Editors Preface

"To think is to be vulnerable," writes Douglas John Hall in the opening chap- ter (26) of his 1993 volume The Cross in Our Context (Augsburg Fortress). To know should lead people to want to know more, to be aware there is always more to know, more to understand better. This is all the more true when the subject of our know- ing is God in all his complexity; Christ in the variegations of his mission, his pur- pose, his person; or the church in its form, function, and relationship to the world and culture. Those of us who teach or preach or write about such things need to develop a healthy humility in what we present, respectful of those who have other things to say, open to continued learning from others, even inviting critique of our own views. Thus, regardless of the expertise of our contributors, SCJ does not pre- sent their articles as the final word on their subjects, nor is the publication of them necessarily an endorsement of their views. Thus, regardless of the knowledgeable contributors to the pages of SCJ, what is presented is never viewed as the final say in any matter. Taken from our purpose statement, SCJ is a "platform" to invite dia- logue and discussion. To this end, email addresses of article contributors are pro- vided at the beginning of each article. All readers are invited to respond directly to these authors with thoughts, dialogue, questions, critiques, perhaps even encour- agement and appreciation as well. However, those who communicate to our authors are asked to do so with a healthy humility regarding their own views.

Hall also writes, "Authentic theology involves a lifelong commitment to thought and a concomitant vigilance against the tendency of individuals and com- munities to turn the products of thought into ironclad systems that discourage or preclude further thought" (26). It is to be expected that SCJ readers who are com- mitted to the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement treasure the wonderful ideals of our heritage. To be true to those ideals involves examining them and discussing them. However, we should not think that any one person or any group within the Stone-Campbell Movement has the "authorized" view of what those ideals mean, which ones need to be preserved, or how they need to be applied today. As ideals preserved in historical documents penned by the likes of Barton W. Stone and Thomas and Alexander Campbell, they are necessarily open to public inquiry and discussion, which is what a publication like SCJ provides. Such public discussion demands engagement as friends with a healthy humility that thirsts to know more, understand better.

Finally, Hall (31-32) quotes respected expositor, Barbara Brown Taylor (Christian Century, June 6-12, 2001, 32), who in turn paraphrases the thoughts of Nicholas of Cusa, which challenge all of us: "In Nicholas's scheme, the dumbest people in the world are those who think they know. Their certainty about what is Stone-Campbell Journal 12 (Spring, 2009) 1–2 true not only pits them against each other; it also prevents them from learning any- thing new. This is truly dangerous knowledge. They do not know that they do not know."

The articles in this issue offer seven solid articles as a platform for dialogue. James O. Duke (Brite Divinity School) offers in print his presentation from the 2008 SCJ Conference on the hermeneutics of early Restoration leaders. John C. Nugent (Great Lakes Christian College) follows this up with a carefully nuanced under- standing of Alexander Campbell's adaptation of Baconianism. James Hoover (Pioneer Bible Translators) challenges the standard Reformed exegesis of Rom 9:22-23. Jennifer Thweatt-Bates (Princeton Theological Seminary) carefully enters the mine- field of science and religion. Bruce Shields offers valuable insight regarding the impact preachers have on their congregations' vocabularies. J. David Miller (Milligan College) examines how contemporary English versions of the Bible deal with the special challenges of key NT texts regarding women. Finally, Chris A. Rollston (Emmanuel School of Religion) and Thomas Scott Caulley (Institute for the Study of Christian Origins) provide a helpful review of the long-awaited publication of The Transforming Word, a one-volume Bible Commentary from ACU Press, edited by SCJ consulting editor, Mark Hamilton (Abilene Christian University).

For those who will be at the 2009 NACC in Louisville, Kentucky, plan to attend our sponsored lecture by Chris Rollston (Emmanuel School of Religion), "Victorious and Vanquished Voices: Women in the Hebrew Bible." Also, for the first time, SCJ will have a booth at the Disciples of Christ General Assembly in Indianapolis (July 29–August 2). In light of the strong attendance and enthusiasm for our SCJ reception at the Society of Biblical Literature Meeting in 2008, we will once again plan to be hosting a reception at the SBL in New Orleans in 2009. The time frame will be the same: 5:00–6:30 on Friday evening, November 20. The featured event will be a conversation with Mark Hamilton about the production of The Tranforming Word.

William R. Baker, Editor