faculty news & notes

Two professors produce new books this spring

Two members of the faculty collaborated with others on new books that were published this spring. Edited by Gregory Cuéllar, associate professor of Old Testament, and Jin Young, Activist Hermeneutics of Liberation and the Bible (Routledge Press, 2023) is a collection of ten chapters written by global scholars. The book is divided into three sections: The Bible and Activist Movements, Empowering Activists with the Bible, and Activist Teachers of the Bible. The editors examined the worldwide activity of protests through the lens of scripture and sought to address themes such as gender politics, racial injustices, and political resistance. One reviewer, Tat-siong Benny Liew, The Class of 1956 Professor in New Testament Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, said, “At a moment when different kinds of activism are being hotly debated, Choi and Cuéllar’s edited volume pushes me to reflect not only on what counts as activism but also on how my pedagogical goals and practices relate to the cultivation of justice and liberation.”

Mission and evangelism assistant professor João Chaves’s fifth book and first collaboration with another writer (Mikeal C. Parsons) is Remembering Antônia Teixeira: A Story of Missions, Violence, and Institutional Hypocrisy (Wm.B. Eerdmans, 2023). The book recounts a crime on the Baylor University campus in the 1800s that was covered up at the time. According to the publisher, the authors “painstakingly peel back the layers of concealment that have accumulated over a century of enforced silence about the case.” Former Austin Seminary professor (1990-2003) Steve Reid offered this review: “When Toni Morrison told a story, she opened up a universe. This book does much the same thing: the specific story of Antônia Teixeira describes transnational structures of racial and gendered inequity. This story from the nineteenth century reminds today’s careful readers of the continued persistence of inequity and possibly gives light to a way forward. As the church saying goes, ‘Tell the truth and shame the devil!’”

The 2023 Frierson Conference (April 13-15), was hosted by David Jensen, Professor in The Clarence N. and Betty B. Frierson Distinguished Chair of Reformed Theology. Eleven participants representing nine institutions, including ones in Canada and The Netherlands, addressed the theme, “Christian Theology in a Pluralistic Age.”

On April 17, Eric Wall, The Gene Alice Sherman Associate Professor of Sacred Music and Dean of the Chapel, invited students to work with the 2023 Hopson Symposium Scholar Mary Louise Bringle. He performed the Easter organ work of Olivier Messiaen, “Les Corps Glorieux/The Glorified Bodies,” alongside scripture and selected readings from C.S. Lewis. Bringle also composed a hymn for worship and gave a presentation to the community on the creative process she undertook in penning the hymn.

Professor Eric Wall, center, with his students following the recital

On April 17, Eric Wall, The Gene Alice Sherman Associate Professor of Sacred Music and Dean of the Chapel, invited students to work with the 2023 Hopson Symposium Scholar Mary Louise Bringle. He performed the Easter organ work of Olivier Messiaen, “Les Corps Glorieux/The Glorified Bodies,” alongside scripture and selected readings from C.S. Lewis. Bringle also composed a hymn for worship and gave a presentation to the community on the creative process she undertook in penning the hymn.