OBU Magazine — Winter/Spring 2010

promoted to associate professor in 1982. In 1988, he was named to the Auguie Henry Chair of Bible.

He served as chairman of the Department of Religion from 1980-85, and has served three times as interim dean of the School of Christian Service.

McWilliams has worked hard to balance teaching preparations, ministry opportunities and family obligations. Patty worked at the OBU bookstore, eventually serving many years as the bookstore manager. Their daughters both graduated from OBU, Amy in 1993 and Karen in 1998. Amy works as an assistant editor for a science journal, and Karen is an assistant curator at an art museum.

“Now that Patty and I are at the empty nest stage, my concern is more about staying up to date in my teaching fields while trying to write occasionally,” McWilliams said. “Teaching theology and ethics, two of my main interests, requires me to teach in an interdisciplinary way. I try to read widely, but there’s always more to learn.”

An avid writer, McWilliams has published eight books, many on the topics of pain and suffering, and contributed to at least five other books. He has written more than 80 articles and nearly 70 book reviews. He has written extensively for LifeWay Christian Resources, submitting more than 600 Sunday School lessons since 1988.

Also an avid reader, he brings his ever-growing self-education into the classroom. While he doesn’t use M*A*S*H illustrations as much these days in his teaching (since many students are less familiar with it), he does mention it occasionally.

Originally attracted to the television series by the combination of comedy and drama, McWilliams discovered he could laugh at the humor but be challenged to think about serious issues as well.

“Many of the ethical issues I still treat in my biblical ethics course appear in the series,” he said. “Early in my career I explored the relation of theology to popular culture, and M*A*S*H was a prime example of that interest of mine. Across the years I’ve investigated theological and ethical themes in movies, novels and comic strips.”

McWilliams said his own liberal arts education taught him to be a better reader, writer and communicator. Today, he communicates key truths of the Bible in the classroom, in churches and in some of his writings. He’s maximizing his own OBU education, one class at a time, one article at a time and one season at a time. w WINTER/SPRING 2010 | 23