Volume 7 Issue 1

They were contemporaries of one another but probably never met. One was a voice defining evangelicalism as it broke away from fundamentalism and rose to cultural prominence. The other was a voice articulating the values of the Lord's Supper and baptism theologically to those of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement and beyond who would listen. Both embodied the meaning of "a gentleman and a scholar." Carl F.H. Henry, founding editor of Christianity Today (1956– 1968), highly esteemed author and lecturer, died on December 7, 2003. Robert O. Fife, Professor of History, Milligan College, adjunct and visiting professor at Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson Bible College, Fuller Theological Seminary, and the Westwood Christian Foundation, died on November 2, 2003.

Carl Henry was visiting professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School my first semester, fall, 1974. His course on Contemporary Theology was so advanced I had to get his signature to get in, and he only signed my form because he figured if I was a student of Jim Strauss's at Lincoln Christian Seminary I would be o.k. Well, I barely survived the course, but I do remember his telling the well-rehearsed story of his encounter with Karl Barth. Henry, in a room full of religious leaders, after identifying himself as editor of Christianity Today, quizzed Barth about his unwillingness to affirm the historicity of Jesus' resurrection. Barth began, "Christianity Today or Christianity Yesterday?" Henry responded, "Yesterday, today, and forever." More recently, while reading the wonderful book by Sarah Sumner, Men and Women in the Church (InterVarsity, 2003), I was delighted to see the tall, gangly, old man depicted as mentoring and defending the young woman who was his graduate assistant in her struggle to understand God's call to be a theologian in an environment which was not altogether affirming. 

Robert Fife I heard lecture a few times and read his Teeth on Edge book. In his era, in which people in the Christian churches (independent) were highly suspicious of academic leaders, he was one of a handful to offer profound theological thinking regarding our bedrock practices of the Lord's Supper, baptism, and the church, that had impact. My only personal contact with him was at the Fellowship of Professors at Johnson Bible College in 2002. He handed me a check to subscribe to SCJ and bought a copy of the book I edited, Evangelicalism & the Stone-Campbell Movement (InterVarsity, 2002). When Ron Morgan, whose article "Leaning upon Jesus: Restoring Heart Language to the Lord's Supper" appeared in SCJ 6.2, asked me for anyone on "your side" of the movement who had written anything on the Lord's Supper, I was very pleased to refer him to Robert Fife, whom he cites on page 196. 

Speaking of distinguished scholars, I am pleased to welcome to SCJ an article by Tom Olbricht, Professor Emeritus, Pepperdine University. As I have become more and more acquainted with Church of Christ (a cappella) scholars, it is not hard to recognize just how revered he is by everyone. Olbricht's article is an excellent starting point for any study of the Holy Spirit in the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement. James Sennett's article on Harry Potter and fantasy literature was one of the highlights of the North American Christian Convention in Indianapolis (July 2003), and I am thrilled to be able to help distribute it more widely. John Poirier is yet a second graduate student (also outside the SCRM) to provide SCJ with a well-articulated response to what stands as the most discussed article so far published in SCJ, Phil Kenneson's "Can the Christian Faith Survive if Belief in Objective Truth is Abandoned? A Reply to John Castelein," (SCJ 2.1). Matson's article, originally delivered at the SCJ Conference in St. Louis (March 2003), is a sweeping panorama of the state of Johannine studies these days and offers intriguing ideas about Luke's possible use of John. Jesse Long's careful study of 2 Kings 3, a notoriously difficult passage, epitomizes the work of one of the best commentaries so far in the College Press NIV series, Long's 1 and 2 Kings.

William R. Baker, Editor