Thomas Fudges' Letter to Non-UPCI Brethern on the 2004 UPCI Symposium on his book.
This is part 2 ot what Thomas Fudge sent me on 12/12/2007. It is an actual letter he sent to his non-upci Brethern.
It has not been edited in anyway.
Here is the letter:
1 April 2004
To: L.H. Hardwick, Robert Sabin, Bernie Gillespie, Dan Lewis, Vern Yadon, Loren Yadon, Leon White, David Reed, Stephen Schmidt, Jim Wilkins, Jerry Dillon and James Fudge.
This is a form letter to the colleagues listed above who may find the enclosure of some interest. The author of the piece is the grandson of S.G. Norris. David actually holds an earned PhD from Temple University and serves on the faculty of the Urshan Graduate School of Theology.
The paper seems to be the first response by the UPC to my book which all of you will be acquainted with. I was in St. Louis last week for this conference and made an unannounced appearance at the panel discussion which devoted some 90 minutes to dealing with my book. Three of the five panelists were overwhelmingly negative; two were positive (Bass and Peyton).
As the session progressed word spread around the auditorium that the author was present. Halfway through the meeting Norris approached me and asked if I would like to respond to the proceedings. I told him I had not come for that reason but if desired I would certainly address the meeting. He retired to confer with the chair of the session, Mark Jordan, district superintendent of Ohio. I believe that Norris was sincere in his offer. A few minutes later he returned to my seat and said “the chair has a problem with you speaking.” The irony in all of this was that panelists had just made comments to the effect that they needed (the UPC) to be able to interact with academics and scholars.
As some of you might expect I hung around for a bit afterwards and met all members of the panel. David Bernard asked me if it was difficult to sit there and listen to the proceedings. I assured him it was not; though I assure all of you I was cordial in my interaction with the “brethren.”
I have my own views on the Norris paper but will refrain from comment but would certainly be happy to hear from any of you about your reaction.
While in St. Louis I also did two radio interviews; one 20 minutes in length, the other an hour. Both were focused on the book. Several clips from one of the interviews was played during the symposium. In retrospect, I wish all of you could have been with me at this joyous event!!
Best wishes,
Thomas A. Fudge
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