In praise of scholars who answer their e-mail!

Now that I'm a professor too (first day on the job was Friday, August 1st), I wanted to take a minute and mention something I've always appreciated about certain professors. About 7 years ago, when I was working on my M. Div., I sent a question via e-mail to a certain high-profile Greek and textual criticism scholar at Dallas Theological. Within 3 days he had responded. When working on my doctorate at Southeastern, my adviser Dr. David Black was extremely quick to respond to e-mails, usually within 24-hours. In fact, most of the profs at Southeaster were very good at that. Even those who were a bit slower would at least acknowledge that they'd gotten my e-mail and then respond in a week. A few weeks ago I had e-mailed a question to an OT scholar at Southeastern regarding his advice on beginning Hebrew textbooks (since, somewhat ironically, I will be teaching Hebrew this Fall--looking forward to it! :) );  within 24 hours he had responded. I've corresponded with two scholars at Wheaton Divinity, and both responded very quickly.

My point is this: I appreciate it when scholars respond to e-mails from students, especially those from a different institution whom they may not know from Adam.  It shows a desire to help and a desire to further the education of other Christians, even those they do not know. I can only imagine the staggering amount of e-mail high profile professors receive on a regular basis; to actually respond to somebody like me speaks to both their generosity with their time and their e-mail manageament skills.

Here, then, is my pledge as a new professor: I will try to treat genuine Biblical/theological questions from students and even non-students with a high priority. Now, some of that has to be filtered. About a month ago I received an e-mail from a certain gentlemen whom I did not know who was not interested in dialogue, only arguing. The "question" was just a set-up to tell me I was wrong (apparently that's a hobby of this person, to e-mail random Bible bloggers and/or professors? I didn't even know who this person is!) But if the Lord has called me to be a professor of the Bible, then I have an obligation to be willing to talk to people about the Bible, both within my school and without. May the Lord grant me the discipline to do so in the coming years!