In appreciation for the ministry of Dr. Juan Stam revisited 2020

We received word last month that Juan Stam died on October 16, 2020 surrounded by his family and friends having succumb to Parkinson's disease.   Juan Stam arrived in Costa Rica in 1954.   He had an impact on so many people.  One Costa Rican theologian, Jaime Adrián Prieto Valladares, posted this on social media about Juan,  [he] “taught me to love the Word that comes from God with a passion, and to turn it into a live commitment to the poor” and “always challenged us to follow Jesus radically!” In his obituary, his daughter wrote of Juan's "ministry of presence" that defined much of his life and theology.  I have translated the message below from the original Spanish.  I also add my few words, by reposting this 2017 post, in memory of Juan Stam and the kindness he showed me as he did for so many. 

In Grateful Appreciation to Dr. Juan Stam and his Ministry: (repost from 2017)

Several years ago, I paid a visit to Dr. Juan Stam of Costa Rica. I was going through a rough patch, and was quite discouraged. Dr Stam graciously welcomed me into his home, and showed me his library, some pre-columbian artifacts found on the grounds of his property, he listened to me patiently, and at the end of the visit told me something that I will never forget. Dr Stam said, "after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have hope." Those words had a profound impact on me, I returned to the United States and competed by Th.M, I completed my ordination in the Presbyterian Church (USA), and I turned my eyes to Jesus, and the great consolation that we have in the Good News of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Since then, I continue my ministry in hope and in joy. I will always be deeply grateful for the kindness, love and generosity of Dr. Stam. Christian, today, if you are struggling, remember the hope of the resurrection. In Jesus Christ, God did not abandon us or leave us to death, but he worked mightily on our behalf. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are kept God's hands, the God who tells us: have courage, I have overcome the world.

Rev. Omar Gonzalez

Video in English and Spanish in Memory of Juan Stam

(Click on video link to launch video in English)

(Click on video link to launch video in Spanish)

Notice of Juan Stam's death to his friends (translated) 2020

Very dear friends of Juan Stam,

It is with great regret that we inform you of his death on Friday, October 16 at 10:20 at night. His parkinson's advanced to the final phase, and his body gradually collapsed. He rested in peace surrounded by his family in Costa Rica, while we prayed and sang "How Great Thou Art", "Our Father", "Thanks to life" ... We still have a hard time assimilating this reality.

Several years ago when my dad was still in better health, he commissioned me to send this statement to the people he loved so much when the time came. The time has come, and how hard it was to write this message! I think it's a kind of denial. As if the act of writing it made it a reality. We knew it was going to happen sooner or later, but how difficult it is to really be prepared.

Don Juan had a great capacity to be present in the "here and now" of every circumstance experienced. When my parents arrived in Costa Rica just married in 1954, they gave themselves fully to their new reality and their culture. When they were assigned the pastorate in the northern part of the country, they fully identified with the peasants and immigrants, with the most vulnerable and needy. When he found out about suffering or marginalized groups, Daddy was present with them in his solidarity and concrete help. If he studied a passage, he engaged fully in the double contextuality of the text (original and current) to ensure a healthy exegesis. If he gave a course, or a sermon, he gave himself completely to the message and to the listeners, according to the locality and its needs. When he traveled, he made new friends and came back fulfilled and grateful for the people he had met and how much they had taught him. With visits or theological gatherings, he was fully involved in the conversation. He was interested in people. He loved people. He enjoyed that very rich life in communion with others.

Even in his death, my dad was still "present." Many years ago he and my mom made the decision to donate their bodies to a medical school, rather than being buried or cremated. The university has an agreement to collect the body with a funeral home that "by chance" belongs to a great friend of my parents. The two boys who came for him had come to numerous Bible studies with my dad. That sweet goodbye with his friends also gave us comfort and peace. One of them commented: "Oh Don Juan, even in death he gave himself fully to others!" To God be the glory.

My dad lived a long and productive life. He said he had had "a full and exciting life." When he was approaching 90 and Parkinson's began to limit him, one day he told me, a little disappointed, that he had hoped to have a healthy and productive old age. He did not realize that he was already living that old age for a long time! Then he rather thought of all the good things he was experiencing, despite his age and illness, and asked me to help him write "Desserts at the End of a Long Life" (Enjoy it!) Daddy was still present, and grateful.

The messages of comfort we have received are comforting. There are recurring themes in his comments: the big smile, his incredible sense of humor, his kindness, humility, erudition, simplicity, ability to explain complicated things in an understandable way, generosity, detachment, studious, friendship, testimony, consistent, lived what he preached, prophet, defender of justice, man of God, legacy, human warmth, love and respect towards the boys and girls ... His words remind us that Daddy was also present with all of you, with his friends, with others.

There are projects that he and I could not finish, such as an article on ecumenism with a small letter (as opposed to Ecumenism with a capital letter), a small didactic scheme and materials to teach the apocalypse, the third volume of "Doing theology in Latin America", and an autobiography of Juan Stam that we were writing together. Those tasks are left to me now, and I promised to finish them. I will be sharing them with you in due course. Juancito will continue to be present for many more years - both in the projects under way, as well as in the many books and articles that are already available to everyone.

Don Juan firmly believed in the resurrection of his Lord Jesus Christ, in the second coming of Jesus and in the resurrection of the dead. There, too, Juan Stam will be present, by God's divine grace. We are comforted by that certainty of my dad's presence in the resurrection of the dead, with a new body and without pain. It is a cause for rejoicing, and a reason for the precious peace we feel.

As a family we are extremely grateful for the life of Juan Stam, and we say goodbye with solidarity and present love, wishing each of you all the best for your own life, your family, and your community.

"A hug",

Rebeca (by Juan, and the whole Stam family)

This letter translated by Omar Gonzalez using Google Translator. 

Dr Juan Stam's new blog

When 666 isn't 666: blog article by Dr. Juan Stam

...καὶ ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτοῦ ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ. "and the number is six hundred sixty six."  

Juan Stam is a theologian, professor and writer that lives in Costa Rica.  He publishes a blog with commentary on various theological and biblical subjects.  This one, I thought was worth translating and passing along.  Most of his writing is done in Spanish, so this was translated with the assistance of google translator.  He makes a few important interpretive textual points on the enigmatic and controversial "mark of the beast" in Revelation chapter 13.  The article "When 666 is not 666" is presented below for your consideration.  

666 is not 666

There is much to be said about 666, and the first is that it does not exist as such. What the Bible says is not "6-6-6" but "six hundred sixty-six," which is very different. It is not a "triple six", as would be "666" in modern arithmetic. The biblical text does not have that repetition effect, a same figure three times in a row. The emphasis does not fall on the three digits side by side, but on the sum expressed by the three original words. Whatever the interpretation, the meaning can not be in the three digits that come together but in the figure as total sum.

People of biblical times could not imagine a number like "666" because they did not know the decimal system. The number had to be "six hundred sixty-six."

In addition, the ancients had no numbers, so they had to use the letters of the alphabet for their arithmetic, starting with "A" as "1", "B" as "2", and so on. That's why they had to write the numbers, in this case "six hundred sixty-six", or, if not, put together three different letters, one for 600, one for sixty, and one for six. Those three different letters would be in Greek "JXS": the "ji" for six hundred, the "xi" for sixty and a "digama" (an archaic letter) for the six. If the mark of the beast is a tattoo, it could not have been "666" but those three letters that seem very rare.

Now, if each letter of the alphabet is a different number, then each word or name also has a number, which would be the sum total of the numerical values ​​of their respective letters. The name "Aba" would be "4" (1 + 2 + 1) or "Abba" would be 6 (1 + 2 + 2 + 1). On a wall of Pompeii there is a very romantic graffiti that reads, "I love a girl whose number is 545". However, an interesting thing happened with those maths. If I know your name, I just have to know how to read and add and I already have your number. But if you tell me a number, without knowing what name you are referring to or how many letters you have or in what language it is written, you would have no way of proceeding from the number to the corresponding name. For this and other reasons, it is almost certain that the believers in Asia Minor already knew in advance which person was referring to that number. His challenge was not to decipher the number to discover who he was, but to understand the meaning of the number and be faithful to that message.

Of the mysterious number of Revelation 13:18, there are not only many interpretations, but many different ways of interpreting it. One of these ways is to take a possible name and calculate its mathematical sum. That method has produced a large number of candidates, but most likely it is "Caesar Nero", the first Roman persecutor of the church. Curiously, the calculation results only if that name, in its Greek form, is transliterated to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet with their corresponding mathematical values. Another argument confirms this possibility. Some manuscripts have a textual variant of "616", and it turns out that that number corresponds to the Latin form of the same name, which does not have the "n" end of "Nero", thus lowering the sum by 50 points.

There is another detail that confirms this analysis. The text says that "the number of the beast is a number of (a) man" (13:18). Well, the Greek word for "beast" (thérion), converted in the same way to Hebrew letters, also adds six hundred and sixty-six. It is known that there was a graphite against Nero, based on the fact that "Nero" and "matricida" were exactly the same. Then, Revelation 13:18 would be saying, Nero and beast are one and the same thing.

However, we also have another possibility. An ancient writing, called Sibylline Oracles, has a beautiful passage that analyzes the name "Jesus" in Greek and concludes that it adds eight hundred and eighty-eight, that is, more than perfect. This is a Christian text, written shortly after the New Testament, and clearly shows that Christians used those same mathematical games. But in the light of this passage, the 666 of Revelation 13:18 might suggest that the beast claims to be absolute (777) but is always left in a sad 666. Christ, however, is perfect and more than perfect. In that sense, the Antichrist is not only an anti-Christ but a pseudo-Christ, a mockery and a parody (very ridiculous) of the only true Savior.

Of course, it is also possible that the number refers to the final Antichrist, and his mark will be a kind of tattoo on the forehead. However, the following verse, 14: 1 (the chapters are poorly divided), contrasts the mark of the beast with "the name of the Lamb and his father written on the forehead." The seal of God, of Christ and of the Spirit is a very frequent theme in the New Testament (Revelation 7: 4-8, 2 Cor 1:22, Ephesians 1:13, 4:30), and we know that it is not a mark visible or physical. So it seems that the mark of the beast will not be a tattoo either. Much less was John thinking about computers and laser machines, when he did not even know the electricity. Nor does it have to do with our modern calendar (June 6), of which John knew nothing. To invent such interpretations is to speculate and add to the Word of God (Revelation 22:18).

There is another curious thing in this passage: the text does not say that the beast "will mark all", in future time, as if it were a prediction. He says that the beast was "allowed to breathe in the image" and that "it caused all ... to be marked" (13: 15,16), in past tense, not in the future. It seems obvious that the past tense of John's visions refer to the moment when John had seen that vision. It is typical of the visions of the Apocalypse that almost always come in past tense, not future. Of course, many of John's visions are clearly future (such as Christ's coming, Armageddon, final judgment and new creation), but others clearly past or present (like the Son of Man among the candlesticks, the throne in heaven).

The visions of Revelation, of course, may be future, but they are not necessarily, much less when they are written in past or present tense. In the case of the mark of the beast, where verbs are not future, deciding whether the mark is a future literal reality or not, is a human decision to interpret the text, and does not belong to the meaning of the text itself.

Check out Dr. Stam's blog at: 
Dr. Juan Stam blog site