Ray Rust was Executive Director of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. The service begins with organ music (00:00-04:44). Dean Morris Ashcraft delivers a reading from Scripture, and he gives a word of prayer (04:45-06:53). Ashcraft shares an announcement about the change of speaker due to Malcolm Tolbert having a cold, and Ray Rust is introduced as the chapel speaker (06:54-08:41). The choir sings the anthem (08:42-13:11). Rust preaches on the story in the gospels of Jesus calming the storm, and he connects the disciples’ question to Jesus about him caring for them to the question that ministers will ask when storms come in their service to the Kingdom (13:12-29:17). Rust ends the service with a word of prayer (29:18-30:27).
Gwynne Heaton Davies was Principal Emeritus of Regents Park College. The service begins with Davies being introduced as the chapel speaker (00:00-00:47). Davies gives a word of prayer (00:47-02:34). He speaks about being wise for salvation, and he gives a word of prayer (02:35-08:29). The choir sings a song of worship (08:30-11:50). Davies reads from 1 Corinthians 2, Ephesians 4, and Deuteronomy 6, and he speaks about the unity in the Christian faith and how Scripture interprets Scripture (11:51-27:59). The service ends with the hymn “Crown Him with Many Crowns,” and Davies gives a word of prayer (28:00-29:16).
Delos Miles was Associate Professor of Evangelism. The service begins with a word of prayer (00:00-00:40). Delos Miles is introduced as the chapel speaker (00:41-02:40). The choir sings a song of worship (02:41-06:40). Miles reads from Psalm 138:2 and 2 Timothy 4:1-5, and his sermon is about wholesome evangelism that is Christ-centered and results in change in individuals and society (06:41-24:49). Miles ends the service with a word of prayer (24:50-25:08).
Linda Morgan was a Master of Divinity student who went on to become a United Methodist minister. She briefly speaks on the idea of commencement and how it is connected to change (00:00-06:43). She closes the service with a benediction (06:44-07:25).
• Rosemary Ruether was a professor at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. She was also a leading ecofeminist scholar and Roman Catholic theologian. The service begins with the introduction of Rosemary Ruether (00:00-01:28). The title of Ruether’s lecture is “Dualism and the Problem of Evil.” The first question Ruether asks is about the origins of dualism, and she answers by approaching the social hierarchy of gender and race in society looking back to the writings of Greek philosophers, Augustine, and medieval theologians who expressed the thought of men containing the full image of God over women (01:29-13:41). The second question Ruether asks is how this dualism emerged, and she gives an answer of three human tendencies: the missing link mentality, the “us versus them” mentality, and the distinction of good versus evil mentality (13:42-21:22). Ruether lists inherited patterns from this dualism which are sexism, class hierarchy, racism, and antisemitism (21:23-24:55). She distinguishes three different languages from the higher social group to reduce the others, and these are deprival language, idealized language, and genocidal language (24:56-33:08). Ruether moves to the critique of these dominant views that comes out of dualistic thinking, and she first tackles the social problem of looking through the lens of how positions of power have created opportunities for evil (33:09-38:59). Going beyond social ideology, Ruether examines the distortion of reality because of the underlying dualism, and she challenges the Greek perception of the mind and body and purpose for life with the Hebraic biblical understanding of mind-body unity and purpose of renewal of all things (39:00-45:55). Ruether concludes her lecture with the question about good-evil dualism, and she identifies evil with the capacity for humanity to distort freedom (45:56-48:43).
Clyde E. Fant, Jr. was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Richardson, TX. The service begins with organ music (00:00-04:41). The speaker gives a word of prayer (04:42-05:25). Clyde E. Fant, Jr. is introduced as the Adams Lecturer (05:26-08:18). The choir sings a song of worship (08:19-10:11). Fant’s lecture is entitled “The American Pulpit, Another Victim of Recent Bad History,” and he begins with Richard Baxter and John Bunyan of the Puritan tradition whose preaching were characterized as lively and personable yet legalistic and rigid (10:12-18:40). Fant moves to the Great Awakeners, George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, and Timothy Dwight, and he says that their preaching was defined by great flair, utilitarianism, and sometimes exploitation (18:41-33:08). Fant then examines many 19th century preachers who transformed the sermon into printed form for popular consumption, but they fell to the elegance of print (33:09-40:42). Fant concludes with the recent bad history of American preaching, and he says that preaching in modern America suffers from legalistic moralizing, which he calls the Massachusetts Bay Error (40:43-51:17). The service ends with a word of prayer (51:18-51:53).