Dr. Christopher Rowland, Oxford University

Rowland.lecture

Dr. Christopher Rowland, the recently retired Dean Ireland’s Professor for the Exegesis of Holy Scripture, was the 2015 Pierce Visiting Scholar (a faculty exchange program between Oxford College and Oxford University that is run by the Pierce Institute for Leadership and Community Engagement.

Dr. Rowland gave two public lectures. The first one, picture above and below, was the  Pierce Visiting Scholar lecture at Oxford College on March 24, 2015. The lecture, “From Impulse Not From Rules: Jesus and His Radical Followers,” was well-received by the students and faculty members who attended.

Dr. Rowland, one of the pioneers of the Reception History of the Bible, also met with our Honors Seminar on the Reception History of the Parables. Dr. Rowland gave each of the students valuable feedback on their projects and advice about how to proceed.

The class also was able to have dinner with Dr. Rowland and his wife Catherine right before Dr. Rowland gave his lecture at Oxford.

The students also received an autographed copy of one of Dr. Rowland’s books (they chose which one they wanted).

Rowland2

 

Progress on projects

The Honors Committee is meeting soon, and I need to give them an update on your projects. Make sure you keep them up to date. Our class discussions hopefully have brought more clarity and focus. It is time to wrap up the first trajectory of your project and begin the second trajectory (some of you are closer than others, since some initial trajectories are larger than others. You will need additional (if not final, for at least one of you) trajectories for us to discuss next week.