Theology In The Service Of The Church
By Thomas E. Corts,
Late President Emeritus
Samford University
Editor’s Note: This article is the Foreword to a Festschrift edited by Beeson Divinity School President Timothy George containing essays in honor of the life and work of Fisher Humphreys, noted Baptist theologian and minister for half a century, teaching at Beeson since 1990 and at New Orleans Baptist Seminary from 1970 to 1990. He is also the Chair of the Board of CET.
Our Creator did not allow us to choose our starting point nor to determine the path we follow, when and where the journey shall end. A young Fisher Humphreys offered himself to the Lord without a plan of location, vocation, discipline, or specialty, and with the Lord’s guidance, he found his way—better, his way—to a life of significance as professor, preacher, writer, theologian, and friend. Among the greatest blessings of one coming to the end of his most active work-life is, looking back, to realize, that even with some pauses, interruptions, and wrong turns, you found the right road, and you made it!
Few at first realize how crucial it was that the right road for Professor Humphreys included a key role in establishment of Beeson School of Divinity of Samford University. In 1988 Samford University offered, and Ralph W. Beeson responded to, the idea that degree-granting, minister-training center was needed in Alabama. Winds of controversy were blowing in all directions, churning up questions, and leaving in their wake a chairos moment for a divinity school as a strategic component of a Baptist university. If all truth is God’s truth, why segregate young theologies to themselves, when their ideas and worldviews might be energized by the combustion of tempestuous secular culture and academic thought with the hot currents of scripture and theology?
As soon as Beeson Divinity School was a firm promise on the horizon—the first divinity school at a Southern Baptist university in modern times—young Dean Timothy George with distinguished Provost and Professor William E. Hull launched the quest for an established Baptist scholar—one with a warm, pastoral heart; an unyielding conscience; a capacity to accept other Christian traditions; and theological conviction. How many such individuals could be identified?
Would established scholars be venturesome to depart the security of denominational enclaves for the untested waters of a divinity school in a university setting? Could a major scholar-theologian find fulfillment as a participant in the idea-crossfire and the internal politics of a university where not every colleague is denominationally attuned? Could a recognized Baptist thinker find his audience in a setting of avowed evangelical, interdenominational commitment?
It is not melodramatic simply to point to the year 1988. Conflict was in the ozone of the Southern Baptist Convention, and it was affecting every state convention, but not always in the same manner. Storms arose first over who most believed the Bible, though no gauge has yet been invented to measure either the intensity of belief or the sincerity of the believer. Leadership was challenged and replaced. Books expressly addressing the conflict sought to explain. Claims were made of a justifiable purgation long overdue. Worry was that we were fixing what was not broken. Almost all agree: the foundations were shaken and the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) would never again be the same.
Amid this contentious atmosphere, Professor Fisher Humphreys and his thoughtful and devoted wife, Caroline, chose to resettle in Birmingham, Alabama, bringing to Beeson and Samford their irenic spirits; their quiet hospitality; their innate kindness; and their brand of genuine, thoughtful Christianity. It was a leap into the unknown, for sure, but not unthinkable for people who long ago “decided to follow Jesus” instead of hopping on the most advantageous oncoming bandwagon.
Now, as he looks toward retirement, this celebratory volume pays thanks and tribute touching on major themes of Professor Humphreys’ life and character. He is not merely academic in his theology, so it is appropriate that “spiritual theology” be addressed. A capacious intellect and an understanding heart have made it easy for Professor Humphreys to consider other Christian and non-Christian traditions, yet his soul comprehends both the missionary call and the Savior’s plea for unity. From his earliest days, Bible memory verses, sword drills, and scriptural songs have been part of Professor Humphreys’ DNA, so biblical scholarship is bedrock. Alongside professorial duties; periodic preaching and lecturing; and responsibilities as husband, father, and grandfather, he has always been faithful to a local church, affirming the significance of the church of the past and prospects of the church for a glorious future. With a naturally curious mind, an inner sincerity, and an uncommon breadth of knowledge and understanding, he has been a joyously accepted colleague among Samford faculty of all disciplines and a helpful university citizen. He takes delight in theological themes of modern literature, but he also reflects on the integration of worship and theological expression through the arts. As a committed Trinitarian who has read and studied enough to know where he stands, Professor Humphreys has a deep appreciation for doctrinal preaching as the overflow of personal conviction, and he shares concern for basic doctrines; how the next generation will know them; and the role of his church, university, and divinity school.
Perhaps the theme most appropriate for those who know Professor Humphreys best is that of friendship. Of all the attributes we could pile onto his resume, it is the one most characteristic of the man. In the fiber of his being, he has an unshakable willingness to accept differences, a disdain for bigotry and prejudice, and devotion to the worth of the individual. These virtues combine with his naturally courteous and gracious spirit; his soft, easy manner; his ability to speak hard truths in gentle ways; his eagerness to listen—all make him the person you would most like to have with you if stranded on a deserted island.
My own testimony applies here. During thirty-two years at the head of two Baptist institutions of higher learning, no faculty friendship has meant more to me than that of Professor Humphreys. Over the years we have shared many group meals and, once or twice per academic year, a person-to-person lunch. Having lived in New Orleans and as a lover of quality in all things, he makes lunch a culinary adventure, an informational cafeteria, a devotional and inspirational refreshment with a little pastoral counseling and encouragement, the latter delivered with a stealth often unperceived until a good while afterward.
So, this volume is an appropriate expression of love, respect, and appreciation for one of the Lord’s great gifts to the modern church and, especially, to Beeson Divinity School and Samford University. What he has meant to us in these important years is far more than credit hours of instruction and having filled a chair. When so many believers seek sound-byte theology, when commentators on the church are verbal pugilists, when spiritual hypochondriacs delight in merely describing their maladies, when front-running churchmen leave the race after moral injuries, when ministerial students aspire to test their “star” quality, when those who divide gain more attention than those who unite, and when marketing is more important than believing, Professor Fisher Humphreys came among us and taught, listened, cared deeply for each of us, and unfailingly reflected the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord, give us more!
This Foreword is reprinted by permission from Mercer University Press, Macon, GA, who published Theology In The Service Of The Church in 2008 and may be contacted at www.mupress.org .
