Xlibris Corporation - A Print-On-Demand, Self-Publishing Company    
Change Font Size
 
Home > Online Bookstore
View Cart (No Item)

Xlibris

 Author Information







Caurie Beaver
Contact Author
Author Biography
In his autobiography, Out of My Life and Thought, Albert Schweitzer divided the story of his life into two aspects: the external events and the internal thoughts. That he separated these two realms testifies to a certain dissonance which he confessed to. Because he was so privileged to be able to pursue his studies in theology and music, he felt he owed something to society. When he went to Africa as a medical missionary, he repaid this debt of conscience and brought his life into harmony. In the renaissance the pursuit of such multiple interests as philosophy, theology, music and medicine was not unusual. It is only the explosion of knowledge in all of these fields in the modern age that makes Schweitzer’s achievement so unique. However, it is not without parallel. After all it was while working as a patent clerk that Albert Einstein reordered our conception of the universe.

As I proceed, my reason for calling attention to this model for writing one’s autobiography will become obvious. Upon sending a copy of my manuscript to a revered professor of mine, Gerlof Homan, I had occasion to re-introduce myself to him after many years. In doing so I unconsciously divided my account into the outer course of my life and the internal course of events. At that time I did not have the above two examples in mind. Since this intuition occurred to me quite naturally, I have decided to follow the pattern in this present brief biographical account.

As to the outer course of my life, following graduation in 1961 from Central State University in Edmund, Oklahoma, I was in the Army two years. After my military service, which was during the Cuban Crisis, I worked two years as a Social Worker in Salt Lake City, Utah, where my brother lives. At the urging of Lewis Max Rogers, a philosophy professor at the University of Utah, I attended the School of Theology at Claremont for about a year altogether. The main influence on me there was that of Dr. James M. Robinson, editor of the Nag Hammadi Codices. He was also instrumental in getting the last of the Dead Sea Scrolls published. For the next 35 years plus I worked for Los Angeles County as a Social Worker. In 1983 I was married to Sandra Carrillo, who has been a very patient support in my work and studies. In 1986 we had a beautiful daughter, Kristen.

As for the inner course of events, my motivation for studying the Bible stems from my experience as a boy preacher in a Pentecostal church in the Ozarks, attendance at a Bible school in Oklahoma City for two years, and one year at Bethany Nazarene College in Bethany, Oklahoma. A number of churches supported me in school until I announced that I no longer planned to enter the ministry. By the time I was 18 I had read the Bible through in the King James Version – begets and all – about 4 or 5 times and memorized the first 8 chapters of the book of Hebrews.

At Central State University, where I completed work for a B.A. degree in history, I wrote an almost 200 page paper on Albert Schweitzer’s view of Jesus. It was there that Dr. Gerlof Homan permitted me to report on nineteenth century studies of biblical history in his European history class. By the time I went to the School of Theology at Claremont the manuscript had grown to about 500 pages. While I was in the army, I sent the shorter version to Krister Stendahl at Harvard University. He was impressed with my understanding of Schweitzer but disagreed with my conclusions. Later I came to abandon the views I then held as well. However, I did not automatically adopt the views current at the time. Any uniqueness I might claim for my contribution stems from my study of the works of Albert Schweitzer, and James M. Robinson, a Bultmannian.

The transition came when I wrote a 60 page class paper on the impact of Albert Schweitzer’s Quest of the Historical Jesus in Germany, France, England, and America in 1974. At about that time I read William Wrede’s book on Mark entitled The Messianic Secret, and began my study of that gospel. Over the next 26 years I collected and studied about 100 books on the gospel of Mark and related topics, completing the present manuscript on that gospel in about the year 2000. In the early 1980s I took one year to read the history of philosophy. While writing the paper on Mark, I also read some in the fields of literary criticism and Hellenistic history. Although I have read several histories of the Old Testament, my researches are largely confined to the New Testament as I read some Greek but no Hebrew.

Since I took a course on the Gospel of Thomas from Professor James M. Robinson at Claremont, and also audited his class on Mark, I asked him to read my manuscript. He generously agreed to do so and his comments on it were very favorable, or at least I interpreted them as such. In fact they exceeded my wildest expectations. He congratulated me on seeing things others had overlooked, adding that one of his own works supported my thesis “importantly.” Of course, he influenced me in the first place, and I am happy to credit those important elements to him.

Finally, the book on Mark is the second volume of a projected two part work entitled The Jesus of Fact and Fiction. The first volume, the rough draft of which was completed in about 1980, is a study of Albert Schweitzer’s views of Jesus. Such a study is justified only because some of his ideas are still unconsciously influencing New Testament scholars. In particular it deals with the issue of Matthew 10:23, which has never been satisfactorily resolved. In this regard my experience parallels that of Norman Perrin, who thought he had freed himself from Schweitzer’s view of this verse, but in reality retained Schweitzer’s logic and conclusion as to the primitive nature of this saying. In my view it was Matthew and not Jesus or an early Christian prophet who invented this saying. The completion of this work awaits the reception of the volume on Mark.

Books:
Mark (A Twice Told Tale)
Get Started Free Publishing Guide
Xlibris Book Publishing Promotions

Xlibris Book Search
Browse Bookstore
 

Take a Look inside

an Xlibris book

Go
 
BBB Online Reliability Seal