Theology Today - Vol 40, No. 3 - October 1983 - EDITORIAL

257 - In Tribute: James I. McCord

In Tribute: James I. McCord
By Hugh T. Kerr

IT IS highly appropriate and a personal pleasure for the Editor, on behalf of our readership, to speak a word of tribute to the Chairman of the Editorial Council of THEOLOGY TODAY. Over the years for nearly a quarter of a century, the name of James I. McCord has graced the masthead of this journal. In much more than an official or perfunctory capacity, his support and enthusiasm have sustained and encouraged our editorial enterprise for two and a half decades.

Happily, Jim McCord is not relinquishing contact with THEOLOGY TODAY, even though last August he retired as President of Princeton Theological Seminary. The details are yet to be worked out, but it is hoped that THEOLOGY TODAY, while continuing the tradition for which it is known and respected, will now take on some affiliation with the newly established Center of Theological Inquiry.

When he came to Princeton in 1959, Jim McCord's first formal statement on theological education began with the definition of a seminary as "a community of scholars who are disciplined by the Word of God." Somewhere during all the intervening years, he caught a vision of an advanced institute of theology where a community of scholars invited from many places could live and work together for a year or more on some common project. Eventually the structure of "a Center" evolved, and an early prospectus stated that "undergirding the Center is a philosophy, shared increasingly with the larger scientific community, that truth is essentially one." (A public announcement of the Center was made in THEOLOGY TODAY, Oct. 1981, p. 286.)

As Chancellor of the Center which has already begun, with plans approved for a new building, Jim McCord moves from one part of the Princeton academic campus to another, and at the same time fulfills a dream for advanced, communal theological scholarship in the service of the Christian church and contemporary culture.

From time to time, it is hoped that THEOLOGY TODAY will carry published reports issuing from the Center, while also providing news about projects presently under investigation. So, we are not bidding adieu to our Chairman but rather au revoir.

258 - In Tribute: James I. McCord

In defining theological education and religious studies in general as "a community of scholars [students and faculty] who are disciplined by the Word of God," we catch an early clue to Jim McCord's remarkable ability to distinguish between the mere fads of the times and the enduring Gospel truth that is always relevant and self-renewing. It is an insight that has characterized every succeeding phase of his academic and ecclesiastical career, at home and abroad, in what he has said and written, and in the manner of person and pastor that he is.

Elsewhere I have tried to write something about this, invoking the Gospel passage where Jesus rebukes those who can discern the signs of the weather but remain insensitive to the signs of the Divine presence in their midst (Luke 12:54-56). It is easy enough to be weatherwise but not always easy to be spiritually aware of the signs of the Kingdom all around us. Fads in theology come and go, and they must be taken seriously. But they are not sure indications of what is really happening behind the scenes or what will happen in years to come.

Some of us, it must be admitted, spend all our time consulting the weather charts. Others of us couldn't care less what kind of day it is because we ignore all trends, secure in the belief that truth resides only in the eternities rather than in the here and now.

My editorial perception of what THEOLOGY TODAY should be, as the title itself reminds us, implies awareness of the tension between the signs of the times and the signs of the Kingdom. In large measure, our journal over the past twenty-five years not only reflects that editorial purpose but corresponds to the way Jim McCord himself sees and understands that tension.

III

Looking out at the 60s decade when some predicted that "the death of God" was the wave of the future, and students protested against every establishment, especially the church, Jim McCord stated flatly but honestly that "theology is now a shambles." A few years later, he was describing the church situation in America, with mainline denominations decreasing and evangelical and charismatic groups increasing, as a time when all the churches suffered from "theological amnesia." Addressing a graduating class of seminarians a few years ago, he quoted from a poem with the title "Waiting for the Barbarians."

In all these instances, and many others that could be mentioned, Jim McCord alertly discerned the signs of the times. But he did not linger over the forecasts or run with the trends. If theology is "a shambles," he could and did find signs of hope in our midst. If the church is theologically amnesiac, those of us who teach and preach must relearn our history and begin anew to instruct catechumens. If there are rumors of barbarians at the gate, we must check out the "usually reliable sources" - maybe there are no barbarians, after all, and in any case we must live and die sub specie aeternitatis.

259 - In Tribute: James I. McCord

To sense the delicate balance between the passing signs of the times and the real Divine signs in our midst requires both awareness of the present moment and a prophetic stance that looks ahead with hope because of what God has already revealed to us. But even beyond the tension and the dialectic, such a theological posture in our day demands the conviction and courage to speak out and say something definite, unqualified, and specific. Otherwise, in occupying ourselves with sensing the balance, we are unwittingly once more simply testing the weather predictions and not discerning the Divine presence.

Just recently, Jim McCord and I were reminiscing about our own theological years among the systematic giants and the pulpit orators. We were wondering why today theology seems so timid, aimless, and arid. "Well," Jim McCord offered after a long silence, "maybe it's because today we don't know who the enemy is."

We had been lamenting the tendency of younger scholars to become totally immersed in their specialities, analyzing this authority with another in an endless comparative critique. The younger generation of teachers and researchers, as perhaps also their counterparts in pulpits and church positions, seem fearful of their professional status, vulnerable against attacks from colleagues, and so driven increasingly into a fortress mentality.

As we talked about this and other matters, it was clear we were once again consulting the weather for signs of the times. And without saying so, we both knew that in different but parallel ways we had our work cut out for us to discern the signs of the presence of the Kingdom in our midst, in such a time as this.

So far as THEOLOGY TODAY is concerned, we will continue to report the fads, fashions, and trends of the times, but we are determined to do more than that, as the Spirit enlightens our spirits. And nothing could be more encouraging, for theological journalism as for the church at large, than to know that Jim McCord will be on call nearby with "a community of scholars who are disciplined by the Word of God."

When he urged the graduating class of seminarians not to wait around for the barbarians to take over, Jim McCord was hinting that the real enemy may be us. So, his final "words of farewell" to the seniors are meant also for THEOLOGY TODAY, the Center of Theological Inquiry, theological studies, preaching, and the life of the church in the world of today. "Seize the initiative, take the offensive, do not be overcome by the barbarians. They may not exist."