DUE WEST, SCÑIn a service of investiture at Erskine Seminary attended by colleagues, family and friends, Dr. John M. Blumenstein was elevated to the rank of full professor on Friday, April 11. He is Professor of Biblical Studies and is presently serving as chairman of the Seminary faculty, having taught at Erskine since 1986.

Son of the late Otto J. Blumenstein and Mrs. Florene L. Blumenstein, Dr. Blumenstein is married to the former Sarah Johnson. Their five children are Jonathan, Lynn, Maria, Timothy and Katherine. They are active members of Calvary Chapel in Greenwood, S.C.

A 1976 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied classics with a focus on Greek, Blumenstein worked as a group counselor and family counselor for a family service agency before entering Erskine Seminary in 1980.

While at Erskine Seminary, Blumenstein served as President of the Seminary Student Body and was student representative to the Board of Trustees. During summers he worked as student pastor at Associate Reformed Presbyterian churches in Burlington, N.C., and Fayetteville, Tenn.

He was awarded the Master of Divinity degree in 1983, then entered Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. His dissertation was on "An Exegetical Study of Matthew 27:38-54" and he received the Doctor of Philosophy in 1991.

After a welcome from Erskine College and Seminary President Dr. James W. Strobel in which a number of family and friends in attendance were recognized, Erskine Seminary Dean Dr. Randall T. Ruble presented Dr. Blumenstein.

Offering thanks to God and acknowledging his family and others who helped him reach his present position, particularly his mentors and colleagues at Erskine, Blumenstein also expressed gratitude for the students he has been given at Erskine Seminary.

He reminded his listeners that in the task of biblical interpretation, "No one ultimately escapes the question of authority," and recalled the ascendancy of various movements in biblical criticism. "Meaning must be found in the text itself," he declared.

Blumenstein delivered an address on "George MacDonald: New Testament Interpreter" and shared some of the 19th century Scottish cleric's insights, including his view of Christ as "Our self-giving, self-forgetting friend." He noted that some of MacDonald's best writing is contained within his 27 novels, some of which are rather mediocre, and told of his family's experience with reading one of the novels aloud.

Ruble delivered the Charge to Dr. Blumenstein, Strobel gave the Declaration of Investiture, and Dr. William Kuykendall, John Montgomery Bell Professor of Biblical Studies, offered the Prayer of Investiture.

Erskine Theological Seminary was founded in 1837 by the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.