Scholarship in the Stone-Campbell Movement

By Douglas A. Foster

So-called scholars trained in prestigious schools are blinded in their judgment by the speculations of academicians.”

“Common sense is more valuable than all the accumulated knowledge of the learned.”

“A theological seminary is a theological cemetery.”

Sound familiar? Such ideas were a powerful part of the intellectual landscape in the early 1800s at the beginning of the Stone-Campbell Movement. Many believed that not only was scholarship useless, but that it prevented people from seeing simple truths evident to “unschooled” people.

Richard Hofstadter in Anti-intellectualism in American Life shows how the new American sense of freedom and equality created a strong anti-intellectualism””a “resentment and suspicion of the life of the mind and of those who are considered to represent it; and a disposition constantly to minimize the value of that life.” This was true for all areas””including religion.

EARLY LEADERS

Early American religious leaders like Jonathan Edwards believed it was important for some to be scholarly and well-informed in a variety of disciplines. As Puritan minister Cotton Mather proclaimed, “Ignorance is the Mother not of Devotion but of Heresy.” The early leaders of the Stone-Campbell Movement were well-educated and learned for their day. They were able to work in the original languages of Scripture and were familiar with current scholarship. They believed in higher education and established schools wherever they went. Yet the attitude that is deeply suspicious of scholarly pursuits remained strong in parts of the movement.

This tendency meant that for much of our early history, few among us did notable scholarly work in biblical studies and theology. Particularly with the rise of “higher criticism” of Scripture, many viewed theological education as destructive to faith. The most prestigious graduate programs often, though not always, assumed a liberal understanding of the Bible and Christianity.

The fundamentalist-modernist controversy in early 20th-century American Christianity included the issue of higher criticism of Scripture. James North, in his 1973 dissertation (University of Illinois), showed the parallels between that controversy and the events that would split the Disciples in the mid-20th century. Fundamentalists broke away from older schools to establish Bible colleges that shunned the prevailing liberal scholarship””a scholarship that could be as arrogant and elitist as some conservatives could be anti-intellectual and sectarian.

Yet people of integrity in the schools of all three streams of the Stone-Campbell Movement came to see that their faith did not need to fear rigorous, cutting-edge scholarship. Truth did not need to fear truth. Increasing numbers from the Stone-Campbell Movement completed graduate degrees and participated in religious scholarship in the larger academic arena””starting with Disciples, followed by churches of Christ, and now including Christian churches/churches of Christ.

AMONG THE DISCIPLES

Among Disciples, one of the earliest scholars was Herbert L. Willett, who completed a PhD in biblical languages from the University of Chicago in 1896. His use of historical critical methods made him controversial, yet J. H. Garrison, no theological liberal, asked Willett to write the weekly Sunday school lesson commentary for the Christian-Evangelist beginning in 1899. W. E. Garrison, son of J. H. Garrison, earned a PhD in church history from the University of Chicago in 1897. He became the first professional historian of the Stone-Campbell Movement as well as a noted historian of American Christianity.

A number of Disciples, continuing in the tradition that valued scholarship from the earliest days, have been at the forefront of scholarly work in biblical studies and other fields in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Among them are New Testament scholar Eugene Boring who has written commentaries for the Interpretation series, the New Interpreter”s Bible, the Abingdon New Testament Commentary, as well as Harper”s and Anchor Bible dictionaries. Fred Craddock, one of the world”s foremost scholars of homiletics, contributed to the Interpretation and Harper”s commentary series as well as the Anchor Bible Dictionary and the New Interpreter”s Bible. Many Disciples have taught in major seminaries and graduate schools, including Fred Craddock at Candler School of Theology at Emory University, Robert R. Wilson and Leander Keck at Yale Divinity School, and Beverly R. Gaventa at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Conservative Disciples in the early 20th century opposed the scholarship esteemed by most intellectuals because of its bias for liberal critical assumptions. In a forthcoming article on scholarship in Christian churches/churches of Christ in the Stone-Campbell Journal, William Baker, Paul Kissling, and Tony Springer see this stream of the Stone-Campbell Movement going through three stages: (1) a period of defending the Bible largely in opposition to the liberal critical scholarship then entering Disciples seminaries; (2) a cautious participation in scholarship when reputable evangelical scholars did work that honored the mind but did not accept the presuppositions or conclusions of liberal scholars; and (3) the current emergence of scholars into the full academic arena.

The authors cite R. C. Foster as representative of the first phase. The second phase saw the work of people like James Strauss, Lewis Foster, and Beauford Bryant who inspired their students to pursue graduate degrees in both evangelical seminaries and prestigious programs like Yale, Duke, Emory, and the University of Chicago. This generation has, in turn, nurtured a new generation of younger scholars who are in PhD programs around the world.

Scores of scholars from Christian churches/churches of Christ could be named””here are only a few of the most productive current scholars. William Baker (PhD in New Testament, University of Aberdeen) has been at the forefront of encouraging scholarly production in the Stone-Campbell Movement as founding editor of the Stone-Campbell Journal and organizer of the annual Stone-Campbell Journal Conference and Stone-Campbell group at the Evangelical Theological Society. Ronald E. Heine is an internationally recognized scholar in early church studies. He has published numerous commentaries and translations of early texts, especially focusing on Gregory of Nyssa. Fred Norris, also a scholar of early church history, has published more than 60 articles and most recently edited a volume of the Cambridge History of Christianity. Loren Stuckenbruck, an expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Judaism in the time of Jesus, teaches at the University of Durham in England, publishes widely, and is editor of a scholarly journal on ancient writings.

CHURCHES OF CHRIST

Churches of Christ went through a similar set of phases. Because that stream of the movement was not directly involved in the fundamentalist-modernist controversy, they entered the second phase at least a generation earlier. Scholars like J. J. M. Roberts in Old Testament, Abraham Malherbe in New Testament, Jack Lewis in Old and New Testaments, and Everett Ferguson in early church history, though now retired from active teaching posts, continue to serve as models of the highest standards of scholarship for religious studies. Scholars from churches of Christ began the scholarly journal Restoration Quarterly almost 50 years ago as an outlet for scholarly work by members of churches of Christ and now scholars from across the Stone-Campbell Movement.

As is the case with the other two streams, literally scores of names could be mentioned in the third generation who hold PhDs from the strongest programs around the world and who are active in scholarly research and publishing. Among them are Mark Hamilton (PhD in Old Testament from Harvard), James Walters (PhD in New Testament from Boston University), and Richard Hughes (PhD in history of Christianity from Iowa University).

JOINT EFFORTS

Scholars from all three streams of the Stone-Campbell Movement have undertaken joint projects in the last few years. They include the Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement (Eerdmans, 2004); a forthcoming one-volume commentary of the Bible (ACU Press, 2008); and a forthcoming global history of the Stone-Campbell Movement (Chalice Press, 2012). In addition, College Press is nearing completion of the NIV Commentary series with editors and volumes written by members of churches of Christ and Christian churches/churches of Christ.

The Restoration Theological Research Fellowship, held each year at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature, has included scholars from all three streams since its beginning 15 years ago. The number of scholars from the movement attending AAR/SBL has grown exponentially through the years, seen in the growth of the Sunday morning worship service from five or six meeting in Jack Lewis”s hotel room to a group that now fills a large hall.

In the last decade several colleges and universities associated with churches of Christ have been involved in the discussion (begun in the larger evangelical world) concerning the relationship between faith and learning. Can one be a Christian and also a world-class scholar? Why would scholarship done by Christians have to be second-rate? While there are complex issues involved, the conclusion reached is that Christians should be the best scholars in the world.

The temptations of scholarship include arrogance, elitism, and exclusivism. The temptations of devaluing scholarship, ironically, are about the same. Yet Christians of good will, whether they have the gift of scholarship or not, will value intellectual ability and use it for the good of the kingdom. The rise of Christian scholars will continue. Scholarship is here to stay.

 

 

I am grateful for the following scholars from whose work I have drawn for parts of this article. Readers are urged to consult these sources for more information:

1. William R. Baker, Paul L. Kissling, and Tony Springer, “Coming Full Circle: Biblical Scholarship in Christian Churches,” Stone-Campbell Journal 10.2 (Fall 2007), 165-191.

2. M. Eugene Boring, Disciples and the Bible: A History of Disciples Biblical Interpretation in North America (St. Louis: Chalice Press, 1997), especially chapter 12, “Where Are We and Where Do We Go From Here?”

3. Mark W. Hamilton, “Transition and Continuity: Biblical Scholarship in Today”s Churches of Christ,” Stone-Campbell Journal 9.2 (Fall 2006), 187-203.

 

 

Douglas Foster is associate dean in the graduate school of theology at Abilene (Texas) Christian University.