By the time I got to college I was planning to be a minister, and I assumed my ministry would be either youth ministry or pastoral ministry. In seminary I was immediately attracted to theology, and with encouragement from some of my professors I came to believe that I had a gift for teaching. For me writing is an opportunity to extend the teaching ministry which God has given me.

I expect that the four books that have influenced me the most are The Apostolic Preaching and Its Developments by the New Testament scholar C. H. Dodd, which fixed in my mind what the earliest Christian message was; For Faith and Freedom by the Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, Leonard Hodgson, which showed me that a systematic theology could be faithfully Christian, carefully reasoned, and deeply felt, all at the same time; and The Foolishness of God by John Austin Baker and On Being a Christian by Hans Kung, from which I learned the possibilities of combining biblical and theological learning into a book that speaks profoundly to the contemporary situation.

I think it is now indispensable.

In seminary.

I enjoy the entire process--getting an idea about a book or article, figuring out what to include and what to omit and what sequence of ideas to follow, making notes and outlines, writing the first draft, and--especially--rewriting so as to be clear and, if possible, forceful and graceful, too.

Concerning The Way We Were, I was asked to speak in a doctoral seminar at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary about the Baptist theological legacy, and I made a presentation similar to this book. I thought the students would be bored, but, to my surprise, they found it interesting. It then occurred to me that others might be interested also, so I began to think about a book. Then, as the controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention evolved, it became clear that some of the Baptist theological legacy was going to be at risk in the new Convention, so I decided to write the book in order to create a record of "the way we were," theologically, before the changes brought on by the controversy.

My primary objective was to state, in as clear and balanced a way possible, the Baptist theological legacy, from a viewpoint that will allow readers to better understand it. A second objective was to encourage readers to treasure that legacy and to pass it along to others, especially the parts of the legacy such as religious liberty that are, in my judgment, at risk in our country today.

I am Professor of Divinity at the Beeson Divinity School of Samford University in Birmingham. This is my thirty-fifth year of teaching Christian theology to persons who are preparing for Christian ministry. I also lecture occasionally in universities and colleges and preach frequently in churches.

My wife Caroline and I love our times of being with our two children and their families. We also like to visit with our many friends. We enjoy traveling, dining out, movies, and novels.

I have heard people speak of boredom and I think I understand what it is, but, to the best of my memory, I have never experienced it myself.

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