write a few books on John Calvin and lecture in Europe, South Korea, and Japan. He was a Dutch American theologian who served as a missionary in Japan after receiving theological education at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan.[3] He wrote a book on Calvin's Catechism and several books and papers.[4] In his contribution to a book on Calvin in the Cambridge Theologian Series,[5] he wrote a paper on Calvin's theology. He was also president of Karl Barth Society of North America, founded in October 1972 in Toronto by a group of Canadian and American scholars of Karl Barth, inspired by his son Markus Barth.[6]
Hesselink is survived by the family he loved: Etta, his wife of 67 years; five children and two grandchildren: John III (Nicaragua and Holland, MI), Ann (Del Mar, CA - husband Paul Naour and daughter Katherine Hesselink Hicks), Jud (Martinez, CA), Nathan (Vancouver, BC - wife Serra Hwang and son Braque) and Greg (New York, NY) - all of whom the carry-on his love of knowledge, music and the world at-large.[7]