This new book provocatively claims that egalitarianism is a sure path to a new liberal desertion of the Christian faith that will end in the rejection of the Bible as authoritative and acceptance of homosexuality as a valid alternative lifestyle for Christians.
The following interview is wide-ranging, but focuses on that new book. I will be serialising the interview over several days. We begin by asking a few personal questions.
Adrian
Wayne
I should add that the three years we spent in England from 1973 to 1976 were some of the happiest years of our lives (and our oldest son Elliot, now a pastor, was born in Cambridge). We were actively involved at Eden Baptist in Cambridge (where David Smith was the pastor) and made a number of lifelong friends. We have returned to Cambridge many times in the thirty years since then, and we always think of it as a “home away from home.”
Then, starting in February, 1977, I taught undergraduates at Bethel College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, for four years; then moved to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, where I taught New Testament for six years; and then Systematic Theology and Ethics for another fourteen years.
Adrian
Wayne
After a couple of trips to Arizona, which is hot and dry, we realized that Margaret felt much better there. So I phoned the academic dean at Phoenix Seminary and asked if there might possibly be a job opportunity there for me. It is a long and wonderful story of the Lord’s guidance and provision, but the result is that we have been here since June of 2001, Margaret has felt much better, and I also love the seminary where I am now teaching. So we are thankful for God’s blessings in many ways.
I am thankful to the Lord that when we were making a decision about whether to move to Phoenix, on the very day we were talking and praying about it, I came to Ephesians 5:28 in my regular schedule of daily Bible reading, and the Lord used this verse strongly in my own decision process: “In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” After reading that, I thought it was important for me to move for the sake of Margaret’s physical body, her physical health.
Adrian
Wayne
Prior to moving to Arizona we had mostly belonged to churches that had from 200 to 600 members, but when we came to Scottsdale Bible Church it was a new experience because the church had over 7,000 attending each weekend! I have served one term on the elder board at Scottsdale Bible Church so far, and I teach an adult Bible class each Sunday with about 180 adults.
I teach the adult Bible class because I think every Christian should contribute something to his or her own church rather than merely attending, and this is something I can do. Other people bring refreshments, or work in the nursery, or serve on the finance or building committee, and others work in the counseling ministry, or just spend time caring for a network of friends, but we all play a part in the overall work of the church, and I think that’s what God wants us to do. Peter says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10)
Wayne
Adrian
Wayne
Currently I am working as general editor for the ESV Study Bible (Crossway), which we hope will be published in late 2008. We have 84 different specialists writing on various parts of the Bible and also contributing additional essays to put in the matter in the back. All of that material goes through some other editors, then comes to me. It is taking all of my time and it’s a huge, but I think very worthwhile, project.
So I just don’t think I’ll add the extra commitment of writing a blog. However, a number of my writings, including some unpublished ones, are now posted at the Phoenix Seminary website.
And I’m glad for the ministry of excellent blogs like your own, Adrian!
Continued in part two . . .