Indeed...A Scholar

Since learning of Dr. Lowery’s impending death on Monday, not a day has gone by when tears have not filled my eyes.  I share my thoughts not merely to share my emotions, but to share principles I am learning during this time of grief.  My hope is this process will help shape me into a more godly man. 

Yet before I get too far I want to make a disclaimer; I am not a “Lowery-ite”.  In other words, I follow Jesus and not Dr. Lowery.  I state what ought to be obvious because this series of posts (as well as other posts you may visit via this blog) may make Dr. Lowery seem “larger than life”.  No one’s intention is to deify Dr. Lowery.  The intent of anything you may read in relation to him is to convey how a godly man has impacted the lives of many as he followed Jesus.   

There is no doubt Dr. Lowery is a “world-class” scholar of the Bible.  Sadly, many do not know his name.  The reason for this; if you do not publish in academia, you rarely get “big name” recognition.  Dr. Lowery was not concerned about a “big name”.  He felt called to teach a full (or beyond full) class load and invest in the lives of students rather than teach fewer classes in order to write.  

Dr. Lowery’s teaching style (for classes dealing with books of the Bible) was to teach principles of Bible Study rather than lecture about the content of a book.  Personally, I would have loved more lectures from him; yet what I learned is far more valuable than information.  I learned how (despite my limitations) to probe God’s Word to the point where I realize I am being probed by It.  In other words (while the following is not verbatim, I attribute it to him), “The deeper we probe Scripture the more we realize we are the object and It is the subject.”  There are many applications to this, one of which is we ought not to shape God’s Word into what we want it to say…rather God’s Word ought to shape us into the people He desires us to be.   

To say Dr. Lowery never revealed elements of his Bible Study with his students would be false.  Yet examples of that is not the intent of this post.  My prayer is I, and those influenced by him, will continue to reveal elements of our study (influenced by his teaching and scholarship) in our lives – via preaching, teaching, and loving others – as we live for God’s glory.  

In order to bring this entry to a close I will briefly mention my first class with Dr. Lowery.  In the Fall of 2005 I took Preaching from the New Testament (which he team-taught with Dr. Chuck Sackett; another profound influence on my life).  The principles I began to learn that week I still seek to implement (and my shortcomings in doing so are my own – not those of the men who taught me); yet an eye-opening moment from that week will be the basis of my next entry. 

Here is a post of a book recently published in honor of Dr. Lowery.

Links to other posts will occur in following articles.