a graduate of luther college (iowa) (b.a., 1956), fretheim earned the m.div. degree from luther seminary in 1960 and the th.d. degree from princeton seminary in 1967. he has also studied at the university of durham, england, the university of minnesota, the university of heidelberg in germany, oxford university in england, and the university of chicago. as a luther college alumnus, he was elected to phi beta kappa in 1995.