Christianity Today has a rich heritage of leadership, starting with our founder, Billy Graham, and his early colleagues.
As of this issue, Billy appears on our mastheads as both founder and honorary chairman. He served as our chairman for many years and throughout the life of Christianity Today International has been its guiding light and vital resource. For more than five decades, he has recruited board members, encouraged and admonished us, and modeled a positive gospel. As health allows, he will continue to share his wisdom and vision.
You’ll also see two corporate editors listed above the logotype. Harold Smith, as executive vice president of editorial for all of CTI’s magazines, joins me in this position. Harold has edited many of our magazines over the years, including a fruitful stint as managing editor of CT. An editor’s editor, Harold also brings great leadership skills to the task.
With Harold and me are also three theologians who serve as executive editors. Each is an outstanding scholar and has made large contributions in his field.
Jim Packer has for two decades counseled our editors and written strategic articles, both as senior editor and visiting scholar. One thing about Jim that always amazes me is how a theologian with such breadth and depth can be so astute about magazines. He senses what works for the reader, and his passion for CT to be a positive, unitive force for the whole of the broad evangelical community makes his flow of insights and writings continuing benchmarks for the editors.
Timothy George has that same spirit, with the skill to package theology and historical analysis into crisp, lively prose. At Amsterdam 2000, he was principal drafter of its statement. Timothy visits our offices and labors with us by phone and e-mail to nuance stories and complicated topics.
Tom Oden, too, has served as a CT senior editor and writer and has been a much-valued resource. His scholarship on the church Fathers has enriched the church, and stories like his firsthand report from Cuba show the church’s present vitality.
So here we have an Anglican (Jim), a Southern Baptist (Timothy), and a Methodist (Tom) helping us shape CT into a lively, unitive Christian voice for the believing church.
David Neff, who has been promoted to editor of Christianity Today , is the man responsible for bringing all the elements together into a cohesive whole. David is a remarkable and unique combination of scholar and journalist. He cuts through complexities and blends his theological knowledge with lively communications skills. His quick eye sizes up manuscripts, his quick mind enriches many a theological discourse, and his pastor’s heart ministers to those in crisis or need. He is a joy to work with and embodies CTI’s irenic spirit.
David leads a strong editorial team and draws from the many resources listed on the masthead. George Brushaber, who in the past has served as an executive editor and chairman of the senior editors, continues to give us his good counsel as senior adviser.
For more than 25 years, the best part of my job has been working beside CTI’s extraordinary people like these. Together we experience rich dialogue, hearty laughter, lively correspondence, agonizing decision-making, and fervent prayers for each other and the church. Deeply aware of our rich editorial heritage, we humbly solicit your prayers that we might edit and serve effectively.
Related Elsewhere
Read more on Billy Graham at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Web site.
Christianity Today sister publication Christian History has a biographical sketch of Graham as part of its ” 10 Most Influential Christians of the 20th Century ” issue.
J.I. Packer is a professor of theology at Regent College in Canada.
Read a Packer biography or bibliography at InterVarsity Press’s author index.
Read an excerpt from Alistair McGrath’s J. I. Packer, A Biography , that originally appeared in our sister publication Books and Culture [print only].
Read Christianity Today ‘s ” Knowing Packer: The lonely journey of a passionate Puritan ” by Wendy Murray Zoba or ” The Last Puritan ” by Mark Noll.
Christianity Today articles by Packer include:
Is Satan Omnipresent? | If not, how does he tempt many people at one time?Still Surprised by Lewis | Why this nonevangelical Oxford don has become our patron saint. (Sept. 7, 1998)Thank God for Our Bibles | While Scripture comes in many flavors today, we can still trust these translations to give us God’s Word. (Oct. 27, 1997)Our Lifeline | The Bible is the rope God throws us in order to ensure that we stay connected while the rescue is in progress. (Oct. 28, 1996)
Timothy George is the founding dean of Beeson Divinity School .
Christianity Today articles about and by Timothy George include:
Big Picture Faith | From the first nanosecond to the final cry of victory, and every divine moment between— all is charged with meaning. (Oct. 19, 2000)The Gospel Statement Revisited | an interview with Timothy George. (Feb. 11, 2000)Why We Still Need Moody | The man who invented modern evangelicalism. (Dec. 22, 1999)A Theology to Die For | Theologians are not freelance scholars of religion, but trustees of the deposit of faith. (Feb. 9, 1998)The Future of Evangelical Theology | Roger Olson argues that a division between traditionalists and reformists threatens to end our theological consensus. (Feb. 9, 1998)Why We Still Need Luther | Four hundred fifty years after his death, Martin Luther can still inspire and guide us. (Oct. 28, 1996)
Tom Oden is a professor of theology at Drew University .
Christian History interviewed Oden about ” The Search for the Biblical Jesus .”
Christianity Today articles by Oden include:
Mainstreaming the Mainline | Methodist evangelicals pull a once ‘incurably liberal’ denomination back toward the orthodox center. (Aug. 18, 2000)The Future of Evangelical Theology | Roger Olson argues that a division between traditionalists and reformists threatens to end our theological consensus. (Feb. 9, 1998)The Real Reformers are Traditionalists | If there is no immune system to resist heresy, there will soon be nothing but the teeming infestation of heresy. (Feb. 9, 1998)
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