Derek Nelson ’99 returned to his alma mater this fall to become associate professor of religion. WM asked Nelson—an ordained Lutheran pastor whose books include What’s Wrong with Sin? and Sin: A Guide for the Perplexed
—if returning to Center Hall brought to mind any stories about his mentors. “Oh, yeah,” he answered, and told us this:
When I was a student here I was on the pre-med track, taking chemistry toward that end, and I saw my path unfolding in the practice of medicine.
Bill Placher was my advisor my freshman year, and he taught a wonderful course called To Hell and Back: Journeys of Redemption. It was so interesting, reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Pilgrims Progress and Dante in and amongst my physics and chemistry homework. So we became quite close; he knew me quite well, and I took all of his classes that I could. I ended up having a second major in religion.
At the same time my interest in medicine was waning, but I never told anybody that. I couldn’t admit it to myself, let alone anybody else.
As the existential weight of this was becoming unbearable, I finally went to his office very early one morning my senior year. He happened to be there, and invited me in and sat me down. I explained that I had a big secret—something I hadn’t told anybody.
He said, “Okay, take your time.”
Then I said, finally, “I think I don’t want to go to medical school.”
And he said, immediately, “I know.”
“Well, okay,” I said, “I think maybe I want to go to divinity school.”
He said, “Yeah, I know.”
“Oh, uh, okay. I think maybe I want to be a Lutheran pastor.”
And he said, “I know.”
Which was quite shocking—I hadn’t told anybody this.
So I said, “What do you mean you knew? How long have you known?”
He said, “Since I first met you.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me? This has been killing me for years.”
He said, “Oh, you had to figure that out yourself.”
I collected myself and asked, “So, what do I do?”
He reached into his top desk drawer and pulled out this envelope with the name Nelson on it. I had not made an appointment to see him; he just happened to have this. He gave it to me and I opened it to find applications to the four graduate schools in religion that he thought I should apply to.
I flipped through them quickly and noticed that two of the application deadlines had already passed. I pointed that out and asked, “What should I do? Just wait for a year and then reapply?”
He said, “No, I called them and told them to expect your application. They’re holding a spot for you.”
That was just jaw-dropping—to be known better than you know yourself is a startling thing.
So I said, “Okay, you’ve thought about this more than I have. What should I do?”
He suggested Yale Divinity, where he had attended. I went there, and was there about 15 minutes before I realized this was exactly where I was supposed to be.
Professor Nelson is presently at work on an intellectual biography of the 16th century theologian Martin Luther
and will be a visiting fellow at Oxford University in 2013. In 2013, he will also become director of the Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program founded by his former teacher, LaFollette Professor in the Humanities Emeritus Raymond Williams H’68.
