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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (Nov. 13, 2013) — Dr. Craig Farmer will deliver a lecture, titled “The Gospel of John in the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century,” on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. in Milligan College’s Hyder Auditorium, located in the Science Building. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Farmer serves as professor of history and humanities at Milligan. His lecture is a summary of the research he has done for a book manuscript that will appear as a part of a series titled “The Reformation Commentary on Scripture.”
The book presents a continuous commentary on the gospel of John by translating excerpts from sources authored by 16th-century theologians. The excerpts represent theologians from the Reformed, Lutheran, Catholic and Radical traditions. The book is scheduled for release in March 2014 through InterVarsity Press.
“My lecture will explore Reformation exegesis of the fourth gospel,” Farmer said. “I will be arguing that the Reformers were careful, critical commentators on John, often much more traditional than has been previously thought. While these theologians are quite conversant with the antecedent exegetical tradition, they are also influenced by the new humanist methods that stressed philology, grammar and source criticism.”
Farmer also is the author of “The Gospel of John in the Sixteenth Century: The Johannine Exegesis of Wolfgang Musculus” (Oxford, 1997).
He joined the Milligan faculty in 1993. He has a Ph.D. in the history of Christianity from Duke University (Durham, N.C.), a master’s degree in divinity from The University of Chicago (Chicago, Ill.), and a bachelor’s degree in religion from Haverford College (Haverford, Pa.). His other areas of concentration include medieval and renaissance history, church history, history of Biblical interpretation and Islam.
For more information about faith and arts events at Milligan, visit www.milligan.edu/arts.