Oxford UP and Kenneth Hovey

Justin Taylor at Between Two Worlds reminds me of my first real study of the Bible when Karen and I were first married. I had registered for a Bible as Literature class taught by my favorite professor, the late Dr. Kenneth Hovey (mySA obituary and dedicatory article through Paisano-Online). Dr. Hovey was absolutely brilliant, an astounding teacher who never, for a moment, stopped learning himself. Remarkable man.

His Bible as Literature class simply awakened my love for the Bible in a way I had never experienced. I had already developed a love for Dr. Hovey’s teaching methodology, but his winsome energy applied to the life of Abraham was so refreshing to me that I do not know what ever prevented me from delighting the Word of God prior to this class. But there was no delight. There was analytical plodding, diagramming, memorization, outlining, etc., but no delight. Until Dr. Hovey. His marching back and forth in the front of the classroom shouting the great speeches of Tamburlaine the Great (via Christopher Marlowe) translated well to the impassioned reading of the nuanced discussion between Abraham and his God in Genesis 18.

Justin’s post (Oxford University Press Apocrypha) brought this up only because Dr. Hovey had us read from the Metzger and Murphy edited Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books (NRSV). I lived in this edition, carried it to church (and cafes and Bill Miller), read it to my new wife, pondered it with the Reverend Steele (here and here and here), etc., etc. It was the second time I had read the entire Bible, and to do so with the guidance of Dr. Hovey, well, both Karen and I benefitted from this (and continue to benefit as a pastor).