Western Civilization, its “rise” at OBU, & the pivotal moment in my faith journey 
by Bill Jones

(NOTE: I posted the following to Facebook on Tuesday, February 14. I’m re-posting it here to my blog for the benefit of those of you who aren’t on Facebook or didn’t see it there.)

This morning, I came across, in my files, an OBU (𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘯𝘪) Magazine whose cover read “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗸𝗹𝗮𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗮 . . . 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗢𝗻𝗲 . . . 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝗻𝗲 . . . 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟵𝟭𝟱.” Intrigued, I opened it to discover that it was the cover only, no articles, etc. Inside was the OBU Magazine issue of Fall 2015, obviously commemorating the centennial of that first issue & iteration.

Anyway, I glanced at the Contents to see whether there were any articles regarding OBU 100 years ago, and discovered something even better: an article entitled 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙒𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣 𝘾𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙩 𝙊𝘽𝙐. It tells the story of the development of the Western Civ course at OBU (𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧-𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥 – 𝘣𝘰𝘺, 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘭𝘥). Well, I was part of the first sophomore class at OBU – in 1970-71 – to take that course.

It was that course – taught by Dr. Bill Mitchell (𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦) and Dr. Jim Marcum (𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺) – that changed my life as dramatically as anything ever has (𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘒𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦).

It was one morning in November 1970 that Dr. Mitchell – in teaching Dante’s 𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰 (𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘺) – uttered the four words that would knock the props out from under my 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 (𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴) “faith.” He said, simply, “𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗡𝗢 𝗔𝗕𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗦.”

Regardless of the context in which Dr. Mitchell spoke those words, my mind’s reaction was “𝘏𝘶𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦.” Yes, before then, I considered everything in the Bible to be literal, absolute fact. I had never understood the real meaning of “faith.”

I walked into that class that morning believing I had all the answers. Two hours later, I walked out of that class having nothing but questions – and no longer believing in God and certainly not believing in Jesus as God’s son.

Thus began a long search for a more authentic faith, and I believe – with every fiber of my being – that God was in that moment that morning in Western Civ class, pushing me out of my comfort zone and into a new, scary, challenging, journey toward a real, authentic faith in God.

I ultimately came back to faith in Christ, but it took years of searching, struggling, and studying, and this time it was faith, not fact. I prayed one prayer during that time – “𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦.” My testimony is that God STILL hasn’t given up on me! God has put many special people and influences in my path along the way.

My parents were loving and patient with me. My dad, a minister on the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board staff, told me he understood what I was going through because he had experienced something similar when he was young.

Friends in Brotherhood Dorm – particularly Ron Russey, Cary Wood, Warren Palmer, and others – helped me learn to start thinking for myself.

When I went to Jerry Barnes, pastor of University Baptist Church across the street from the campus, at Ron Russey’s suggestion, I told him I no longer believed in God. Jerry replied, “𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩.”

Jerry’s preaching was unlike any I had ever heard before. He encouraged questioning (𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘉𝘜 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺) and searching, and challenged me to dig into scripture for a deeper meaning. Once a semester, I would meet with Jerry in his office to bring him up-to-date on the progress of my “search,” and Jerry would help me with the next steps of the journey. He was a dear friend until the day he passed away . . . I attended his funeral in Miami, OK, in January 2017.

𝘉𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘖𝘉𝘜 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 – 𝘮𝘺 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘉𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘳. 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘏𝘶𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘵 𝘖𝘉𝘜. 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 – 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘶𝘵-𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳, 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭: 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘝𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘋𝘌𝘈𝘛𝘏 𝘖𝘍 𝘎𝘖𝘋. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘚𝘉𝘊 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴!!!

The faith I have today stems from that day in Western Civ in 1970 and the search/struggle/journey that followed.

When I was back for Homecoming in the 1990s, I told Dr. Mitchell of his impact on my life that he had with those four little words.

When Joanna and I met at OBU in 1972, and started dating in 1973, she was not a Christian. She professed her faith in Christ and was baptized in August 1981 at University Hills Baptist Church in Denver, almost 5 years after we married. It is remarkable to look back over the years and realize how God led the two of us to walk together in faith, to mutually shape each other’s understanding of God, Jesus, matters of faith. Her influence on me is beyond measure.

So the journey continues today. I am still learning and, I hope, growing in my faith. I hope I’ve helped others do the same along the way.

Again, it all goes back to that day in Western Civ, in Shawnee Hall at OBU. The attached article brings back some wonderful memories (𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘳. 𝘔𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴), and it describes, through an interview with Dr. Mitchell, just how Western Civilization “rose” at OBU.