Goals can be daunting. One moment they spur you on, a year later they feel like a weight. Forty-six years later? Is it even possible to achieve a goal created so long ago?
CRUX, Regent College’s 46-year-old quarterly journal of “Christian Thought and Opinion,” came to its end recently and although sad, I was struck by how brilliantly it honoured its original goals.
CRUX began as a publication of the Graduate and Student Faculty at Scarborough College, University of Toronto. Five years later the journal was offered to the Regent faculty to be a voice that might echo the College’s ethos and mandate.
In its inaugural issue in the spring of 1979, Regent Principal and CRUX’s first Editor, James M. Houston, stated the goals of the journal in the first of his occasional “Editor’s Notes.” The faculty intended CRUX’s content to focus on:
1) the centrality of biblical authority for the whole of life of man before God and the world
2) a renewal of devotion in the disciplined spirit of godly piety
3) the assurance of faith and hope to enable us to think reflectively and to live responsibly as we wrestle between the conflicts of our culture and the claims of Christ
4) the major challenge to communication of the truth, presented by the major concepts of knowledge and the major concepts of the mind.
Ambitious. Achievable?
In the very first issue Rev. John Stott wrote on “The Authority and Relevance of the Bible in the Modern World.” Theologian (and Regent faculty member) Klaus Bockmuehl assessed “The Validity and Relevance of the Ten Commandments.” Several issues later Interdisciplinary Professor Loren Wilkinson dove into the thorny questions of “Art as Creation? Art as Work?” Professor Craig Gay offered a theological meditation about “The Real Life,” unpacking early apprehension for the secularizing impact of technology.
Urging readers to reflect on the conflicts between our culture and the claims of Christ, there was a 1982 review of the film “Tootsie.” A well-known business executive wrote an insightful (and soon, often-quoted) reflection on wealth. A leader in Canada’s political system reflected (all too presciently) on conflict and division in political parties. Another early favourite was the article “Loss Leader,” a biblical understanding of loss as the foundation of biblical leadership.
In 1979, CRUX published its first interview, a fascinating conversation with Margaret Clarkson, one of Canada’s foremost hymn writers and Christian authors, delving into not just the future of Christian song-writing but birdwatching, singleness, and homosexuality. Subsequent CRUX interviews with James Houston, Parker Palmer, and Wendell Berry were equally penetrating. In the fall of 1993, CRUX featured the transcript of the landmark discussion on Christian sexual ethics between Anglican priest Rev. John Stott and Episcopal Bishop John Spong.
In the 80s, the faculty increasingly shared editorial responsibility. Regent’s theologians Klaus Bockmuehl and J.I. Packer took over as Editor and Literary Editor. Jim Packer continued in this role for 35 years—writing articles, editing, and perhaps most importantly, strategically pulling in new authors with persuasion and winsomeness. He was hard to turn down.
As it continued in its goal to communicate truth, CRUX widened its voices, publishing occasional short stories, and more regularly, poetry. Renowned poet Luci Shaw became the Poetry Editor in 1993 and under her leadership many of her poems first appeared and countless new poets were given their onramp to publication. Luci has carried in this role for 32 years—a labor of skill and love at its best.
Regent’s beloved historian, Don Lewis, followed Jim Packer as Editor; Interdisciplinary Professor Craig Gay picked up the mantle in the early 2000s, giving the journal a remarkable infusion of faculty involvement, creativity, and energy.
Within 10 years of its beginnings, CRUX was on the shelves of theological college libraries in Singapore, Nairobi, Sydney, and Boston; its subscribers were as far as Sao Paulo and Geneva, and as close as Burnaby. It was increasingly referenced in books and MA and doctoral theses in educational institutions far and wide.
Biblical scholarship continued to be voiced in new and yet grounding ways. Eugene Peterson expounded on “Saint Mark: The Basic Text for Christian Spirituality.” Bruce Waltke wrote numerous articles, including the highly helpful, “How We Got the Old Testament.” Rikk Watts explained “Why the Narrative Shape of the Gospel Matters.” Mariam Kovalishyn unpacked “The Bible in the Contemporary World: Hermeneutical Ventures.” In CRUX’s final issue, George Guthrie gives readers a primer on the book of Hebrews.
In the 90s, CRUX’s book reviews were increasingly noticed and reprinted. Covering titles such as The Recovery of Love: Christian Mysticism and the Addictive Society, Business as Calling: Work and the Examined Age, The Glass Cage: Automation and Us, and A Brief History of Old Testament Criticism from Benedict Spinoza to Brevard Childs, reviews were written not just by the Regent faculty focusing on issues in their own disciplines, but by scholars from Oxford, Queens, and Princeton—and resulted in countless sales for the Regent Bookstore, and yes, later for Amazon.
As publishing organizations began to award prizes, CRUX, definitely a David amidst Goliaths, held its own. In the Evangelical Press Awards, the largest and most competitive awards for general interest Christian publications, and Canada’s Word Awards, CRUX competed successfully against Christianity Today, Books and Culture, the Christian Scholars Review, Faith Today, and Sojourners. Even in its final years, articles on prayer, civil disagreement, and why libraries matter, as well as numerous poems by Luci Shaw, Sarah Chestnut, and Naomi Pattison-Williams, garnered prizes.
But as in the academy, and the Kingdom, the true heroes of CRUX were probably the two behind the scenes. For nearly 30 years, Regent Communications Director Dal Schindell was the Managing Editor and Art Director. He chose what so many will miss most about CRUX—its stunning, provocative covers. Filled with depth, nuance, and often humour, the artistic covers lived as articles in themselves: a detail from a Michelangelo painting made large, a stunning Russian icon of the Trinity painted in the 1300s, a mouse’s spoof on technology. One favourite was a cover with Renoir’s 1881 painting, “The Luncheon of the Boating Party,” harbingering the issue’s lead article by Irish poet Michael O’Siadhail, “Wise in Words: Art and Spirituality.”
Bethany Murphy slowly took over Dal’s mantle, first in her role as Copy Editor, and then as Senior Editor, handling the details of layouts and wayward punctuation while adeptly conversing with esteemed scholars on topics such as the hypostatic union, the poetry of George Herbert, and liberal democracy. Many commented “She’s the best editor I’ve ever worked with!” Bethany’s cover selections of artistic photography and ancient and modern art emanated beauty and genius.
Who sticks to their goals this well over 184 issues and 46 years?
If only a journal could take a deep humble bow.
