Journal: Southeastern Theological Review
Volume: STR 12:2 (Fall 2021)
Article: Picturing The Son: The Cognitive And Affective Dimensions Of Biblical Imagery
Author: Michael E. Travers

STR 12:2 (Fall 2021) p. 17

Picturing The Son: The Cognitive And Affective Dimensions Of Biblical Imagery

Michael Travers

&

Matthew Mullins

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Editors’ Note: Michael Travers1 was, above all else, a humble and committed Christian. He labored for decades in the world of Christian higher education with zeal and faithfulness as a teacher, scholar, and administrator. He devoted much of his scholarship to understanding how the literary artistry of the Bible contributes to its truthfulness and beauty. Most notably, he published a book entitled Encountering God in the Psalms in which he helps readers see how the literary qualities of the Psalms enhance their devotional power. Soon after Michael’s death in 2017, his colleague and friend Andrew Spencer came across a paper Michael had delivered at the 2016 meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Providence, Rhode Island, under the title “‘A Lamb Standing as Though It Had Been Slain’: Poetic Images of God the Son in the Bible.” As Spencer told me in a recent email exchange,

I found the previously unpublished essay while sorting through Michael’s personal papers as I prepared a biographical chapter for his Gedenkschrift, The Christian Mind of C. S. Lewis: Essays in Honor of Michael Travers (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2019). This paper reflected Michael’s longtime interest in studying both theology and the Bible as literature. It reflected his commitment to the truthfulness of Scripture and the spiritual benefit of the beauty of Scripture. Like his book Encountering God in the Psalms, this essay was a study in how to grow in Christ by loving the Bible as a work of literature.

When he found out that Adrianne Miles and I planned to assemble a special issue of Southeastern Theological Review on the topic of Literature and the Bible, Spencer reached out and asked if we would be interested in including the conference paper in the issue. As a former student, colleague, and friend of Michael’s, I jumped at the chance. In consultation with STR’s senior editor, Ben Merkle, and with the blessing of Michael’s widow, Barbara Travers, Adrianne and I decided the paper would be a perfect fit for the issue. However, because it was written for an oral presentation, the paper was not heavily researched or structured as a journal article. To get it in shape would require significant revision. Once again with Barbara’s blessing, I set out to situate Michael’s central argument and exegeses in a broader scholarly conversation. The result is the essay you will find below: “Picturing the Son: The Cognitive and

STR 12:2 (...