Snodgrass

You may think, by the title of this post, that suddenly I've been whacked by the "green" stick and I'm having an unfortunate problem with a nasty species of crabgrass in my new garden....

Not.

I'm taking two classes this semester with a New Testament professor named Klyne Snodgrass. He's got the name that commands instant respect as a professor, to be sure. And I'm taking my Greek exegesis class, as well as a class on the parables of Jesus, with him. Today was the first day I met him, and had ever seen him in person.

I arrived in seminary in the middle of last school year, and Dr. Snodgrass was on "sabbatical" teaching at none other than Duke Divinity School. So while I was around, he was not. But I heard a lot about him from many people.

In short, the guy is an icon. In the field of New Testament studies, Klyne is big. His books are littered all over the seminary foyer. He is widely known as a very demanding academic professor, but one of the most gentle, pastoral professors you will ever find. I'd never met the guy, and I was already very intrigued, and to be honest, a little intimidated.

Not because I was afraid he'd rip me to shreds.... I was intimidated because his reputation both as a Biblical intellectual and as a gentle academic shepherd of students far precedes him. And it is an honorable reputation, by what people have told me. And that's hard to find. And it also far surpasses the type of legacy I can reasonably ever expect to attain myself. So he will definitely put me in my place without even trying.

Most at the seminary don't really appreciate what they are getting with Klyne initially. Klyne generally teaches New Testament 1, which is generally taken by seminary students in their first semester of their first year. And, of course, this class is taught (generally) at 8am on Monday mornings, so this is the first experience of many students at North Park. And, apparently, the class is a doozy.

So, all of these factors combined, you may hear another professor saying to a new student that he or she was baptized into the seminary by "Klyne the Baptist" yesterday. They were.

Since I came in the middle of the year, I took NT2 in the spring, but opted not to take NT1 this semester because I knew of the workload. I was already taking Greek Exegesis with Klyne, and I thought, "I don't want to take a heavy Bible class at the same time as Exegesis, especially a Bible class with Klyne. That's a ton of work."

But eventually I decided to drop a preaching class for a number of reasons, and I saw this Wednesday night class being taught by none other than Dr. Snodgrass himself.... on the parables of Jesus. He had spent years working on a huge book on the parables, and that book was going to be the text for the course.

Then, someone told me that Klyne had been dropping hints to peers and students that he'd be retiring soon, maybe in two years. And I realized that my time to soak up everything from this man was short.

And I reflected... which always leads to more work for me....

In my life, I've been to hell and back. I'm stronger for it. I'm standing as though my armor is galvanized in the finest metal because God is on my side and I've learned so much, and I'm in the best shape of my life in just about every way. I've handled the crazy workload much better than I expected. I trust my instincts and knowledge and my ability to discern in difficult situations. With all of that, I've found that I have precious few mentors and people I personally look up to in my life. I've gotten to be a bit of a snob, I guess.

But I realized that this guy would definitely make me feel small. And that's not a bad thing. I knew I would revere him and that he'd make a huge difference in my life and faith. He's Klyne Snodgrass, for pete's sake! Klyne even has an entry on Wikipedia. Go ahead and go onto Wikipedia and search for him. He's got a page.

If you try to search for me on Wikipedia, you'd probably get a big sarcastic yellow face popping up, sticking its tongue out at you and blowing very hard. And you may feel a hint of computer saliva darting into your eye, and you'll wipe your eyes and once you can see clearly again, you'll realized that you tried to search Joe Misek on Wikipedia.

So I dropped that preaching class, and registered for the Parables class. And what I tried to avoid initially (taking two Klyne classes, taking a Bible class and Exegesis at the same time) is exactly where I find myself.

I met Klyne Snodgrass at 9:30am this morning, and he's everything that folks made him out to be. I'm gearing up for a crazy workload this semester, but I'll be sitting under a scholar that will doubtlessly change my life for the better.