By Paul E. Boatman
The gathering crowd had a distinctive appearance. Many were young (20-something) and “non-chic”; not slovenly, but lacking the affected “coolness” offered by the latest fashions. This group reminded me of high school meetings of the National Honor Society””often not the most popular kids on campus, but the ones we knew to watch through the coming years. Several of the older members of the crowd were people I knew through academic collegiality or through their writing.
My first venture into a conference sponsored by the Stone-Campbell Journal (SCJ) both stimulated and defied stereotyping. In collective IQ, the group seemed well above average. If collective personal security were tallied, the rating might have gone the opposite direction. The room was full of thinkers and questioners.
A DISTINCTIVE FELLOWSHIP
As an internationally renowned scholar made the first presentation, the atmosphere came alive. Intellectual musings that would cure the average insomniac were received with enthusiasm.
As discussion began, questions came in several flavors. Some bore the thrill of being able to talk aloud about things that many nonintellectuals yawn at. Others were commendations of the speaker”s courage in pondering complicated and volatile questions. Some queried with an unaccustomed comfort at being free to ask doctrinal questions without fear of an ad hoc heresy trial. A few questions were obvious attempts to show the crowd, “I know a lot about this subject, too.”
The session concluded and socializing commenced. Watching introverted intellectuals socializing is akin to watching NFL linemen dancing ballet.
Welcome to the SCJ Conference.
This annual conference, meeting since 2001, first on the campus of St. Louis Christian College and more recently at Cincinnati Christian University, springs from a heritage of scholarly Christians seeking a distinctive fellowship. Like lectureships, academic conferences, and professional guild meetings, the SCJ Conference is an assembly of modestly diverse people with one major common ground: the scholarly pursuit of truth in a forum where nobody assumes all truth has been mastered.
The most recent gathering in April 2007 nearly doubled the previous attendance; more than 250 participated, including students and professors from 30 different schools, as well as other academically minded persons. The majority of attendees were from independent Christian churches, with significant minorities from the churches of Christ and Disciples of Christ.
A SCHOLARLY PLATFORM
The SCJ Conference is among the more visible manifestations of a movement articulated by a publication that is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The “Stone-Campbell Journal provides a scholarly platform for biblical interpretation, history, theology, philosophy, apologetics, and cultural criticism for those who value the perspective of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement and who endeavor to advance its distinctive principles today.” This purpose statement, included in every issue of the publication, provides both direction and boundaries for all SCJ activities.
Seven professors of such classical areas as theology, church history, and Bible, comprise an editorial board, with 17 additional professors serving as consulting editors. Twenty-two colleges, universities, and seminaries from the spectrum of the Stone-Campbell Movement are represented in these two groups.
A LIFE QUEST
The highest profile leadership role is held by William R. “Bill” Baker. Bill has made the establishment and development of SCJ a life quest, carrying the torch with him even as his primary work transferred from St. Louis Christian College to Cincinnati Christian University. This understated and self-effacing scholar is erudite without the arrogance that often infects highly degreed entrepreneurs.
In an interview this past summer, Bill revealed his passion for both scholarship and the Stone-Campbell Movement: “Academics is a means of breaking down sectarian barriers. We work with the church of Christ scholars without an argument over the instrumental issue. Disciples of Christ involvement has been minimal, but we are reaching out. In all instances we value our common ground without emphasizing our historic conflicts. Our oneness in Christ is more important than anything that has divided us.”
The journal is targeted at ministers with master”s level education. The semiannual publication has 600 private subscribers and is sent to all academic libraries of all three branches of the movement, as well as to many other subscribing theological libraries. It is listed in every major index relating to evangelical scholarship and has had articles cited, and even reprinted, in other scholarly journals.
In the first edition, the editor envisioned both contributors and audience: “We have a growing pool of capable and ambitious scholars, more seminary-educated ministers than ever before, and thoughtful people in our churches who will expend great effort to understand the Bible. Also, those outside the Stone-Campbell Movement are interested in our unique heritage of ideas which offer a valuable perspective for many areas of study.”1
A SELECT LEADERSHIP
The 120 articles published over the past 10 years have progressed from “somewhat uneven” to reliably scholarly and interesting, though interest obviously varies with the reader”s predilection. The articles are consistently irenic, rather than quarrelsome””a characteristic that has drawn criticism from some of the more contentious parties of the movement. Some articles reflect academic conversation as one author”s ponderings stimulate another author”s pursuits.
The most recent edition reflects the current style of SCJ, presenting articles by two Christian college professors, three seminary professors, and one British university professor. The topic range includes an evaluation of digital resources for studying ancient, especially biblical, languages; a challenge to the discipline of Christian education; an exegetical study of a Gospel passage; two hermeneutically based reflective studies; and a theological interface with the perspectives of contemporary neuroscience. While not everyone”s idea of leisure reading, every article speaks to issues of legitimate concern to the select readership.
Of greater interest to many readers, SCJ publishes 30-plus book reviews in each edition. More than 250 scholars and ministers, many recognizable to the readers of Christian Standard, have contributed reviews on these books of specialized interest. Other than SCJ, few resources critically evaluate such volumes.
A SAFE FORUM
Information concerning conferences, subscriptions, and back editions of SCJ can be found on the Internet at www.stone-campbelljournal.com, a well-planned Web site, though in need of more frequent updating.
Over the next decade, SCJ plans to further develop its Web site as a resource for connecting scholars and institutions, and to publish additional documents on scholarly themes of current interest. The hope is to be a safe forum for discussing difficult issues, a scholarly offering to the church at large. SCJ is a young effort, still being tested, but the pursuit of its stated purpose is consistent and commendable.
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1Stone-Campbell Journal, Vol. I, No. 1, Spring 1998, 3.
Paul Boatman is dean of Lincoln (Illinois) Christian Seminary, where he serves as professor of pastoral care and counseling.
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