Alumni News and Updates

ALUMNI NEWS & UPDATES

For this issue we asked alumni to share updates along with a favorite memory of their time at Westminster. We want to hear more from our alumni family. If you have a piece of news or a Westminster story you’d like to share, please send us an email. You can reach Joel, our alumni associate, at jrichards@wts.edu.

Arthur Ames (1960) wrote, “My favorite memory: when another couple along with my wife and I put on our Halloween costumes and rang the bell at Cornelius Van Til’s home. He and his wife were thrilled to see us and invited us in. They rushed into their kitchen pantry grabbing anything they could and treated us to oranges and candy bars.”

______ William Edgar (1969) shared, “One memory is walking around with professor Murray when a dog approached us. ‘You seem nice but not very dogmatic,’ Murray exclaimed. There was something beguiling in his simple sense of humor. He seemed free from the jaded jest practiced by the rest of us.

Speaking of which, Dr. E. J. Young told us he had met Keil and Delitzsch. One of the students opened his desk drawer and showed him his two pet turtles: Keil and Delitzsch. Almost childlike delight characterized the great scholar.”

Note: Westminster Magazine is grateful to William and Barbara Edgar for permission to use their photograph of the Gaffins on page 41.

______ Stanley Gale (1985) recently published his book Re:Velation: Seeing Jesus, Seeing Self, Standing Firm with Reformation Heritage. Copies are available at wtsbooks.com and wherever Reformation Heritage books are sold.

______ John J. Hughes (1973) shared a photograph of O. Palmer Robertson and Jack Miller, circa 1979 (see opposite page). John wrote, “I believe this was taken on campus, not sure by whom. I got the photo from Mike Graham, whose biography of Jack called Cheer Up! we recently published [at P&R]. . . Palmer, age 84, is still active and productively focused on writing. We are about to publish the first volume of a NT biblical theology trilogy he is working on. I love the smiles on Jack’s and Palmer’s faces in the photo, not to mention the absolutely horrendous 70s clothes and the ‘big hair’!”

My three years at WTS (1970–73) were the most spiritually and intellectually formative years of my life, thanks to the teaching and lives of godly men like Palmer, Jack, John Frame, Dick Gaffin, Cornelius Van Til, Ed Clowney, Jay Adams, Bob Strimple, John Skilton, Ray Dillard, Norman Shepherd, Clare Davis, Paul Woolley, and others. The combination of profound intellect and deep spirituality among WTS professors is, in my mind, a hallmark of the school.

______ Dr. Willie L. James, Jr. (2008) sent in this anecdote: “One of my favorite theological and practical life-changing moments at Westminster was when I asked Dr. Scott Oliphint, if he had to preach or teach one last message in his lifetime to the nations, what would it be? And he replied, ‘The exclusiveness of Christ.’ Even though I came to Westminster knowing that Christ is exclusive, as it relates to our salvation, when he replied to this being his last message, I realized just how vital and crucial Christ was and is. His reply has taken my life and ministry to a deeper level. As you know, in the 21st century, there has been an all-out attack on the exclusiveness of Christ, so I did five-message sermon series on the Holy Trinity, as it relates to the exclusiveness of Christ’s divinity as the Eternal Son of God.

______ Scott Limkeman (M.Div. 2017) wrote, “Some of my favorite memories from Westminster were when different artistic performances or screenings were put on by the

school or by those associated with the school. Dr. Edgar’s piano performances were one highlight. I also enjoyed one occasion when one of the student associations did a screening of the movie Silence, with Makoto Fujimura attending for a follow up Q&A. It was great to have other people from the surrounding community involved with Westminster on some level who wouldn’t usually be, and I appreciated the opportunity to explore the arts in the context of the mission of the seminary to give glory to God in all of life.” Brian Nolder (1997) wrote that he may be the only person who’s ever gotten engaged in Van Til Hall. Brian promised more details to come. . . Brian, if you’re reading this, we’d love to hear more!

______ Richard Smith (1996) recently published Such a Mind as This: A Biblical-Theological Study of Thinking in the Old Testament, available now through Wipf and Stock.

O. Palmer Robertson (L) and Jack Miller (R), c. 1979. Photo courtesy of John Hughes.