James Wardwell
As
an undergraduate I majored in the Bible (Gordon College 79) because
I believed God was calling me into the ministry. I was going to be a
carpenter otherwise. Toward the end of my college career I started
filling my schedule with elective courses in literature, not because
I did well in them (Oh, to the contrary), but because I loved the
reading even though it took me forever to complete it. I
particularly loved a course in Shakespeare partly because the
professor wore a fur coat, prayed the Book of Common Prayer, and
said things like “sic transit gloria mundae,” but mostly because
Shakespeare put words together with commitment and passion. I
starred favorite speeches in my text and read them aloud so often as
to embed them within me.
Subsequently, while preparing myself for pastoral ministry (Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, M.Div. 82) because I had sufficient course work in Biblical studies, I filled out my schedule with innovative, independent studies like “The problem of Theodicy in Arthurian Legend” and “Twentieth-century American Novels as Sermon Illustration.” My passion for literary study had followed me and I began to perceive a fearful calling. I knew that God wanted me to serve as a scholar/teacher of literature, but I was afraid to try because I might fail at what I held so dear.
I still fear failure, but after completing a master’s degree in English and American Literature (Villanova 84) and a Ph.D. with a dissertation on the doctrine of sanctification in English poet/clergyman George Herbert’s work (U of Rhode Island 89), I accepted the call to teach at Houghton in 1989. I continue to be thrilled by the reading I do and try to pass that excitement on to my students in class and in my writing. The combination of theology and creative literature assists me in writing about religious poets like Donne, Herbert, Geoffrey Hill and Aemelia Lanyer and in sermons for delivery in local churches. I’ve also transformed that initial Shakespearean inspiration into advising the Houghton College Shakespeare Players, accepting roles in their and other local productions, and writing several playscripts (awaiting production).
