Volume 1 Issue 2

November 29th marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of C.S. Lewis in Belfast, Ireland. To honor this most quotable bard of allegorical children’s fiction, science fiction, apologetics, and theology, this issue includes both a review of one of the better encyclopedic guides to his thoughts and writings by his secretary and editor Walter Hooper and an article expounding Lewis’s inviting slant on morality. Both reviewer and author is Byron Lambert, retired Professor of Philosophy, Fairleigh Dickinson University. Professor Lambert, credentialed as a founding member of the C.S. Lewis Society in America, is both a knowledgeable fan and bona fide authority on C.S. Lewis. I am thrilled to have his expertise represented in this issue of SCJ.

A second notable event which has impact on this issue is the 1997 publication of M. Eugene Boring’s Disciples and the Bible: A History of Disciples Biblical Interpretation in America. This intriguing book receives a well-informed review by a leading scholar in the A Cappella Churches of Christ, Thomas Olbricht of Pepperdine University, who himself is historically significant enough to be evaluated in Boring’s book. It also motivates and informs Scott Caulley’s pioneering article which seeks to build a viable hermeneutical road for capable Stone-Campbell biblical scholars to travel without divorcing themselves from their restoration heritage.

Boring’s book should impact readers of SCJ in a number of ways. First, it documents the scholarly foundations of the Stone-Campbell Movement, particularly in men like Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Barton Stone, Walter Scott, Isaac Errett, and Robert Milligan. Alexander Campbell, in particular, he shows, led the way as a daring text critic, whose publication of The Living Oracles translation anticipated decisions of the much later RSV, including removing the long ending of the Lord’s Prayer in Matt 6:13 as well as the eunuch’s confession in Acts 8:37.

Second, it draws out what Boring calls the "populist" concerns that drove Campbell and the early movement. Campbell believed that ordinary folks deserved the best Bible possible. Thus, he put enormous personal and financial energy into producing a new translation that could be more easily understood and was better informed regarding reliable textual manuscripts. However, he also believed that such people could read and appreciate serious discussion of the Bible’s message. Such discussions left to scholars alone he believed to be fruitless.

One of the aims of SCJ is to make the scholarly work available to a church population that wants to dig deeper into the Bible. When we launched this journal six months ago, I expected excitement from professors and ministers. However, I have been taken aback by the enormous enthusiasm voiced by people in the churches. This was particularly noticeable in the days following the Stone-Campbell Journal Inaugural Lecture (ably presented by John Mark Hicks, Harding Graduate School of Religion), held at the North American Christian Convention in June. The nearly 200 attendees, mostly church folks, over and over came up to me to express their deep appreciation for being informed and challenged by the high level of the presentation. This desire to know about the Bible is also seen in the hundreds who continue to flock to the Archaeology and History presentations that Dennis Gaertner of Johnson Bible College steadfastly organizes for the North American.

Third, Boring quite rightly documents the trickle of scholarship coming from the independent Christian churches, clearly the least scholarly of the three branches of the movement. Unfortunately, he was unaware of the work being done to launch SCJ at the time of his writing. It is the aim of this journal to put this growing scholarship into print and to motivate scholarly pursuits. If he revisits his evaluation of independents ten years from now, I am convinced he will have a much more favorable report. A first in this regard just occurred when the May 18th issue of Christianity Today praised a unique book edited by Paul Blowers of Emmanuel School of Religion called The Bible in Greek Antiquity. The book contains articles by Fred Norris (also of Emmanuel) and Ron Heine, Director of the Institute for the Study of Christian Origins, Tübingen, Germany, whose article, "What Is Christian Doctrine?" appeared in the Spring, 1998 issue of SCJ.

Fourth, Boring documents the sizeable amount of scholarship within the A Cappella Churches of Christ (over 195 Ph.D’s from 1957-1982). In my associations with Church of Christ scholars, I have been impressed not only with the number of scholars but with how many have made important contributions, particularly in biblical research. I have long wondered why it is that they have produced so many top-notch biblical scholars compared to the independent Christian Churches. Boring supplies the answer.

The attraction of German higher criticism by leading Disciples scholars, particularly Edward Ames and Herbert Willett, the first Disciple to receive a Ph.D., led to blatant distrust of all scholarship by leaders like R.C. Foster. Most of this activity came well after the A Cappella churches separated from the Disciples. Independent colleges and seminaries came to put their trust in preaching the simple gospel, staying as far away as possible from encouraging any kind of biblical scholarship out of fear of liberalism. This fear is just now beginning to subside as scholars demonstrate the ability to do world-class biblical research and remain true to the Bible and the movement.

Fifth, Boring is genuinely distressed at how contemporary Disciples in the pew and in the pulpit have become so ignorant of the Bible, hinting that embracing liberal scholarship ultimately has robbed it of its authority for them. His urgent plea for Disciples’ ministers to read their Bibles every day will sound appallingly obvious to those in the A Cappella and independent churches.

Down deep, Boring seems to fear a total break from Disciples heritage as they melt into ecumenism. He, on the other hand, longs for a genuine resurgence in discovering and carrying forward the essential merits of Disciples’ thought into what he calls the sixth generation. It should be interesting to observe the impact his book has among the Disciples and if anyone else has similar concerns. It would seem to me that some intermingling with the rising scholarship among the independents and A Cappella churches would help Boring’s cause at this point. Perhaps, in the future even the pages of SCJ can provide a positive platform for such activity.

Finally, let me commend the other articles in this issue. Anyone interested in current discussions on the role of the Holy Spirit will find Steve Singleton’s well-documented, historical article on the early battles over the issue informative and fascinating. Brian Messner carefully marshals his considerable research of Roman history into the debate over the date of Jesus’ ministry and crucifixion. Walt Zorn skillfully harnesses the mountain of material regarding the meaning of "the faith of Christ" in Romans 1:17 and 3:21-26 into understandable form for people in the church. John Willis, another notable A Cappella Church of Christ scholar mentioned in Boring’s book, insightfully shares a very readable biblical study on the nature of humanity and suffering. I am confident each reader will find something here to engage an area of their interest and help them better understand the Bible.

William R. Baker, Editor