Volume 20 Issue 2

I purchased a book the other day, On the Incarnation by Athanasius (trans. Sister Penelope Lawson, Pantianos Classics), on the recommendation of Christianity Today. To my surprise and delight I opened up the first page to find that the Introduction to this reprint publication is by C. S. Lewis. Having read all of his fiction and nonfiction in my college and graduate school days, I had not read anything of his since then other than the plethora of quotes from him that still appear in books and magazine articles. I had forgotten just how insightful he is. It was like hearing from a long lost friend. In this case for a few pages he is touting the value of teachers encouraging students to read primary material of a significant author versus secondary interpretations and explanations. His observation is that students will often choose to read multiple books about Platonism, for instance, saying, "the very last thing he thinks of doing is to take a translation off the library shelf and read the symposium." Instead, he will read "some dreary modern book ten times as long, all about the isms and influences and only once in twelve pages telling him what Plato actually said" (4). He is so wise, isn't he?

Many of us have likely read key "primary" material to our discipline within our masters programs and PhD research projects. Me? I read Plato, for instance, and Plutarch, and Hesiod. I read the Mishnah and Talmud, I read Sirach and Bel and the Dragon and Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. I read Philo. I read the Wisdom of Amen-em-Opet. Thinking of more recent important primary material, I have read lots of Luther and much of Calvin, including the Institutes. Almost no Aquinas, but I have read Pascal. I wonder what the primary reading list for those of you reading this might be? How are we doing in encouraging primary reading by students in their syllabuses? 

Recently, I have also hovered over Ecclesiastes alongside reading the Two Horizons commentary (Eerdmans, 2011). What always hits me is just how insightful ancient people like the author of Ecclesiastes or Plato or Plutarch or the rabbinic writers can be about God, about life. Have we advanced beyond them? I suppose, yes, but no. Wherever we have gotten to in our thinking, we stand on their shoulders. And, however we cut it, the Old and New Testaments remain our primary material to be treasured, yes, to be studied with commentators, yes, but also to be read in Greek and Hebrew by those of us who still retain this skill. 

One other beauty by C. S. Lewis in this introduction that voices the experience of many SCJ readers I just can't pass by. I'll let the "primary" author, C. S. Lewis, speak for himself: 

Boy, I resonate with that—except for the pipe—well, and I guess I would replace the lead pencil with a yellow, dry-accent pencil. 

After reading Athanasius I think I just might make my next read a re-read of something by that other writer of classics, C. S. Lewis himself. 

In this issue two articles examine colleges and universities associated with the Stone-Campbell Movement. Bill Thompson conducts interviews with administrators in a variety of schools to get a grasp on the marketing challenges that lay ahead for all schools in this tradition. Paul Anthony focuses on examining documents and publications of one school, Abilene Christian University, as an example to show the gradual change of stance toward Darwin's views of evolution from the earliest stages to today. 

Three articles enlighten understanding of the New Testament. Danny Yencich explains how the "apocalyptic" discourse of Mark 13 provides clues to foreshadow Mark's passion narrative. Zane McGee explains the form and function of Paul's farewell speech to the Ephesians in Acts 20. Jeff Miller explains the conundrum interpreters face with the "childbearing" phrase in 1 Tim 2:15. 

The last article comes from Ellen Davis and is based on her 2017 SCJ Conference presentation at Johnson University in which she explains what she has learned about how to approach Scripture from exegesis to practical impact. 

The issue concludes with a tribute to Robert Hull, long time Professor of New Testament at Emmanuel School of Religion. Bob was recently honored at the 20 th Anniversary of SCJ Celebration and Awards Dinner during the 2017 SCJ Conference on April 7. In a surprise, he was honored as the winner of the first SCJ Lifetime Achievement Award. Lee Magness, colleague of Bob's, was asked to write this fitting tribute for this issue. 

The 2018 SCJ Conference heads back to Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan, Johnson City, Tennessee, on April 6-7 (Friday, 8:00 AM–8:00 PM; Sat, 8:00 AM– 1:00 PM). The theme is: Theology of Others: Judaism, Islam, and "None-of-the-Aboves." Featured speakers include: Ellen Charry, Margaret W. Harmon Professor of Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, who will present "'The Wall of Hostility Has Come Down': Reconstructing the Theological Relationship between Judaism and Christianity"; Evertt Huffard, Dean, Harding School of Theology, who will present "Allah Is God: A Theological Challenge for Muslims and Christians"; and Richard Knopp, Professor of Philosophy & Christian Apologetics, Lincoln Christian University, who will present "Understanding and Engaging the 'Nones.'" Related papers or papers on other biblical, theological, or historical topics are sought for parallel sessions. Titles are due January 20th, with the first 35 submissions being guaranteed a slot. Student paper contest papers are due December 15th as are study group submissions to any of our 15 study groups. See details about everything at our website: stone-campbelljournal.com. 

William R. Baker, Editor

Chosen by Kate Blakely
Great Lakes Christian College
SCJ 20.2 Quotables

Featured Quote:

 “Doing practical exegesis means reading for the good of the community, with a view to human need in this time and place, and that is necessarily a political act.”

Ellen F. Davis, "The Practical Value of Old Testament Exegesis" (SCJ 20.2:233)

 “While the challenges of higher education have changed greatly over the years, the need for hard work, ingenuity, and selfless service continue.” 

Bill Thompson, "Charting a Course through Choppy Seas: Challenges to Higher Education in the Independent Christian Churches" (SCJ 20.2:171)

Bill Thompson, "Charting a Course through Choppy Seas: Challenges to Higher Education in the Independent Christian Churches" (SCJ 20.2:170)

“Chief academic officers from both Bible colleges and universities also admit to serious challenges connecting with churches in their regions, which has led to a decline in both giving and in student recruits.”

Danny Yencich, "Sowing the Passion at Olivet: Mark 13-15 in a Narrative Frame" (SCJ 20.2:198)

“The Markan audience—the ‘all’ to whom Jesus speaks in 13:37—are thus folded into Mark’s story. Their fate is inextricably bound up with Jesus: what he forecasts for them, he himself will soon undergo.”

Danny Yencich, "Sowing the Passion at Olivet: Mark 13-15 in a Narrative Frame" (SCJ 20.2:199)

“Critical scholarship and the church’s lectionary have trained readers of biblical materials to be atomistic, taking the texts periscope by periscope. The connective tissue of Mark 13—15, at the very least, presses that Mark be read as an explicitly narrative text.”

Ellen F. Davis, "The Practical Value of Old Testament Exegesis" (SCJ 20.2:227)

“Becoming better, slower, more patient readers is a practical aspiration… Reading and exegeting texts is the most important and the most practical intellectual work that scholars and pastors do.”

Ellen F. Davis, "The Practical Value of Old Testament Exegesis" (SCJ 20.2:229)

“We are not trying to take in a set of historical or literary facts or to frame a set of ‘right answers’ to the teacher’s questions. Rather, we are listening together in order to ask more adequate questions of the text and thus develop a more capacious sense of truth.”

Ellen F. Davis, "The Practical Value of Old Testament Exegesis" (SCJ 20.2:233)

“…doing practical exegesis means reading for the good of the community, with a view to human need in this time and place, and that is necessarily a political act.” 233

Jeff Miller, "Saved through Childbearing? 1 Timothy 2:15 as a Hermeneutical Caveat" (SCJ 20.2:220)

“And in no case does ‘saved from sin’ mean women are saved from sin by bearing children as opposed to saved from sin by grace through faith apart from works of the law… To be blunt, no interpreter takes 2:15 at face value—even those who claim they do.”

Jeff Miller, "Saved through Childbearing? 1 Timothy 2:15 as a Hermeneutical Caveat" (SCJ 20.2:224)

“…the appropriate approach to an especially difficult text is not to ignore the difficulty.”

Paul Anthony, "An Evolving Approach: The Public Response to Darwinism at Abilene Christian University, 1935-1989" (SCJ 20.2:174)

“Hopefully, this study will be useful in helping university faculty and administrators across the movement explore potential avenues of public response when confronted with questions involving perceived conflict between academic and religious priorities.”

Paul Anthony, "An Evolving Approach: The Public Response to Darwinism at Abilene Christian University, 1935-1989" (SCJ 20.2:186)

“Science now stood condemned for failing to answer questions posed by religious texts.”

Zane B. McGee, "Transitioning Authority and Paul’s Farewell Address: Examining the Narrative Function of Acts 20" (SCJ 20.2:214)

“The church faces the inevitable future of living without the direct guidance of the apostles, who through either persecution or natural causes will all depart this world. In the fact of such a transition, Luke seeks to reassure the church that the present leadership has been rightly established.”

Zane B. McGee, "Transitioning Authority and Paul’s Farewell Address: Examining the Narrative Function of Acts 20" (SCJ 20.2:205)

“While various elements of the farewell address are readily recognized in Paul’s speech, there remains one glaring omission—the actual death of the speaker.”