Businessman among the theologians

For years it has been a privilege for me to be a member of FEET, the Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians, and it still is. Although not a theologian, I have always felt welcome in this fellowship of Christians whose aim is to promote a theology based on the Bible. As a businessman I have been in charge of FEET’s finances for almost 20 years and I am so proud to be part of this network.

As an academic fellowship FEET provides a link between scholars from various European contexts. The heart of FEET is concentrated in our biennial conferences where delegates from all over Europe gather for stimulating discussions and mutual encouragement. The next time will be next August in Lutherstadt Wittenberg (Germany).

John Stott (1921 – 2011), a modern-day church father, as he was called by Peter Kuzmic, was one of the founders of FEET after the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in 1974. He had a considerable influence on many of our members. I have managed to read only a few of his over 50 books, including the one in which he expresses his life-long love of bird-watching.

But one of my strongest impressions was to have met John Stott personally at one of our conferences in Germany. I learned from him what he wrote in one of his latest books, The Living Church1: “Our formula (should be) ‘the Bible says’, provided that we have done our hermeneutical homework and have been conscientious in applying proper principles to the text. Then we shall be able to preach with courage and conviction”.

1John Stott, The Living Church: Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor (Leicester: IVP, 2007).

Gert Hain Giessen, Germany