“The Professor’s Vocations: Reflections on the Teacher as Writer”

The following essay is based on an oral presentation, "On Being a Good Teacher and a Good Writer," which the author was asked to make for the Southwest Commission on Religious Studies, March 16, 2003. The purpose of the presentation was to encourage conversation among theological educators on the character of their vocation. A panel discussion of the theme followed the presentation. The presentation was designed to engage this subject at an autobiographical and reflective level rather than as an academic argument. The published version of the essay seeks to retain something of the personal reflective character of the original presentation.