College Mentors 7

J. W. Roberts – Historian

Dr.  J. W. Roberts was primarily known as a Greek scholar, but my involvement with him took place in two semesters in which we studied the Restoration Movement.  What we then called “The Restoration Movement” has been designated by different labels.  In the nineteenth century it was called, “The Reformation of the Nineteenth Century.”  Today, it is popularly known as “The Stone-Campbell Movement”, but I think that’s a misnomer.  If you want to designate it by the personalities who promoted it, you could call it the Haldane-Ewing-O’Kelly-Jones-Smith-Stone-Purviance-Campbell-Scott Movement, but I think that would be a bit awkward.  You could call it the American Restoration Movement, but it had antecedents in Great Britain.

Roberts was influential because he introduced me to the thought processes that preceded us.  We would like to think that we come to the study of the Bible with minds that are totally devoid of any human input.  No one does that.  We’ve all been influenced by somebody – family, friends, teachers, preachers, media figures, authors, and even adversaries.  We all read the Bible as certain way because of those who have influenced us either consciously or subconsciously.   We may choose to accept, reject, or modify what we’ve heard in the past, but we should not pretend that we are unaffected by the past.  To me it’s important to know how we got where we are.  If we recognize that, we can be much more honest in evaluating ideas and concepts.  In one sense of the term there are no independent thinkers.  Whatever you may believe, you can be assured that somebody has thought of it before.  J. W. Roberts helped me to identify those who have influenced my thinking.

He was not a great lecturer.  Sometimes he would get specifics confused.  For example might say “The Campbell-Purcell Debate took place in St. Louis in 1937.”   Everyone knew that he meant, “The Campbell-Purcell debate took place in Cincinnati in 1837.”  Nevertheless, he was a brilliant historian.  He had one of smartest people I’ve ever met.  Exposure to those who came before us has enabled me to look at their ideas with a critical eye.  We make a mistake when we view the “pioneers” as the standard by which our beliefs are measured.  We also make a mistake when we treat the pioneers with contempt.  Like us they were the product of their times.  Like us they were human, and they had their flaws.  I love reviewing the literature of the earlier periods of our history.  Sometimes it can be embarrassing.  At other times it’s quite inspiring.

College Mentors (6)

Frank Pack – Scholar, Gentleman, Preacher, Friend

Frank Pack was the husband of Della Pack, whom I’ve already mentioned.  He was among the first teachers in our Christian Colleges to earn a PhD degree. He loved to tell the story about his decision to begin doctoral studies at the University of Southern California.  He made the decision while preaching for a church in Nashville.  On the last Sunday evening with the Nashville church, one of the elders made a little speech.  He said, “Brother Pack is leaving us.  He’s going to California.  Wants to get a Doctors’ degree.  Thinks it will make him a better preacher.  We’ll see.”  Once he got there he was on a fast track to complete his doctoral work in record time.  The University required PhD candidates to pass a proficiency test in three different languages before they would be awarded their degrees.  He determined to complete the language studies in one summer, but as he put it, “I met my honey that summer.”  Della delayed his plans for completing his language studies.

He was a remarkable man.  He could hold his own among top academicians, and was highly respected in educational circles.  He was a great preacher.  Many college professors lack pulpit skills, but not Frank Pack.  When I was in graduate school I heard him preach every Sunday, and I was enthralled with his ability.  On the other hand he could be as common as dirt when talking to a farmer.  He had a wide capacity for human relations.

He contributed two things to me that were incredibly important.  During my senior year the Churches of Christ were embroiled in a controversy over congregational cooperation.  I had aligned myself with the anti-institutional faction.  I told Dr. Pack that I wanted to miss his class so I could attend the lectures at Florida Christian College, a school which promoted anti-institutional views.  He called me into his office to talk about it.  He said, “I ask only one thing of you.  Try to be objective.”  That was the best advice he could have given me.  At first I resented being called in, but I never forgot what he said.  Within two years, I had abandoned that point of view. 

It was also during that year that I enrolled in his Great Bible Doctrines class.  I guess I expected him to talk about the controversial issues of the day.   Instead, he started with God.  He went on to talk about this like the nature of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, grace, faith and love.  It was the nearest thing to a study of systematic theology that I’ve ever gone through.  That class gave me my first positive exposure to grace.  Prior to that time I had mostly heard about the things that grace doesn’t cover.  I was enthralled with his presentation. Years later when I wrote my book on grace, he was one of the persons to whom I dedicated the book.

When Ann and I got married we were attending Graham Street in Abilene where he preached.  Because we didn’t want to go through newlywed ribbing, we deliberately arrived late, sat on the back, and planned to leave early. He spotted us from the pulpit, and the first words out of his mouth were, “We’re really glad to have Norman Bales and his new bride here with us tonight.”  So much for getting away unnoticed.

The last time we saw the Packs was in the nineties.  He was retired from teaching at Pepperdine, but still preaching for the Culver-Palms church in Los Angeles.  I had gone to Pepperdine to make a presentation at the Bible lectures. I was flabbergasted when he invited me to teach his Bible class on Sunday morning.  Talk about feeling out of your league.  I spent the first few minutes of the class praising the Packs.   A lady took me aside and said, “You have no idea how much damage you’ve done to this church.”  I was horrified.  What on earth could I have said?  She said, “We’ve been trying to teach Frank Pack humility for the last thirty years, and you blew it all away in five minutes.”  Then she smiled and said, “I had you going there for a minute didn’t I?”  She sure did.

The Packs took us out to eat at the Los Angeles Yacht Club.  He quickly explained what while he was a member of the club, he did not own a yacht.  That was the last time we ever saw them.  They didn’t live long after that.  It was an experience we’ll never forget.

College Mentors (5)

It Was Plain From Spain

As I moved into my junior year, most of my basic courses were behind me, and I was now able to concentrate on the things I really wanted to study in my college career.  In those two years I was mentored by several different professors who left a lasting impression on me.

One of these was Dr. Carl Spain.  Dr. Spain had served as the pulpit minister for a large congregation in Houston, Texas before coming to Abilene Christian, first as an instructor and eventually as full professor.

When I think of the spiritually minded people I have known, Carl Spain is always on my list.   He wasn’t a dry academician. He was a man who gave you something for your heart.  He regarded our relationship with Jesus as an intimate, life changing experience.  His enthusiasm for God was contagious. The students who enrolled in his classes usually went away feeling inspired.

He was also quick witted.  Once we had a snow storm, and one of the students brought a snow ball into class.  The minute Dr. Spain walked into the classroom, the student let go of the snowball and caught him squarely in the head.  Dr. Spain simply started down the row shaking hands with each class member.  When he came to the guy with the cold  hands,  he said, “Now, stand up and tell  this class  you didn’t throw that snowball.”  The student protested that it was a trick question.

My most memorable experience with him came during graduate school.  I enrolled in his course in Christian Ethics.   During that fall he prepared a presentation to be delivered at the next lectureship program.   The title of the lecture was “Modern Challenges to Christian Morals.”  His presentation was really a synopsis of what we heard in the  classroom through the entire semester.  He traced the philosophical currents that held sway in the academic community prior to that time, and demonstrated how they had been influenced by secularists  who  had no  respect for God.  They, in turn, had influenced Hitler and the Third Reich.

Then he switched to the racial issue, which was a  hot  potato at that time.  At that moment in history Abilene Christian College was a segregated institution.  A black minister working with one  of the Churches of Christ in Abilene was denied the privilege of enrolling in the school to take Bible for credit.  He went across town to McMurry, a Methodist school, and was accepted.  In his presentation Dr. Spain pointed this out, and criticized the school for remaining segregated because of the fear that integration might result in loss of revenues from potential contributors.   He lamented the fact that the school was being held captive by those who had been influenced by the same philosophy that enabled Hitler to rise.  You can read the entire lecture at

http://www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/texts/race/haymes15.html

The next morning it was front page news in newspapers throughout Texas.  Dr. Spain was threatened and insulted, and was challenged to debate the issue, but  he stood his ground.  The next Monday, he shared his feelings about all that with us.  Within 2 years ACC was integrated.  Within 15 years, the man, who  had been denied the privilege of studying the Bible, was a featured speaker at the lectureship.  I will never forget having a “ringside” seat for one of the  most momentous events in Texas religious history.

The last time I saw Dr. Spain, he was retired.  I asked him if  he was doing any writing.  He said that he was not, and I expressed my disappointment.  Then he told me that  his wife had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and that he was taking care of her.   A short time after that he was diagnosed with cancer himself, and actually preceded his wife in death.  Carl Spain will always be one of my  heroes.

College Mentors (4)

As Long As You Pronounce It Correctly

In the My Fair Lady, Professor Higgins has a line in which he claims, “The French don’t care what you do actually, as long as you pronounce it properly.”  My Professor Higgins was a woman named Gaylynn Collier. Dr. Collier was a diminutive woman, who loved poetry, drama, literature and properly spoken English.  Unlike Dr. Barton, she was dynamite when she spoke.  I loved listening to her.  In terms of oral communication, she was unsurpassed in my books.  I even made the mistake of telling Dr. Barton that Gaylynn Collier was the best teacher in the entire school.  I took two semesters of oral interpretation from her and one semester of phonetics.   I didn’t do very well in phonetics largely because I was required to do three different dialect recitals, and the only one I could master was West Texas country boy which was my native tongue already. Nevertheless phonetics has been invaluable to be throughout life.

Most people don’t know that phonetics is a bit like Greek.  It has its own alphabet.  For example most of the vowels have three or four symbols.  The symbols tell you the way the vowels are to be pronounced.  With consonants a sound is assigned to the symbol.  The symbol that looks like a “g” is not called “gee.”  It’s “guh,” which is the way you pronounce most words that begin with “g.”   The phonetic alphabet enables a person to eliminate many of the common pronunciation errors.

Dr. Collier never tried get me to speak with a crisp British accent.  She didn’t even do that herself, although she could if she wanted to.  When she was in college herself, she worked at a telephone switchboard and answered the phone that way.  She encouraged what she called a “General American Speech Pattern.”   That’s what the people who speak on radio and television normally use.  She encouraged that because she thought we might not always live in Texas, and we would need to make ourselves understood.  It would be best if we sounded like the guy on the 6 o’clock news.  Of course she had no way of knowing that a Houstonian named Dan Rather would become the CBS news anchor.  He never completely eliminate the Texas influence from his speech.  Think back to the way he used to say, “Secretary of State Haig.”  He tended to use two syllables to says “state” and “Haig.”   As I’ve said before, my speech gradually changed.  I guess you would call it a sort of cosmopolitan Texas.   I don’t sound like the Chester character on Gunsmoke, but then I don’t sound like Jim Nantz either, even though Jim Nantz was also raised in Houston.

When I decided to preach, my dad said, “You need to learn how to talk right.  You don’t want to sound like me.” I can actually eliminate all trace of Texas from my voice if I work at it very hard.  After I moved to Cedar Rapids, I started doing radio spots.  At first I took the Texas out of my voice, but then the people from the radio station told me they would prefer that I leave it in.  Of course it was a country station.  I’ve also done a little TV work, and it played out pretty well for that.  I tend to speak more precisely when I speak publicly, but when I’m not on my guard, it’s pretty obvious that I’m not from around here, but people like to hear me talk, so I don’t really want to get rid of all my pronunciation peculiarities.

College Mentors (3)

Fred Barton – speech teacher

The third person who influenced me during my freshman year was Dr. Fred Barton.  I probably ended up taking more courses under Dr. Barton than I did any single instructor during my college days.   He taught public speaking and homiletics.  Homiletics is a fancy word for preaching. It was an advanced course, so I didn’t get there until I was a junior.

As a freshman, I studied general public speaking.  I’m greatly indebted to Dr. Barton.  He taught me how to organize my presentation, introduce my topic, present the main thoughts and wind it up in an acceptable fashion.  Along the way he offered suggestions about pronunciation and style. Most of us didn’t know a thing about public speaking.

He could offer encouragement when you needed it, and blunt force criticism when you thought you were hot stuff.  I never thought Dr. Barton was a great public speaker himself, but he sure knew how to recognize it in others.

During freshman speech classes, we didn’t preach sermons.  That would come later in homiletics.  Among other things he asked us to present a persuasive speech on some controversial topic.   At that point in time, Ezra Taft Benson was the Secretary of Agriculture under President Eisenhower.  Having grown up on a farm and resenting acreage allotments, I attempted to persuade my audience that Secretary Benson should be fired.   Dr. Barton had a totally different view.   He literally trashed my speech, but then he ended up giving me a B, so I guess he thought I made my case fairly well even though he didn’t agree with it.

I heard about a student in another class, who announced that his speech would be centered around the evils of the Republican Party.   That should have been safe ground.  In Texas winning the Democratic nomination was tantamount to election, but when the student announced his topic, Dr. Barton said, “As chairman of the Taylor County Republican Party, I’ll be qualified to evaluate your presentation.”   I never heard how the poor guy fared with his talk.

Of course we didn’t do politics in Homiletics.  He worked to rid me of two bad habits.  The first was my pronunciation.  He once said that I had the worst case of a West Texas dialect he had ever heard.  Actually, I’ve never lost my Texas twang, but now I sound more like a resident of Dallas than a boy from Clyde.  Of course I can slip back into West Texas good ole boy talk anytime I want to.  The other was what he called preacher tone. Until I was grown I rarely heard a preacher use a microphone.   They had to shout to make themselves heard. With the shouting they developed a certain cadence.   My friend Dale Smith says they sounded like a quarterback calling signals.  I pretty well had that down when I started to college.  It’s taken me a life time to try to unlearn it.  He may not have liked those things, but he did like my enthusiasm.

In the seventies, I was asked to teach homiletics at the Kansas City School of Preaching.  I wrote Dr. Barton and made the mistake of asking him for advice on how to approach the subject of homoletics.   He said, “Norman, the first thing I would advise is to learn how to spell the word.  Talk about feeling put in your place.

College Mentors (2)

Della Pack Encouraged Me to Write

At the time of my initial college enrollment, our Freshman class was the largest in the history of the school.  To avoid inequity, the registrar shuffled the order of registration, and those whose surnames started with a “B” ended up in the last group.   Every time I tried to enroll in a class I was told the class was closed.

They had a problem, however.  Every incoming freshman was required to take English.  All the English class offerings were full.  They solved the problem by inviting the wife of a Bible faculty member to teach an English class.  Her name was Della Pack.  Secularists would have said it was the “luck of the draw.”  Dr. Johnson would have said it was the providence of God. I’ll go with Dr. Johnson.

At that time freshman English was mostly English composition.   We needed the class because we would be writing research papers throughout our collegiate career, and the basic English course gave us the appropriate tools for that task.  Della Pack taught us how to organize our writing, how to use the library, how to do research, and how to put sentences together.  She also drilled us on our spelling skills.  We completed several writing assignments during that time.   She was the first person to pick up on the fact that I was blessed with the ability to write prose, and she encouraged me in that.  I’m really amazed that she saw anything in my writing.  I didn’t have a typewriter at the time, and my penmanship was absolutely terrible.  I think I must have been absent from school on the day they taught penmanship.

She may have thought she saw some hidden writing talent, that could be shaped into something better, but she also realized that I was a West Texas farm boy, filled with insecurities, and culturally illiterate.  For some reason she took me on as a project, and I will be eternally grateful for her nurturing.  Many years later when I wrote my first published book, I dedicated it to Della Pack and Mima Williams.  I’ll write about Miss Williams later.

There was a connection between Della Pack and Bob Johnson.  Like Dr. Johnson, she usually invited R. C. Bell to substitute for her when she couldn’t make it to class.   R. C. Bell loved English literature.  Shakespeare was one of the components of the freshman English course.  I soon realized that he loved the bard almost as much as he loved the Bible, and Bell knew the literature of the Shakespeare almost as well.  He spent some of his class times talking about Othello.  I can’t say that Othello was my favorite bit of Shakespearian writing, but I marveled at the way Othello fascinated him.   He was more excited about Shakespeare than the most rabid football fan is about his favorite team.  Did it have any relevance to my life?  When you stop to thinking about,  the bard from Stratford-on-Avon provided the foundation for all of those who are serious about writing in the English language.  That’s why I was introduced to Julius Caesar in the 9^th grade, Macbeth, in the 12^th grade,  Othello in freshman English and Hamlet in sophomore English.