The Commons Spring 2019: Graduation Edition | Page 6

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Dr. Joseph Tipton
A RARE PROFESSOR,
A SUPERLATIVE
PROGRAM
from a lack of awareness of our rich heritage. A lot of people
see Protestantism as a new upstart—it doesn’t appear to have
the long heritage of deep learning like the Greek Orthodox or
Roman Catholic traditions. But actually, it does. If we knew
our history better, we’d know the leading classicists, the leading
experts in Greek in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
were the Reformers.” Without knowledge of the robust, clas-
Spoken ancient Greek as a study died off just after the sical tradition of the Reformation, Protestantism looks like a
Renaissance and Reformation. And its absence has created a historical put-up job. It is one of the reasons people leave the
problem. Protestantism’s connection to the classical and hu- church. “There is a trend of Christians going to Rome because
manist traditions is stunted making the tradition look mal- they’re looking for something with greater prestige. Their idea
nourished with its ribs showing.
of Protestantism is some twentieth-century American South-
In a typical Classics degree in the States, studying Greek and ern Baptist church or something—an American Protestantism
Latin, you read and parse the languages for a few years. If you that’s cut itself off from everything before 1900 or 1950.” We
get into a master’s program, there is
have all seen a fellow believer shuffle
only a chance you will do something
off with glazed eyes toward the bells
close to composition. In fact, “you
and smells of a mistaken tradition,
Studying classical Greek
can get a Classics Ph.D. and never
like a moth to the blue electric light.
is a big step in regaining
have taken a composition course at
Studying classical Greek is a big
Protestantism’s connection to
all, which explains the sad state of
step in regaining Protestantism’s con-
affairs in Classics today,” says Tipton.
the Reformation. It’s filling out nection to the Reformation. It fills
It’s not just academia that suffers—
out Protestantism’s intellectual, cre-
Protestantism’s intellectual,
Professor Tipton says we can feel its
ative, and artistic frame—but a spo-
creative, and artistic frame.
absence in the broader culture of Prot-
ken ancient Greek program was no-
estantism as well. “We’re suffering
where to be found. Enter Dr. Tipton.
“Who else is doing a spoken ancient Greek
program?” we asked Dr. Tipton.
“In the States … nobody else. At the under-
graduate level, nobody else in the world. At
least to my knowledge.”
6 THE COMMONS