Tyndale House Cambridge

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1 Tyndale House Cambridge Newsletter Summer 2012

OPEN DAY Historic Bible display Technical demonstration Future plans unveiled It would be lovely to welcome you to Tyndale House. Please let us know by phone or email.

2 OPEN DAY Historic Bible display Technical demonstration Future plans unveiled It would be lovely to welcome you to Tyndale House. Please let us know by phone or . Saturday 6 October 2012 Tyndale House 36 Selwyn Gardens, CAMBRIDGE, CB3 9BA Enquiries@Tyndale.cam.ac.uk Tyndale House forms part of UCCF:Research UCCF is a Limited Company no & Registered Charity no Blue Boar House, Blue Boar Street, OXFORD OX1 4EE

3 An Outward Facing Library The pioneering spirit of the founders of Tyndale House continues to inspire us. In the past year we have been developing new projects and programmes, leading Tyndale House to become an increasingly outward facing library. At its core Tyndale House has its residential library; a scholarly community fostering biblical scholarship in service of the church. For many years people from round the world have been coming here, getting intellectually equipped and then going out to significant ministries. We will continue to cherish this as the base for all our work. But to that inner circle we are adding an outer circle, which consists in activities and resources sponsored by Tyndale House reaching directly to people who may never come here. Thus we have increased our impact in supplying scholars for work outside the House and in providing internet resources. It is now the agreed aim of the Tyndale House Council that for the next few years we should seek to expand our provision of external resources while we seek to gain momentum for the significant challenge of expanding our internal resources, that is providing a significant enhancement to the library, probably in several years time. Well over 60,000 people have watched our staff on video and our short Easter videos have been translated into Bulgarian and Italian. Meanwhile our small dedicated team have also been busy speaking and lecturing at home and abroad. Work has been continuing apace to create online Bible tools to be launched in the next 12 months. It has also been incredibly exciting to see, for the first time, a fully functioning US Office and to welcome Phillip Evans on board as our first full time US Director of Development. All this has been in addition to numerous academic publications from library users and staff. So we are pressing ahead with excitement and anticipation about what the future will bring. If you are in the UK and would like to know more, I would recommend that you attend our Open Day on Saturday 6 October and bring your friends. Peter Williams

4 Farewell to Dr Elizabeth Magba It will be hard to imagine the library without Elizabeth s quiet smile and helpful manner. Elizabeth has overseen many changes during her 12 years here but individual scholars will remember most her personal and professional support. Having qualified and worked as a librarian in the UK, Elizabeth joined Wycliffe Bible translators and set out for a remote, mountainous area of west Cameroon. She worked on her own translation projects including Luke and Acts, and various epistles which she translated into Mundani. She also helped to train Cameroon nationals. Back in the UK Elizabeth studied for a PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies in Linguistics and African languages. Her linguistic expertise has been a great resource for many Tyndale readers. In June 1999, she became our Librarian. The library has grown in numbers of books and readers over the last twelve years and it has been a constant struggle to find shelf space and desk space to accommodate them. The biggest change has been the digitisation of the library which now has a custombuilt electronic catalogue, TynCat, and a two-pronged periodicals collection, in print and digital media. Having a heart for students from Africa, Elizabeth was particularly delighted to be able to welcome a group of PhD students from the Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology to Tyndale House for six weeks in She has various plans for her retirement, beginning with some long-term research and writing projects which she began before coming to Tyndale House. This includes some unique language data, gathered during her time in Cameroon, to be added to various world language databases. We wish her well in all these endeavours and hope very much that she will come back to visit us often.

If you are not online please call us and we can send a request form. Simon brings a wealth of experience as a librarian in a range of educational library settings.

5 Welcome to Simon Sykes We were delighted to welcome Simon to the staff team as our new Librarian on February 1. Scanning Service Bringing the library to you For a small fee, we can scan and articles or short sections of books. Please see our web page at tyndale.cam.ac.uk/scans to find out more. If you are not online please call us and we can send a request form. Simon brings a wealth of experience as a librarian in a range of educational library settings. He has also worked as a Community Education Manager for a number of years, during which time he gained an adult teaching qualification, and a masters degree in librarianship from the University of Wales. For the last three years he has worked as the Library and Learning Resources Manager at Tresham College in Northamptonshire. Simon has particularly enjoyed teaching information literacy skills, leading training courses for library staff, mentoring, and library building projects. He is married to Kate and together they have three adult daughters. Simon has been a member of the leadership team at Bretton Baptist Church, Peterborough for several years. In this role he has been involved with preaching, children s ministry, men s ministry and pastoral support. In his spare time, Simon enjoys hill walking, cycling and cooking. Assistant Librarian Kate Arhel. Kate has been working at Tyndale House since April 2011, providing valuable assistance to Elizabeth Magba during the run up to her retirement. We are delighted that Kate has taken up a permanent post alongside Simon, and they have great plans to build on recent developments and take the library into the future, helping enhance both the traditional book collection and our IT provision.

STEP: Scripture Tools For Every Person STEP is Tyndale House s ongoing project to make the best resources for biblical studies freely available to everyone who needs them.

6 STEP: Scripture Tools For Every Person STEP is Tyndale House s ongoing project to make the best resources for biblical studies freely available to everyone who needs them. Our goal is to make the tools capable of working on phones and low-spec computers (even with intermittent or no internet access). The STEP Project aims to share a wealth of resources, previously only available to specialist scholars, with anyone who wants to use them. The first stage of the STEP project is the free Tyndale Toolbar, which is already being used by increasing numbers of scholars, students and pastors around the world saw the STEP project take a huge leap forward with the recruitment of many more volunteers. Dale Brueggeman was seconded to the STEP project and has responsibility for overseeing the volunteers, allowing David Instone-Brewer to focus on the technical side of the work. Providing resources free is not just good for the end -user; it s also good for the project. It inspires many people to give their time and expertise freely so that the project can proceed faster. Volunteers have been hard at work on a number of different tasks including scanning commentaries and using Google Earth to provide the basis for historical maps of biblical locations. We expect that users will be able to enjoy the next stage of STEP in the spring of Dale Brueggeman QUOTATION: It would be unmanly to say that I am almost moved to tears at the simplicity, functionality, depth and sheer intelligence of this toolbar, but alas I am! To have this degree of thoughtfulness put into a free tool for God s people all over the world, to have it so beautifully thought through with an understanding of what people who are grappling with the text really need, to have all this scholarship shared so openly with those who serve the same Lord, this is what church, Bible and academia should be like. Genius serving godliness! Dominic Smart, Minister, Gilcomston South Church, Aberdeen

New Faces It has been a delight to welcome Alice Harrison, Stefan Bosman and Sara Bustin to the Tyndale House team. All have come on board to assist with STEP or to cover staff seconded to it.

She has been delighted to see the number of downloads and new users increasing. Stefan is studying for a PhD at Aberdeen University.

This has relieved David Instone-Brewer of several tasks to allow him time to develop new initiatives for STEP. Stefan is Dutch by birth and comes to Cambridge via Jerusalem, the USA and Aberdeen.

7 New Faces It has been a delight to welcome Alice Harrison, Stefan Bosman and Sara Bustin to the Tyndale House team. All have come on board to assist with STEP or to cover staff seconded to it. Alice has been working as our Online Education Coordinator and is actively promoting the Tyndale Toolbar by contacting Bible schools and seminaries around the world. She has been delighted to see the number of downloads and new users increasing. Stefan is studying for a PhD at Aberdeen University. He recently applied for the Librarian vacancy and was too good a computer expert to slip through the net and has become our part-time IT guru. This has relieved David Instone-Brewer of several tasks to allow him time to develop new initiatives for STEP. Stefan is Dutch by birth and comes to Cambridge via Jerusalem, the USA and Aberdeen. He is married to Shallé and has two young sons. Sara has joined us to work in the Reception office for three days per week. This is a key role in Tyndale House as it is the first port of call for new visitors to the library and for residents, readers and staff, who need help with a wide variety of issues. Sara is married to Tim and has two daughters aged 14 and 18.

The Authentic Gospels: New Evidence (2010) includes conference talks plus short films designed for home study groups, and a short study guide.

8 Resourcing the Church Expert Evidence on DVD Two of our popular apologetics conferences have been captured on DVD. Bible and Church (2009): history of the NT gospels, textual reliability of the NT gospels and the question of other gospels. The Authentic Gospels: New Evidence (2010) includes conference talks plus short films designed for home study groups, and a short study guide. Both DVDs feature Dr Peter Williams and Dr Dirk Jongkind from Tyndale House, and Dr Simon Gathercole from the University of Cambridge. To watch a taster and buy online please go to our conference website, Alternatively please call us on Online Videos Ever puzzled by the parables? Tyndale staff have been watched on our own YouTube channel TyndaleHouse1 at least 38,000 times across 79 countries. Including totals from other channels over 130 different countries have been reached. The Tyndale Bulletin is our academic journal which comes out twice a year. Though the articles are not aimed at laypeople we sometimes carry items which have both an academic and a wider appeal. If you want to stretch yourself, why not look at the article Incongruity in the Gospel Parables by David Seccombe, Principal of George Whitefield College in Cape Town? One way of looking at the parables insists that they were normal sorts of stories from the culture of Jesus. This author argues that the parables contain deliberate incongruity and the outright bizarre. You ll find it online here: Reader to bear Olympic torch TyndaleHouse1 Congratulations go to Tyndale regular Steve Walton both for being installed as Professor at the London School of Theology and for his selection to carry the Olympic torch in nearby Newmarket.

Amongst Our PhD Successes Clockwise: Will Kynes Ryan Reeves David Nystrom Robert Crellin Myrto Theocharous Simon

Diocesan Synod, and is involved with Fresh Expressions Steffen Jenkins, Bristol Steffen is married with two

He is fluent in German and Spanish, and is preparing to serve the church through theological education with a

He is preparing for future ministry involving pastoral ministry and theological education in a seminary context.

9 Amongst Our PhD Successes Clockwise: Will Kynes Ryan Reeves David Nystrom Robert Crellin Myrto Theocharous Simon Cheung Christian Askeland Erasmus Fund Scholars Donations to the Erasmus Fund are intended to support British PhD students in biblical studies. Current Erasmus Fund scholars are: Jenny Corcoran, Nottingham Jenny is a serving parish priest and member of her Diocesan Synod, and is involved with Fresh Expressions Steffen Jenkins, Bristol Steffen is married with two children. He is fluent in German and Spanish, and is preparing to serve the church through theological education with a special interest in Cuba. David Shaw, Cambridge David is married with three young daughters. He is preparing for future ministry involving pastoral ministry and theological education in a seminary context. Jonathan Squirrell, Spurgeon s Jonathan is married with four children. He is serving as a pastor in a community church plant and has a background in maths and IT. Nicola Wilkes, Cambridge Nicola has studied at universities in Thessalonica, Cyprus, Sheffield, London and Cambridge and is a member of the community at Tyndale House.

Tyndale News From Cambridge to Oxford Dr Joshua Hordern, Associate Director of the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, has been appointed to a University Lectureship in Christian Ethics at

Josh has made a significant contribution to the development of KLICE s Public Leadership Programme alongside his research and writing, and his teaching for the Cambridge Faculty of Divinity.

Breuer scholarship, which is particularly awarded for scholarship in service of the church, goes to Levente Lorik from Hungary, who has been living at Tyndale House with his wife Eszter and children

10 Tyndale News From Cambridge to Oxford Dr Joshua Hordern, Associate Director of the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, has been appointed to a University Lectureship in Christian Ethics at Oxford University from October This is a full-time permanent post based at Harris Manchester College and is a pleasing outcome for one of the first KLICE award holders. Josh has made a significant contribution to the development of KLICE s Public Leadership Programme alongside his research and writing, and his teaching for the Cambridge Faculty of Divinity. New Scholarship Awarded The newly created David F. Breuer and Martha J. Breuer scholarship, which is particularly awarded for scholarship in service of the church, goes to Levente Lorik from Hungary, who has been living at Tyndale House with his wife Eszter and children Bálint and Gitta. New Director of Church Society Revd Lee Gatiss will be the Church Society s new Director with effect from 1st January Lee is presently completing a PhD on Seventeenth Century biblical interpretation at the University of Cambridge as a reader in the Tyndale Library. He will remain in Cambridge, enabling the Society to develop its profile and work within the Cambridge churches, theological colleges, and other networks.

In the News Electoral Fraud in Russia Observed Russian scholar Dr Irina Levinskaya, a frequent visitor to Tyndale House, became a citizen observer for Russia s presidential elections.

Dr Levinskaya is a senior fellow of St Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University s Centre for Advanced Theological Research.

11 In the News Electoral Fraud in Russia Observed Russian scholar Dr Irina Levinskaya, a frequent visitor to Tyndale House, became a citizen observer for Russia s presidential elections. You can read Irina s Telegraph article exposing electoral fraud on the newspaper s website: go to and search for Levinskaya. Dr Levinskaya is a senior fellow of St Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University s Centre for Advanced Theological Research. Titanic Connection Revd J. Stuart Holden had the only first-class Titanic ticket to survive. His wife was taken ill on April 9 one hundred years ago, and so he did not sail on April 10. As an evangelist, preacher and author, his near miss seemed to have quite an effect on him, as you can see from the references to the Titanic in his sermon notes (40 or so volumes of these manuscripts are kept at Tyndale House). The ticket itself can be seen at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool.

12 Out and about What do Scottsdale (Arizona), Bedford (England), and Christchurch (New Zealand) have in common? These are just three of a number of places where Dr Dirk Jongkind, Research Fellow in New Testament Text and Language, has been speaking in recent months. Meanwhile he and a small team have also been working hard on a free electronic Greek New Testament for release next year. This edition should contain information about the paragraphing in the very earliest manuscripts, which will be useful for preachers deciding how to divide up the text. Stay tuned. Tyndale House s Finances: Two Parts, One Purpose Tyndale House s operations can be divided into two parts: 1) the inner core of operations essential to the very existence of Tyndale House and the maintenance of the research library and community. We ask all library users to contribute to the use of the library. However, in order to make the library accessible to as many students and scholars as need to use it, these charges are heavily subsidised. The shortfall is made up through the kind support of many ordinary people. We need new partners to continue to provide the best environment for a new generation of biblical scholars. 2) the outer core of projects and programmes which seek to build on the research community and make an impact through providing scholarship outside the context of that community. These operations include Research Fellows, conferences, STEP, the Tyndale Bulletin. We seek for these to be either self-funding, or funded through special grants or gifts. As Tyndale House grows, as we hope it will do, we are determined not to allow the growing outer core of activities to drain resources from our historic core activities. So even as we seek to secure outside funding for these programmes, we would love it if you could consider making a generous donation to Tyndale House, for us to use to build up this institution which we so much love. To read more and to donate please go to Tax deductible donations can be made in the USA to the American Friends of Tyndale House Cambridge at

Tyndale House. Newsletter February Specialist Seminars. The Ethiopian Connection

Tyndale House. Newsletter February Specialist Seminars. The Ethiopian Connection February 2011 Specialist Seminars There are probably not many places in the world where 16 people sit around and read ancient inscriptions from before the Babylonian exile in the Old Hebrew script. Nor