Yarnell, Jones recognized with Southwestern academic awards at ETS
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary recognized Malcolm B. Yarnell III and Ethan C. Jones for their contributions to Christian studies at the Southwestern Alumni and Friends Reception held during the 76th annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) Nov. 20-22, in San Diego, Calif.
Yarnell, research professor of theology at Southwestern, was presented with the James Leo Garrett Jr. Award for Contribution to Christian Thought, while Jones, assistant professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, received the Curtis Vaughan Award for Contribution to the Study of Christian Scripture.
Nominated by the faculty of Southwestern Seminary and Texas Baptist College, the Garrett Award bears the name of the late distinguished professor of theology at the seminary. The award honors the individual who has excelled in contributions for the church in Christian thought in the areas of research, scholarship, teaching, and service.
“The choice of Malcolm Yarnell as the recipient of the James Leo Garrett Jr. Award in Theological Studies is so appropriate and would have greatly pleased Dr. Garrett,” Southwestern Seminary President David S. Dockery said. “Malcolm was one of Dr. Garrett’s most outstanding students and he has followed in Dr. Garrett’s footsteps through his prolific publications in the areas of Baptist studies, systematic theology, and historical theology. It is a joy to congratulate Dr. Yarnell as a worthy recipient of this year’s Garrett Award.”
Yarnell holds a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Seminary, a Master of Theology from Duke, and a Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford University. He serves as editor of the Southwestern Journal of Theology and has authored numerous publications, including God, the first volume in the Theology for Every Person series. He also co-authored Special Revelation and Scripture in the Theology for the People of God series with Dockery and co-edited with Dockery The Authority and Sufficiency of Scripture, Revised and Expanded.
“Receiving the award that carries the name of the leading theologian in the history of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary was quite an honor, especially when I realized the nominations came from our faculty,” Yarnell said. “James Leo Garrett Jr. has been called ‘the dean of Southern Baptist theologians’ and a ‘gentlemen theologian’ for good reason. That it came from our president, David S. Dockery, and our provost, W. Madison Grace, added to the moment. They both learned from Dr. Garrett. It was also a joy to see many of his former students in attendance. I am more excited about the future of our seminary than I have ever been.”
The Vaughan Award, named in honor of the late distinguished professor of New Testament at Southwestern Seminary, honors the individual who has displayed excellence in research, scholarship, teaching, and service for the church in Christian Scripture.
“Ethan Jones is a fine Hebrew and Old Testament scholar, who has invested in students on the Southwestern campus as well as at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary,” Dockery said. “We are pleased to recognize Ethan as this year’s recipient of the Curtis Vaughan Award in Biblical Studies. His most recent publication on the Psalms in an Age of Distraction reflects well the thoughtful, warm-hearted, and textually based writings that characterized the writings of Southwestern’s beloved New Testament scholar, Curtis Vaughan.”
Jones, who also holds the Don and Helen Bryant Chair of Old Testament at the New Orleans seminary, earned his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Southwestern Seminary and completed additional studies at the Goethe-Institut in Göttingen, Germany. He previously served as a visiting scholar in Hebrew studies at the University of Cambridge and as assistant professor of Old Testament at Southwestern Seminary.
Jones has authored and edited several books and numerous articles about the Old Testament. He serves on the steering committee for the Linguistics and Biblical Hebrew section of the Society of Biblical Literature and has presented his research at the Society of Biblical Literature, Evangelical Theological Society, the Institute for Biblical Research, and the Tyndale Fellowship.
“I am honored and humbled to be acknowledged by the faculty and administration at SWBTS for my teaching and scholarship,” Jones said. “Having friends and former professors present the award will be a warm memory for years to come. I am grateful to be a recipient of an award named after the venerable Curtis Vaughan.”
