b / PAUL A. KEIM & Bob Yoder
b / PAUL A. KEIM (in Goshen Church-Chapel with Bob Yoder, who is described on page 22) / GOSHEN, BA ’78 / AMBS, MDiv ’85 / HARVARD, PhD ’92 / GOSHEN, professor of Bible & religion /
Keim’s doctorate is in Near Eastern languages and civilizations. “It helps if the languages are dead and no native speakers are around to correct you,” Keim jokes, in reference to his mastery of ancient languages like Akkadian, Ugaritic and Moabite. He also knows Arabic, Latin, Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, German, and Polish. Keim has been academic dean at Hesston and at Goshen and now teaches 8 | crossroads | spring 2009
at both Goshen and AMBS. He has also taught at Harvard, Indiana University, and the College of Charleston, S.C. He loved Charleston’s racial diversity, but missed the ethos of the Mennonite colleges. “Attending public schools while growing up, I always felt on the margins. I was one of the athletes, which brought a lot of affirmation, but being Mennonite and pacifist made me different. To go out and be salt and light in the world, you do need to have a foundation. You need tools for dealing with moral issues that are compatible with our tradition. That’s what the Mennonite colleges can
and do provide young people.” In addition to serving two years with Mennonite Central Committee in Poland, Keim has studied in Jordan, Switzerland and England. c / TED KOONTZ (facing page, top left) / BETHEL, BA ’69 / HARVARD, MDiv ’72, MA ’80, PhD ’85 / AMBS, professor of ethics & peace studies / “Some of the brightest students I met at Harvard Divinity School would not be good pastors, and some of the most gifted people I’ve met at AMBS – possessing relational, emotional and leadership strengths – would not be a good fit for Harvard, due to its heavy emphasis on book-