The George Knight Lectures, honoring Dr. Knight, are held annually in the fall, and bring to campus noted biblical scholars to address themes promoting biblical scholarship in the church.
Dr. George W. Knight came to Hardin-Simmons University in 1976 from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he had served as instructor of New Testament and Greek. He was subsequently appointed as the first Cook-Derrick Chair of Bible and Greek at HSU. He established HSU’s archaeology program and led more than 20 archaeological expeditions to Israel and Greece, eventually becoming a field supervisor. He holds degrees from Louisiana College, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he received his PhD in 1973.
Dr. Knight has distinguished himself in his commitment to teaching and scholarship and his contribution to the larger life of the University and of the community in which he lives. Dr. Knight retired from the HSU faculty in 2002.
The George Knight Lectures are presented by Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology.
Past George Knight Lectures
October 16-17, 2017, Dr. R. Alan Culpepper, Retired Dean of McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, Atlanta, GA. Topic: “Themes from the Gospel of John: Creation Ethics in the Gospel of John and The Knowledge of God: Prophetic Vision Johannine Theme”
November 7, 2016, Dr. Walter Brueggemann, William Marcellus McPheeters professor emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia. Topics: “Why the Old Testament Must Not Go Away” and “The Psalms: Voicing a Counter World”
October 19-20, 2015, Dr. Nancy L. deClaisse-Wafford, Carolyn Ward Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Languages, McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, Atlanta, GA. Topics: “The Many Faces of the Book of Psalms” and “The Relationship of Humanity to the Created World: A Canonical Reading of Psalms 90-106”
October 28-29, 2013, Dr. Aliou Niang, Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY. Topics: “Identity Construction in Postcolonial Contexts: The ‘Other’ in Galatians 2:19-20 and 3:28”; “Colonial Occupation and Health in Mark 5:1-20: A Postcolonial Inquiry”; and “Seeing and Hearing Jesus Christ Crucified in Galatians 3:1 under Watchful Imperial Eyes”
October 22-23, 2012, Dr. David Garland, Truett Seminary, Waco, TX. Topic: “Enacted Christology in the Gospel of Mark”
October 31-Nov. 1, 2011, Dr. Ellen F. Davis, Duke University Divinity School, Durham, NC. Topics: “Prophets and the Created Order” and “Art as prophecy, Prophecy as Art”
October 25-26, 2010, Dr. Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ. Topics: “The Art of Bible Translation: Theory and Theology”; “Female/Feminine Imagery for God in the Bible”; and “Inclusive Language in Scripture and Liturgy: Issues for Pastoral Ministry”
October 26-27, 2009, Dr. William Greenway, Austin Presbyterian Seminary, Austin, TX. Topic: “Caring for Creation”
October 23, 2008, Dr. David Crutchley, Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, TN. Topic: “Christological Lanterns: Images of Christ in a Dark World”
November 12-13, 2007, Dr. J. Randall O’Brien, Baylor University, Waco, TX. Topics: “Retelling the Story of Job and Hearing It Again for the First Time”; “When Bad Things Happen to Good People: Reflections on the Suffering of Job”; “Toward a Biblical Model of Ministry: Pointers from the Book of Job”; and “Q & A on the Book of Job: Questioning the Answers When the Answers Are the Questions”
October 5, 2006, Dr. Leo G. Perdue, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, Ft. Worth, TX. Topics: “Where is Wisdom to Be Found?” and “The Fear of God is the Beginning of Wisdom”
October 6, 2005, Dr. Ben Witherington III, Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, KY. Topic: “Dispensationalism and the Rapture Theology: Where did they come from?”
Dr. Terence E. Fretheim, Luther Theological Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Topic: “A Relational Theology of Creation: Another Look at Genesis 1-2”
Dr. R. Alan Culpepper, McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, Atlanta, GA. Topics: “The Death of Jesus in the Synoptics” and “The Death of Jesus in John”
Dr. George W. Knight came to Hardin-Simmons University in 1976 from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he had served as instructor of New Testament and Greek. He was subsequently appointed as the first Cook-Derrick Chair of Bible and Greek at HSU. He established HSU’s archaeology program and led more than 20 archaeological expeditions to Israel and Greece, eventually becoming a field supervisor. He holds degrees from Louisiana College, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he received his PhD in 1973.