The Good, The Bad, and The Academic

Hey everyone,

It’s been awhile!  As usual I have been very preoccupied with practicing my procrastination techniques, so this post is a bit overdue, but better late than never.

Today I am going to discuss what many would consider my speciality–academics.  Or, more specifically, the academic quality and calibre of WJU’s courses and professors.  First I ought to give you the ‘dirt’ on the profs.  (Just in case you are curious, the following information is based on my own observations, not a script given me by the school to feed m atto you all)

Our Bible Department is full of people who know their Scripture, but we have at least two professors in this department that I know have contributed to some mainstream biblical material.  Our Old Testament prof, Merilyn Copeland, is an acheologist that speaks at least four languages.  I also happen to know that she was one of the consultants for the Illustrated New Testament for Kids (We have a box of them at the church I attend, and I happened to look at the copyright page.)  I have had one class with Merilyn, Christian Foundations I (WJU’s O.T. survey course).  I agreed with the majority of the material presented in the course.  Merilyn defends the Mosaic authorship of the Torah, the singular authorship of the Book of Isaiah (and has an awesome study of Isaiah 53).  These are the traditional (correct, and good) views about issues scholars sometimes fight over.  However, Merylin has a lot of material she needs to cover in a short amount of time, so bring a tape recorder or be sure to take advantage of the class notes on reserve in the WJU library!

The New Testament side of the Bible department is just as distinguished.  Jim Crain knows his material.  He is very biblically focused; if you can find your way around a Bible decently, you will do well in his classes.  Jim was also involved in Christian radio in the ’70’s and cut a couple records.  Whatever you do, don’t try and play his records before class stars…he doesn’t like it.  Probably happens to him a lot…  Jim is an entertaining prof who loves to joke around with students (though this does tend to get the class behind schedule at times)  Almost every student loves the guy.  Take as many of his classes as you can.

David Nystrom is our other main New Testament Bible prof.  This man is a walking encyclopedia of information on Roman history, culture, and information on the New Testament.  Last I checked, he had two doctorates, one of which is in Roman history.  I have only taken one of his classes (they are usually at night; he is the Dean of Academics during the day), but I thouroughly enjoyed his Johannine theology class. (He defended John’s authorship of the Gospel of John–very competently. This is a rare find in Johanniane scholarship.)  With a mixture of stimulating questions that made us think, good insight, and many funny stories, Dave was able to keep our attention for most of a 3 and a half hour class that met on Monday nights.  Bring a tape recorder though, because he usually doesn’t use power point when lecturing.  Taking notes can be difficult.  Dave wrote the commentary on the Book of James for the New International Bible Commentary Series.  He as also taught at Fuller and Western Seminaries (and other places).  The best part–he is humble about all this.  He hardly ever mentions it.  Hopefully he doesn’t mind me telling all of you these things.

Our other Bible profs are also amazing, and I have learned from them.  I just don’t know much about their past accomplishments, but I am sure they have done some great things.  You could come and ask for thier stories yourself.

Our Youth ministry department also has great professors.  One man, Les Christie, is easily one of the leading authorities in the feild of youth ministry.  The man has written tons of books in the field of youth ministry.  He speaks at YS conventions all the time.  Fritz Moga is also a great guy, but I haven’t had the pleasure of taking any of his classes.

WJU also has a Biblical Language department.  Chris Caughty, the main language prof, knows his languages.  He is currently teaching Greek, Hebrew, and English classes this semester–an insane class lineup in my opinion.  Chris has just published his first book A Tale of Two Adams.  The book is an introduction to a theological system known as Covenant Theology.  As a Dispensationalist, I am ignorant of Covenant Theology, so I am looking forward to reading it.  If you are like me, and want to aquire a basic knowledge of Covenant Theology, Chris’ book will probably be a good choice.  His knowledge of Greek and Hebrew will allow him to explain Covenant Theology from the original language.  Chris’ knowledge of English probably produced a readable introduction to Covenant Theology.  You can buy it from Amazon.com.  I wonder if I can get extra credit for that sales pitch….?

And what else shoudl I say?  For time would fail me to speak of the English Department, Psych department, our business department, or our Intercultural Studies (Missionary) Department.  Besides, I don’t know as much about these programs–I’m a Bible Theology and Pastoral Ministry Major.  But I do know that the professors at WJU cover a wide range of theological traditons.  Some professors are more Charismatic (which is not necessarily a bad thing; I don’t beleive any professor would absolutly deny the ability or possiblity of the Holy Spirit giving gifts to believers) than others, some are amillenial (but can teach the other parts of Scripture well), some are Old Earth Creationists (but respect the views of others and don’t force their views on others), we have Covenant theologians, perhaps some Dispensationalists (but both get along with the other), and everyone cares about the students and their welfare.

Hopefully this post has been helpful.  If you are annoyed about the length of this post, come to WJU next year and evaluate my evaluation of the profs before you track me down and beat me up.  I’ll be honest, it won’t be to difficult.  I don’t move that fast. :}

Peace Out,

Mike

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