Preface
Leon Morris was an ordinary person enjoying a normal, fun-loving childhood. He loved regular people and regular things. The trouble was, no one could fathom him out. In the stark mining town where he grew up he showed cleverness, kept jumping levels at school, and the teachers did not know what to do with him. So he just pressed on.
There were at least three significant periods in his life: his teenage years, his rise from obscurity to challenge and change the thinking of scholars on what the cross of Christ meant, and his move against human expectation to champion love and truth in all his writings and speaking.
Leon Morris remains the most influential Christian scholar and pastor Australia has produced. He was one of the great international Christian leaders of the latter half of the twentieth century. His legacy transformed his own people and remains today.
I find it helpful to compare him to another person from his birthplace. Most Australians know of Marjorie Jackson, the ‘Lithgow Flash’, an Olympic gold medallist from Leon’s town of Lithgow. Her statue is in the main street. I have no doubt, without any disrespect to the Lithgow Flash, that Leon Morris had a more important and lasting impact than someone like her.
So why is he not a household name? Possibly because he never went out of his way to seek publicity – in fact, he sometimes avoided publicity – and he lived in Australia where the media do not care that much for religion.
I seriously considered whether I should tell his story because I knew he did not have a strong need to be known. However, the hand-scribbled note that I found, looking suspiciously like an outline of his life story, convinced me to write this book.
I knew Leon Morris when I was a teenager. He was approachable – no stained-glass saint. It intrigued me how he could speak so clearly about something that was complex, and interest a diverse bunch of people. I know many people who were deeply influenced and helped by the man. During my research, the stories and information came in a steady stream from across the globe.
Leon Morris kept good records, and very good decisions were made by his friends to retain those records. I am very grateful, as these diaries and documents opened a clear window to understand him and what drove him.
Readers who have never met Leon Morris may be interested to know that he was addressed as ‘Dr Morris’ when he worked full time and in his retirement. For the purposes of the book I initially tried ‘Dr Morris’, ‘Morris’ and ‘Leon Morris’. In the end I opted for ‘Leon’ as I used his first name, with reverence, in the latter years. I was reassured when his wife, Mildred, began talking to me about ‘Leon’ as if I also had the right to use his first name.
There are many people whom I need to thank.
First, I thank my wife Heather, who has been there with me all the way, and sacrificed much, so that I could spend virtually all of our free time on this book.
Second, I thank Leon’s brother, Max Morris, and sister-in-law, Wilma Foster, for their gracious permission to write this story.
Third, I thank Kristin Argall, my editor. Her considerable help, patience and persistence contributed significantly to this story being shaped into a finer form.
Then I thank Peter Adam, Ann Clay Adams, Jonathan Bach, Matthew Bach, Brian Bayston, Don Carson, Frank Chan, Michael Collie, Christopher Cowen, Barbara Darling, Glenn Davies, Toni Dean, Gina Denholm, Jason Fowler, Philip Freier, Mary Given, Steve Hayner, Colin Kruse, Jonathan Wei-Han Kuan, Kim Levert, Chuck Lowe, Bruno Martin, Eric Mayer, Scot McKnight, Ruth Millard, Max Morris, Grace Mullen, Bob Negri, Sunya Notley, Mike Parsons and the staff of Paternoster, Chris Paton, John Polhill, David Renshaw, Brian Rosner, David Williams plus numerous others in America, Australia, England and across the globe who have generously contributed reflections, information, interviews, editorial input, publishing expertise or in other ways helped make this story a reality. I place on record the significant help of the Leon and Mildred Morris Foundation’s directors.
Finally, the editor’s cut means that not everything about Leon is included. I hope that what is here is consistent with the life of Leon and my commitment to make this book accessible to a wide audience. May reading this untold story about him be as enriching an experience for you as it has been for me. I am very grateful that God, whom Leon worshipped, knew what to do with him.
I have spent my life communicating but I do not normally write books. All the imperfections remain mine. Whether more writings will follow about Leon I cannot say. But for now – as he used to say – ‘You pay your money and you take your pick!’
Neil Bach