In Honor of Great Men: A Reflection on the Legacy of Leon McBeth

During my academic training, I had the privilege of studying under three great church historians, William Estep, Leon McBeth, and Tom Nettles. Each was outstanding in their fields of expertise. I had the honor of studying under the best scholars in America at the time. Dr. Estep passed away in 2000. Today is the funeral service honoring the life of Dr. Leon McBeth who passed away this past Monday, April 29, 2013.

   Although Dr. McBeth and I had different presuppositions, I had a profound appreciation for his learning and ability. These are some things I learned from him.

   My first memory was in his Introduction to Church History class. He had the ability to make the subject matter come alive. As he walked us through the Patristic period, I recall his assignment to go to the library and read so many pages from the Early Church Fathers which I did. His assignment's intention was to expose us to the primary sources. From this beginning I gained an incredible appreciation for the history of the church. Listening to him lecture was like getting a guided tour through the annals of Christian history. I never got over this guided tour.

  During my PhD work, I took Dr. McBeth (he preferred to be called Professor McBeth) for three year-long seminars: American Christianity, Baptist History, and Research and Teaching.

   One thing I noticed about Dr. McBeth was that he read with incredible speed and almost perfect comprehension. The summer before we started the American Christianity seminar, he had us read ahead of time, Sydney Ahlstrom's A Religious History of the American People as preparation for his seminar. He taught us to read much. 

   When it came to researching, he required us to be meticulous in our documentation. He taught us as we prepared our notes to write on only one side of a sheet of paper. To violate this was to misplace valuable information. He was tremendously well organized. When he prepared a manuscript, he literally had shoeboxes of notecards in order of source citations from start to finish. He demanded that we do our research well before we ever began to write. I have tried to live by that.

   I recall a discussion we had one day when he pointed out that in our research papers each student had selected a subject that carried self-interest. In fact, he taught us to write about subjects that we cared about. Do not waste your time writing on matters that you do not care about seemed to be his motto. That was good advice. Write in your area of passion. His, particularly, was Baptist history and he conveyed that love to us who studied under him.

  I do remember that he cared about his students as individuals. His attitude was not that he taught history, but that he taught his students about church history. His passion was that we would cherish the heritage that we had been given and bequeath it to others.

  When a student said or wrote something which he knew to be inaccurate, instead of belittling the student, he would ask questions that would lead the student to clarify his thinking. I always appreciated his tact and this approach to teaching.  I have tried to model that as best I can in the classroom.

  The last time I talked with Dr. McBeth was a chance encounter at the campus bookstore at Southwestern years ago. As a Baptist academician he was conflicted over the conservative resurgence. He knew that it was necessary especially at addressing the unchecked extremes. But it left a bitter taste in his mouth. As a Baptist historian he was witnessing the passing of an old order and it was an incredibly difficult adjustment. One of life's most difficult lessons is coming to grips with the reality that life goes on, and sometimes it is without us.

  Romans 13:7 instructs believers to "give honor to whom honor is due." Professor McBeth was a man to whom honor is due. He was a great professor, a great researcher, a great writer, and a great role model for aspiring academicians. May he rest in peace!