A grateful reader reflects as Crux, a journal published by Regent College since 1979, winds down
We used to call them “Dear John” letters back in the day – a note announcing the relationship is over. In January I received one from an editor. My 30-year subscription to the Canadian journal Crux would be coming to an end.
The mission of Crux (usually spelled with all capitals) has been to “expound the basic tenets of the Christian faith and to demonstrate that Christian truth is relevant to the whole of life … a broad spectrum of academic, social and professional areas of interest” and to integrate and apply those insights “to corporate and personal Christian life and witness.”
Crux not only expounded, it also expanded my vision of whole-life faith. I have come to see that the ways and means of the Spirit of God are more vast than I had imagined. The topics were enriching. The authors were engaging and sometimes provocative. The commitment to the arts, literature, and cinema was illuminating and though-provoking.
As Maxine Hancock noted, the “arts and theology have a natural affinity which needs to be fostered, recognized and encouraged – not a relationship which needs to be forged or defended.” (“What has ‘Paris’ to do with ‘Jerusalem’? or what Have the Arts to do with Theology?” Winter 2006.)
Crux has done more than provide insightful reads. Its articles were transformative. Articles in the early 2000s by Loren Wilkinson on ecology and the environment were eye-openers for me. A triple issue series on sex and gender, male and female in 1999 and 2000 was a tipping point for me on women in ministry, particularly the article by Barbara Horcoff Mutch, “Women and the Church: A North American Perspective” (September 1999).
Some of my favourite articles:
Recent articles have addressed such topics as democracy, racism, C.S. Lewis, prayer, sanctification, human identity, pastor Paul, sport, grief, faith development in children, and John Calvin.
I have subscribed for almost half its 63 years of publication. It was the Regent College faculty who first drew me to the journal. I wanted a Canadian context for my theological inputs. Familiarity with Regent came via Ian Rennie (historian, theologian) during my seminary days at Ontario Theological Seminary (now Tyndale Seminary).
For me Crux has been a conduit to a “who’s who” of biblical scholarship: Waltke, Fee, Packer, Humphrey, Hurtado, Grenz, Helm, Crisp, Sider, among others.
The publication was launched in 1962 by a group of Christian faculty members associated with Scarborough College (University of Toronto). Regent took over publication in 1979 (according to the website). Along the way Crux has won numerous awards for its articles, reviews, poetry and covers.
My Dear John letter informed me there will be a spring issue and a grand-finale double issue before the journal ceases publication this summer.
“Regent graduates are known for thinking outside the box, not for being afraid to ask challenging questions, and especially for caring about people, community, and creation. We do this not because it is fashionable or clever. We do it because we care about the Word of God.” Rikk Watts wrote this in the fall 2009 issue (“Shining Like Stars: Holding Out the Word of Life”).
As with its graduates, so with its publications. Thank you, Regent College!
Larry Hurst of Regina served in pastoral ministry 40 years and remains active in transition ministry.