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Scot McKnight, Authority in Jesus Studies, to Lecture on the “Jesus Creed”
"The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others," will be the topic when featured lecturer Scot McKnight speaks at the third annual Frank Pack Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture program on Tuesday, Jan. 9, at 7 p.m. in Smothers Theatre.
McKnight specializes in historical Jesus studies as well as the Gospels and the New Testament and has authored numerous books, articles, and chapters in multi-authored works on these subjects. As a specific authority in Jesus studies, McKnight has been frequently consulted by FOX News Channel, WGN, US News & World Report, Newsweek, TIME, as well as newspapers throughout the United States. He currently serves as the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University in Chicago, Illinois.
McKnight has lectured at various universities and is the author or editor of more than ten books, including The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others, which was awarded the 2005 Christianity Today Book Award in the category of Christian Living. McKnight is also the author of The Story of the Christ; Jesus and His Death: Historiography, the Historical Jesus, and Atonement Theory; Turning to Jesus: The Six Dimensions of Conversion; and A New Vision for Israel: The Teachings of Jesus in National Context.
He has also authored two commentaries in the highly-acclaimed NIV Application Commentary: Galatians and I Peter. He is the editor or co-editor of The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels; Introducing New Testament Interpretation; and The Face of New Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research.
Prior to joining the faculty at North Park University in 1994, McKnight was a professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. McKnight was awarded the Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham in England, and he obtained his Master’s degree at Trinity and his bachelor’s degree at Cornerstone University.
The Frank Pack Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Program began in January 2005, as a continuation of the Thomas F. Staley Lecture series funded by the Staley Foundation of New York City. From 1981 through 2004, the foundation made these lectures at Pepperdine University possible. As of 2004, the Staley Foundation ceased funding lecture programs on American campuses, but because the lectures had been so well received by the Pepperdine community, the University made the decision to continue the programs under a new name: The Frank Pack Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Program, a program that maintains the same high quality Christian scholars.
The program is named for Frank Pack (1916-1998) who served for sixty years as a preacher in Churches of Christ and for more than forty-five years as a distinguished professor of biblical studies in three colleges related to Churches of Christ: David Lipscomb College (1940-1944), Abilene Christian College (1949-1963), and Pepperdine University (1945-1949 and 1964-1990). He was a pioneer among the young biblical scholars in Churches of Christ who burst on the scene in the middle of the century. When he was awarded the Ph.D. in textual criticism of the New Testament at USC in 1948, he was one of the first scholars from Churches of Christ to earn a doctorate in biblical studies.
Pack began teaching at George Pepperdine College in 1945, while he was preaching for the Burbank Church of Christ. In August 1946, Della Carlton visited the Burbank Church and was impressed with the 29-year-old preacher. They met, became constant companions, and were married in June 1947.
In 1949, the Packs moved to Abilene, Texas, where they both taught at Abilene Christian College. After fourteen years they returned to Pepperdine. From 1964 to 1990, Frank taught at Pepperdine and preached for the Culver Palms Church of Christ. In addition to teaching, he chaired the Religion Division from 1964 to 1972 and again from 1980 to 1983. He also served as dean of the Graduate School from 1967 to 1978. Della was also a member of the Pepperdine faculty from 1964 to 1977.
Pack became Pepperdine University’s Distinguished Professor of Religion in 1978. During his academic career he authored nine books and more than three hundred periodical articles. He also preached in more than three hundred evangelistic meetings and was a featured speaker in college Bible lecture programs throughout the nation. At his retirement, twenty-five of his former students prepared a volume of sermons in his honor entitled, “We Preach Christ Crucified.” Later, his former colleagues at Pepperdine University honored him with a festschrift entitled, “Johannine Studies.”
In Who’s Who in America for 1984-85, Pack was quoted as saying: “From my youth I have been committed to New Testament Christianity. This faith I have shared with others. By Christ’s standards I have endeavored to live and to serve.”
It is appropriate that this new Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Program at Pepperdine University perpetuate the memory of Frank Pack, a true Christian scholar.
