Columbia Theological Seminary Bulletin, 49, number 2, September 1956

Bulletin of

COLUMBIA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

DECATUR, GEORGIA

Vol. XLIX

September, 1956

No. 2

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Entered ;is second-class matter, May 9, 1928, at the post office at Decatur, Ga. under the Act of August 24, 1912.

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY AT DECATUR, GEORGIA

THE NEW SESSION
FACULTY NEWS

MINISTERS' WEEK,

October 29 - November 3

The New Session

The School Year 1956-57 will open at Columbia Theo-
logical Seminary on Thursday. September 20. The open-
ing exercises will be held in the seminary chapel at 8:00
o'clock that evening. The speaker of the occasion will
be Dr. Gordon Rupp of Cambridge University in Eng-
land.

New students of the seminary are expected to enroll
on September 17 and to participate in the orientation
program which will be conducted September 18-20. Up-
perclassmen and graduate students will register Septem-
ber 19-20.

The fact that another large entering class has been
accepted means that the seminary's facilities will be
taxed to capacity this year. It now appears that the
total number of students enrolled will be the largest in
the history of the institution.

Dr. J. G. S. S. Thomson to Serve

As Associate Professor

The Reverend Doctor J. G. S. S. Thomson of Edin-
burgh, Scotland, has been elected by the Board of Di-
rectors to serve for two years as Associate Professor in
the Department of Old Testament at Columbia Seminary.

Dr. Thomson graduated in Arts and Divinity at Edin-
burgh with distinction in Semitics and was awarded the
Aitken Travelling Fellowship, which enabled him to
spend two years at Oxford University. There he did
post-graduate work in Hebrew and Arabic and was ap-
pointed Casbred Prizeman. He was later elected to the
Staff at New College. Edinburgh, where he has taught
for six years. In the course of the first three of these
years he earned his Ph.D. at Edinburgh, the subject of
his thesis being "The Doctrine of Man in the Qur'an'."
Dr. Thomson has contributed articles to the Expository
Times, to the Scottish Journal of Theology, and to Veins
Testamentum, and has been invited to serve as a con-
tributing editor of the new publication, Christianity To-
day. He is a member of The Society for Old Testament
Study in Great Britain and of the Glasgow Oriental
Society and has read papers before those societies.

Dr. Thomson is an ordained minister of the Church
of Scotland. For eight years he and his wife were mis-

sionaries in Algeria, French North Africa, where they
worked among the Arabic Speaking Muslims.

It is expected that Dr. and Mrs. Thomson with their
thirteen year old daughter will come to the United
States late in October. He will begin his teaching duties
at Columbia Seminary with the opening of the Winter
Quarter, January 3, 1957.

Dr. Whale to Come as Guest Professor

The Reverend Doctor John Selden Whale, distinguished
British clergyman, educator and author, has accepted
an invitation to serve as Guest Professor at Columbia
Seminary during the Winter Quarter.

Dr. Whale holds the degree of M.A. from Oxford
University and was made a Doctor of Divinity by the
University of Glasgow. He is a minister of the Congre-
gational Church and was at one time pastor of the
Bowdon Downs Church at Manchester. He was for some
years the McKennal Professor of Ecclesiastical History
at Mansfield College, Oxford, and later served as Presi-
dent of Cheshunt College, Cambridge University. He is
at present retired and makes his home at Widecombe in
the Moor. New Abbot. Devon, but finds time for an
extensive program of writing and lecturing.

Among the numerous works published by Dr. Whale
are "The Christian Answer to the Problem of Evil",
"What is a Living Church?" "This Christian Faith",
"Christian Doctrine", "The Right to Believe", and "The
Protestant Tradition."

Dr. Whale is to be at Columbia Seminary for a period
of six weeks, beginning January 3, 1957. He will offer
two elective courses in Theology, the exact titles of
which will be announced later.

Other News Concerning Faculty Members

Dr. Wm. C. Robinson returned to Decatur in mid-July
after spending a year of Sabbatic Leave in Europe. Dr.
Robinson devoted most of the year to study at Cam-
bridge University and at the University of Basel, but
also traveled extensively in Britain, Italy and other parts
of Europe. He will resume his usual teaching duties in
September.

Prof. Thomas H. McDill. Jr. has spent the summer
in graduate study at the University of Chicago. He has

been granted leave of absence during the Fall Quarter
in order that he may continue that program of study but
will return to teach during the Winter and Spring
Quarters.

Prof. Hubert Vance Taylor has studied throughout
the summer at Northwestern University, but will carry
on his courses without interruption during the school
year.

Prof. Cecil Thompson had been granted Sabbatic
Leave for graduate study during the coming year and it
has been announced that he would not be here to serve
as Director of Field Work. Because suitable assistance in
that Department has not yet been found, he has con-
sented to postpone his leave of absence and to serve
throughout the fall in supervising the field work of
students. It is hoped that he will be able to go forward
with his projected program of study later in the year.

Dr. Manford Geo. Gutzke will be granted leave of
absence during the Winter Quarter in order that he may
be free to engage in writing a book for future publica-
tion.

Plans for the Ministers' Institute

An unusually full and rewarding program has been ar-
ranged for the seminary's annual Ministers' Week which
will be held October 29 - November 3.

The Smyth Lectures are to be delivered by Dr. Joseph
Haroutunian of McCormick Seminary, whose subject
will be "The Christian Use of the Mind". Dr. Halford
Luccock, formerly of Yale University, will deliver a
series of lectures in the field of Homiletics and Dr. John
Leith of Auburn, Ala. will lecture on some of the ethical
implications of Calvinism. Dr. Louis Evans of Los
Angeles, Cal. will preach each morning during the week.
The Alumni of the seminary will hold their annual meet-
ing at lunch on Tuesday, October 30.

Further announcement concerning this program will
be made later. In the meanwhile ministers of the area are
asked to circle these dates on their calendars and to
plan to be present.