James Gus Kallas (born December 15, 1928, in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) is an author, theologian, football player, and football coach. He was the president of

Dana College Dana College was a private college in Blair, Nebraska. Its rural 150-acre (607,000 m²) campus is approximately 26 miles (40 km) northwest of Omaha and overlooks a portion of the Missouri River Valley. The campus was planned to be purchase ...

from 1978 to 1984. He was an assistant football coach and chaplain at California Lutheran College (CLC) from 1961 to 1978 and was the college’s first chair of the Religion Department. Prior to his career at CLC, he was an NFL player for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. After his time at CLC, he served as president of Dana College in

Blair, Nebraska Blair is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,990 at the 2010 census. History Blair was platted in 1869 when the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad was extended to that point. It was n ...

, and was knighted with the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

Margrethe II of Denmark Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

for his work there. He was inducted into the California Lutheran Alumni Association Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. He also helped to recruit Robert Shoup as the college’s first football coach. Kallas was signed to play professional football by the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

, and subsequently played for the Chicago Bears under

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (; February 2, 1895October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American professional football player, coach, and team owner. He was the founder and owner of the National Football League's Chic ...

. His interest in the Christian gospel led him to

Luther Seminary Luther Seminary is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is the largest seminary of the ELCA. It also accepts and educates students of 41 other denominations and traditions. It is accredited ...

and the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

in England as both a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

and

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scholar. At age 14, he was a veteran of the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

and was attending St. Olaf College in Minnesota, majoring in Mathematics. He was the senior pastor at Mount of Olives Church in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

starting in 1985. He also worked as a missionary in

French Cameroon French Cameroon or French Cameroons (french: link=no, Cameroun) was a French mandate territory in Central Africa. It now forms part of the independent country of Cameroon. History Beginnings The area of present-day Cameroon came under Germ ...

from 1955 to 1960, and has been a professor of the New Testament and philosophy at

California Lutheran University California Lutheran University (CLU, Cal Lutheran, or Cal Lu) is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It opened in 1960 ...

Literary works

* ''An Adventure in Africa: Our Years in the French Cameroun'' (1964) * ''The Story of Paul'' (1966) * ''A Satanward View: A Study in Pauline Theology'' (1966) * ''Jesus and the Power of Satan'' (1968) * ''A Layman’s Introduction to Christian Thought'' (1969) * ''Revelation: God and Satan in the Apocalypse'' (1973) * ''The Real Satan: From Biblical Times to the Present'' (1975) * ''The Significance of the Synoptic Miracles: Taking the Worldview of Jesus Seriously'' (2010) * ''Biblical Chaos: Holding Opposites Together in Tension'' (2012) * ''The Bible Twice Denied: A Cure of the Continuing Collapse of Christian Influence'' (2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalls, James Sportspeople from Chicago Writers from Chicago Players of American football from Chicago California Lutheran University faculty Chicago Bears players St. Olaf College alumni 1928 births Living people University of Paris alumni American expatriates in the United Kingdom American expatriates in France Dana College Alumni of Durham University