Paul Helm, 1940–2025

Paul Helm, who died on 29 December 2025 at his home in Gloucestershire, was familiar to many readers of The Banner of Truth magazine, having contributed nearly fifty articles on a broad range of theological and historical subjects over the course of half a century, from 1966 to 2018. His books Calvin and the Calvinists, The Callings, The Beginnings and The Last Things, have long been staples of the Banner back list and remain in print.

Paul was born in Blackpool in 1940, where his parents attended the Baptist Tabernacle. He remained of a conservative Calvinistic outlook for the rest of his life; he once joked that the volume How Helm Has Changed His Mind would be a slim one. The Tabernacle in Blackpool was significant for another reason: At its services, Helm got to know Judith—they were married in 1962.

After studying philosophy, politics, and economics at Worcester College, Oxford, Paul was offered a job at the University of Liverpool; he remained in the Department of Philosophy for nearly thirty years until 1993. While at Liverpool, he had Christian fellowship at various Baptist chapels.

In 1989, tragedy struck: Judith died of cancer, leaving Paul to finish bringing up their four children, the youngest of whom was still at home. In 1993, Paul became Professor of the History and Philosophy of the Christian Religion at King’s College, London, and in 1994 he married Angela, with whom he had a daughter. In the year 2000 Paul took early retirement from King’s, but the next year moved to Vancouver, Canada, where he became the inaugural J I Packer Professor of Philosophical Theology. Paul retired for a second time in 2005, but was lured back out of retirement again, this time by the Highland Theological College.

Academically, Paul was at ease in three spheres: He was by instinct and mental constitution a philosopher, and his logical acumen and ability to make sharp distinctions were well respected on the seminar floor, but he also wrote much on various aspects of systematic theology, particularly the doctrine of providence, and on historical theology, especially Calvin and the Reformed scholastics. He was an inspiration to his doctoral students, who found in him a personal example as well as a source of academic knowledge.

Paul’s output was prodigious: he wrote sixteen books and edited a further nine, not to mention hundreds of articles, chapters, and reviews. He was also much in demand as a conference speaker, both in the UK and the USA. But Paul never let the honours he received go to his head. He was just as likely to be found feeding the tortoises, gardening, or taking on all comers in table tennis as he was to be leafing through academic tomes. He was always modest about his accomplishments and wrote many commendations for others’ books.

Above all, Paul was a man of solid and unswerving Christian faith, who held firmly to the doctrines of grace as he found them in the Christian Scriptures even when faced with personal tragedy. Among the many tributes that have poured forth since he died, it’s noteworthy that many outside the Christian faith, as well as his fellow believers, have appreciated his great integrity, kindness, and good humour.

Paul is survived by Angela, his five children, eight grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and his brother Philip.

Daniel J. Hill is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Liverpool.