theLAB

The Logos Academic Blog

Radical Decision Making: A Christian-College Response to Covid-19

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Let me give you a quick a snapshot of what happened during the most difficult season of leadership I have ever experienced as a leader in higher education:

  • 25% loss of our operating budget in 30 days
  • Enrolment swung from 15% growth to 10% drop (25% swing)
  • We had to lay off 30% of our staff
  • Our Financial reserves had been exhausted
  • With the remaining staff we were as much as 9 weeks behind on payroll at one point

Surprisingly, this was not a result of the recent pandemic, this was 10 years ago! God had entrusted us with a significant season of affliction; it was painful, it was hard, and it forced us to ask some really difficult questions that God used to refine us through an incredibly difficult season. These are questions that are just as significant now as the world of higher education is in a state of serious disruption and refinement. 

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Autism, the Academy, and the Church: A Natural Integration, or Attempting the Impossible?

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Photo: Tavis Bohlinger

In a nondescript yellow brick building in SE London last weekend, two unassuming pioneers in the fight for autistic people held a workshop considering the question of autism and the church. In this post, I interview both Grant Macaskill (Kirby Laing Professor of NT, University of Aberdeen) and Kirstyn Oliver (Founder of Alma Autism) regarding the workshop, autistic people and the church, and the integration of academia and ministry around the issue of autism.

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Original Death: The History of Exegeting Genesis 3 and Romans 5

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Painting by Gustav Klimt, “Death and Life.” Source: Google Art Project.

Essay by Genevieve Scheele*

Introduction

The history of biblical exegesis and hermeneutics is not without controversy, and the apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans is no exception. It has more allusions and quotes from the Hebrew Bible than any other New Testament work, but is not always treated in its Israelite context. References to Genesis play a particularly important role in the core section of Romans 5–8, featuring hamartiology and justification. This essay will explore that relationship, also in conversation with the Church Fathers. [Read more…]

Serving through Scholarship: Ben Witherington III on the Calling to Be a Passionate Learner, a Persuasive Communicator, and a Faithful Witness

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By Douglas Estes

Describing Ben Witherington III as prolific is like saying water is wet. Over the past thirty years, he has written commentaries on all twenty-seven New Testament books—plus dozens of other volumes. He is currently working on a biblical theology project tentatively titled Convergence: A Biblical Theology (Baker, forthcoming). His teaching career stretches from Duke to Ashland to Asbury, where he continues to serve as the Jean R. Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies. Witherington spoke recently with Didaktikos editor Douglas Estes about the role of rhetoric in pedagogy and his advice for young professors. He also explained why he writes so much. [Read more…]