The inaugural lecture is a tradition that has been practiced in western universities for centuries. These lectures originated in the great universities of continental Europe, spread to Great Britain, and then to North America. The tradition has now been appropriated further by universities around the world and especially of late in majority world countries. The inaugural lecture is a form of academic discourse, in which the recipient of a suitable academic honor—usually the bestowal of a form of professorial appointment—offers a public lecture in recognition of the event. Mc Master Divinity College follows in this academic tradition by attaching public inaugural lectures to the appointment of scholars to professorial positions, and in particular to those appointed to endowed and named professorial chairs within the institution. Mc Master Divinity College currently has six such endowed, named chairs held by its faculty. This volume contains the six lectures by those in these six chairs, representing the fields of preaching, theology, pastoral studies, Christian worldview, ministry studies, and Christian history. Each of these inaugural lectures is a contribution to scholarship in the field and a token of the inaugural professorial lecture.
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Stanley E. Porter is president, dean, and professor of New Testament and holder of the Roy A. Hope Chair in Christian Worldview at Mc Master Divinity College, Hamilton, ON, Canada. Besides his research and writing in Greek language and linguistics, he is a keen advocate for the arts within the Christian church. In particular, he is very interested in how literature can help to enlighten and elevate Christian faith.