Rumors and Influences

Welcome back.  Greetings, fellow God people.  Let me tell you a little more about Dr. Weisbaker.

          I had heard about Dr. Weisbaker before I took my first philosophy class.  Rumors about Dr. Weisbaker abounded on campus, especially in the Baptist Student Union.  He wielded a Bible in a class, proclaimed, “This is your God,” and tossed it into the trash can.  I also heard he rose up out of the floor, appearing from flames of fire, and cursed the Holy Ghost.

Ahem.  We humans love to embellish our stories about life.  Is it because moribund life is ever too dull or is it for effect?  It should be apparent by anyone who’s lived in the past few decades that just about any retelling of an event is often told in a way to create passion and astonishment.  That’s entertainment!

Only historians, scientists, and Sergeant Joe Friday care about the facts. 

I was Campus Crusade for Christ’s leading sack-meister, and I was itching to meet Mr. Wiseguy’s best offensive line so I could toss him for a loss.  He was happy to have me try.  I throw every Josh McDowell, Walter Martin, C.S. Lewis et al move I had at him, and he gladly fielded and fended off each objection.  It did not take me very long to realize that I was pretty doggone ignorant so I started listening and reading.

Dr. Weisbaker came from the Ivy League to teach philosophy and religion at the only public university in Chattanooga.  There were five Bible colleges and only one university in Chattanooga. Think about the sociology of that town.  

Many local students who attended his classes were fundamentalists.  During his long career in Chattanooga, Dr. Weisbaker could count on fresh fundamentalist students whenever his Introduction to Philosophy class convened.  

I believe Dr. Weisbaker relished those students who challenged him.  They were the ones who cared.  Most students just sat in his class unmoved by the nature of reality.  They were business majors who were forced to take a philosophy class. 

My best friend and church buddy took all of Dr. Weisbaker's classes with me.  Even today when we see each other on occasion--we live in separate cities--we reenact those skull sessions with Dr. Weisbaker by visiting and talking for hours about the meaning of life.  We share ideas, books, and wisdom, just like those good old days.

My friend has said to me many times he would like to contact Dr. Weisbaker and let him know that he had been such a significant influence on his life.

Ditto for me, too.  I suppose we all have known teachers and professors whose influence moved us into different directions.  

Ironically, I remember so many semesters when my friend and I wondered whether or not Dr. Weisbaker was an atheist.  He refused to tell us outright when we asked him.

He would say, "Why do you want to know?"  That was his second favorite question to ask.  His first favorite was, "How do you know?"

Once, before writing an essay inside one of those blue composition books that our university used for examinations, I asked facetiously, "Can I write this in Latin?" since I was studying Latin at the time. 

Dr. Weisbaker smirked slightly and replied, "You can write in any one of seven languages.  I will be able to read it."  

For a Southern boy, living in a community of factory workers and preachers, that was most impressive.

Although, my friend and I did not know whether Dr. Weisbaker was an atheist or not, he sure talked a lot about God, and he got us to thinking about God more than we already did and in different ways. 

          Thanks for visiting.  Tomorrow, I will write about God. 

          I hope to see you there.  Blessings…