David Wallace studied New Testament Current position: Retired Why did you choose to study at New College? Having given three years of my life to service in the United States Navy in WWII, I finished college, graduated from seminary with two degrees in New Testament and applied to New College to further my interest in New Testament. Once admitted, I began my studies under the direction of Prof. Matthew Black, reading theology also under Profs. Tom Torrance, John Baillie, James Stewart and others. My dissertation topic was an examination of an intertestamental Jewish document. Across this time I also studied at the University of Basel by permission of the Academic Senate. I graduated in July 1955. What has been your career path? After leaving New College, I moved to Jerusalem to give more attention to Semitic languages, but increasing tension in that area induced me to return to the States with my family. I taught for one year at the seminary where I had studied, and then secured a permanent chair at an American Baptist seminary in Southern California, concentrating my teaching in my chosen field. Those were happy years in the classroom, in my study, in writing and in interaction with students, most of whom went into pastoral ministries, and some into further graduate studies. I had earlier been admitted to the New Testament Society which Matthew Black had organized. Owing to a complex of factors, I then taught in a local community college, a vastly different experience from seminary-level teaching. What are your best memories of your time at New College? In retrospect, I feel very fortunate to have studied, both in New College and at Basel, under several leading theologians where were devoted to the rehabilitation of theological work after the massive devastation wrought in Europe in the war. Those were exciting times by very stimulating professors who expanded and deepened by interest in Biblical studies, a concern which endures in me to the present. This article was published on 2024-03-19
