The Regent —JOB 23:10
MAXINE HANCOCK
MAXINE HAN ANCOCK is Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Among her other books are several on Columb relationships, including Living on Less and Liking family relationships in More, Re-evaluating Your Commitments, and Creative, Confident, Children. Childre
GOLD FROM THE FIRE
“But he knows the way I take; When he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” Maxine Hancock has become well known among Christians in Canada for her conference speaking, broadcasting and writing. Now serving as professor at Regent College, these devotional and inspirational pieces draw on her many years of experience on an Alberta farm and her deep connections to land and community and a small village church.
MAXINE HANCOCK
GOLD FROM THE FIRE
Postcards from a Prairie Pilgrimage
Winter 2008• Vol.20, No.1
W
ith the “Writing the Next Chapter” campaign over, the renovations and the library complete, readers of Regent World could well ask the question: am I going to hear any more about books? The answer is unequivocal—we will continue to be “people of the book.” This phrase originated from the Koran, which describes the adherents of the two other monotheistic religions, Judaism and Christianity, as “people of the book.” Those who follow the Koran see Christian and Jewish Scriptures as fulfilled within it. Although we would refute this claim, there is some truth in the title given us by the Koran. This simple phrase can be seen as a defining element of evangelicalism. While the centrality of Jesus and the need to witness both in word and deed to his saving and keeping power are central to what it means to be an evangelical there is also another crucial facet: evangelicals are “people of the book.” We see Holy Scripture as our central authority for faith and practice. What about Regent College? For 38 years this institution has stood firmly in the evangelical tradition. We hold to, as a central tenet in our theological position, “the divine inspiration of Holy Scripture and its consequent entire trustworthiness and supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.” Since our Board, full-time faculty and sessional faculty sign this theological statement, we could well argue that we are “people of the book.” We are satisfied with this selfdesignation, although it seems to be increasingly counter-cultural. A recent article in the New Yorker (December 24, 2007), entitled, ‘Twilight of the Books: What will life be like if people stop reading?’ forces serious reflection on whether this culture has abandoned books as an important area of interest and education. The article suggests that, at least in the United States, people may be losing the will and the ability to read; they are ceasing to be “people of the book.” Yet, at Regent, we are consistently
People of the Book ‘bookish.’ When you are committed to the one book, that colours life: meaning “people of the book” are interested in many different books. We are pleased to have new space to continue to increase our library holdings. We are pleased to know that in the past year there were 58,604 visits to the Regent bookstore website (www.regentbookstore.com) from 142 countries/territories. We are pleased to welcome to our campus each summer theologians, environmentalists, artists, and other great thinkers who expand our literary horizons by encouraging us to read in areas of theology that are perhaps new to us. There is a commitment to one book, at Regent, and a commitment to reading widely and diligently, but there is also a commitment to ensuring there are good books to read. Our faculty continues to read, to steep themselves in Scripture and to write for the enjoyment and enrichment of others. Here is a small sample of the recent writings of these “people of the book”: Sarah Williams, Associate Professor of Church History, describes in The Shaming of the Strong: The Challenge of an Unborn Life, the experience she and Paul (Associate Professor of Marketplace Theology) had when they were told that their unborn child would not survive. In his book, Cash Values: Money and the Erosion of Meaning in Today’s Society, Craig Gay, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, invites us to deal with Christian values in the world of money and capitalism. Our two Old Testament Professors, Iain Provan and Phil Long, have teamed up with Tremper Longman to write A Biblical History of Israel, which argues against a perspective that claims biblical history is dead. Bruce Hindmarsh, Professor of Spiritual Theology, blends strands of theology and history in his book, The
Evangelical Conversion Narrative: Spiritual Autobiography in Early Modern England. Discipleship on the Edge: An Expository Journey Through the Book of Revelation, by Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology, Darrell Johnson, is a unique presentation on one of the least understood books in the Bible. Associate Professor of New Testament, Rikk Watts’s Isaiah’s New Exodus in Mark not only provides a thorough understanding of the gospel of Mark, but also explores how the Old Testament is used in the New Testament. In her book, Gold from the Fire: Postcards from a Prairie Pilgrimage, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and Spiritual Theology, Maxine Hancock, weaves together personal experiences and theological insights. Academic Dean and Professor of History, Don Lewis, engages an important historical phenomenon in a book he edited entitled Christianity Reborn: The Global Expansion of Evangelicalism in the Twentieth Century. John G. Stackhouse, Jr., Professor of Theology and Culture, offers Finally Feminist: A Pragmatic Understanding of Gender as a way forward in the ongoing debates on gender issues. Violence, Hospitality and the Cross: Reappropriating the Atonement Tradition, written by Professor of Theology, Hans Boersma, is a theological reflection on the various views of atonement. We continue to be people of the one book as well as people of many books. Rod J. K. Wilson Regent College President