FHU Faculty Members Present Papers at Convention

Two members of the Freed-Hardeman University Bible faculty presented papers at the 64th annual national meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Milwaukee Nov. 15-16. Conference theme for this year was “Caring for Creation;” however, a variety of topics was on the program.

Dr. Mark Blackwelder, director of Graduate Studies in Bible, presented a paper entitled “A Comparison of Thomas Aquinas and Huldrych Zwingli on the Providence of God.” The lecture was a part of the church history-general studies track.

Dr. Doug Burleson, assistant professor of Bible, presented a paper entitled “Scribal Traits in Direct-Copy New Testament MSS.” “The topic of scribal traits in the copying of New Testament manuscripts is currently hotly debated as different scholars see varying levels of theological as well as social and gender agendas entering into the copying process,” Burleson said. His paper looked at the data from the study of several direct-copy manuscript pairs and one closely related pair. Burleson concluded that no widespread “corruption” of the text was discernible; however, he found that some intentional variant readings were produced by the individual scribes.

Participants in the conference came from theological schools and seminaries across the country. Two other members of the FHU Bible faculty attended the conference, Dr. Billy Smith, dean of the School of Biblical Studies, and Dr. Roy Sharp, professor of Bible.