The Whitaker Fellowship, named after Anglican theologian William Whitaker, will allow students to engage in researching, editing, and publishing theological texts. Courtesy | Wikipedia
Hillsdale students are invited to apply to the Whitaker Fellowship for remote work in researching, editing, and publishing of theological texts, according to alumnus Josiah Leinbach ’20.
“Fellows will focus on republishing classic, Anglican theological texts and studying the rich theological, liturgical, philosophical, and aesthetic inheritance of the Anglican tradition,” Leinbach said.
Leinbach, who created the fellowship, said it is open to students of any ecclesiastical background. The fellowship is an eight-week program with 10-12 hours of remote work a week, Leinbach said. At the conclusion of the summer, students will receive a $500 stipend.
Students will also be credited as editors or co-editors on all the work they do, according to Leinbach. In addition to experience in theological retrieval and republication, students will hear lectures from various Anglican leaders and theological voices, including some Hillsdale professors.
“The Whitaker Fellowship will engage students in the vibrant, vital, and resurgent work of Protestant retrieval, work that inspires the confident confessional Protestantism inherent to the Anglo-American tradition,” Leinbach said.
Theological retrieval of early Protestant thought enables any Protestant to understand the history of his tradition, according to College Chaplain Rev. Adam Rick.
“Christians should on average be better informed of their own theological history than they are,” Rick said.
Part of theological retrieval work includes modernization of texts, Rick said. Modernization translates old English, while remaining faithful to the author’s style and voice. Rick said Christians should study what early Protestant leaders said on given topics that have re-emerged in modern culture.
“In our current culture, people are asking questions that early Protestant theologians discussed,” Rick said. “It is comforting to read these theologians to know they also wrestled with these things. Returning to these texts gives us a launching pad to dialogue with them.”
Leinbach said he is partnering with Prolego Press, an Anglican publication founded by Robert Ramsey ’14 and based in South Bend, Indiana.
“Prolego Press is vital to the work of theological retrieval,” Leinbach said. “It is a vanguard of this important movement that includes scholars across traditions and various institutions. This is a Hillsdale endeavour by nature because it seeks to return to the sources.”
Leinbach said he named the fellowship after William Whitaker, a 16th-century Anglican churchman and intellectual. This spring, Prolego Press is republishing Whitaker’s treatise “A Disputation on Holy Scripture.” This republication is the first edition since its translation from Latin in 1849 and includes thousands of source citations, footnotes, and biographical notes, according to Leinbach.
“William Whitaker embodies both the intellectual rigor and devotion we want to see cultivated in our fellows, so along with our significant republication of Whitaker’s Disputation, it seemed like an obvious choice,” Leinbach said.
Junior Emma Wilkinson aided Leinbach with polishing the work last summer.
“My main responsibility was finding modern editions of ancient and patristic texts, both online and in Mossey Library, and writing Chicago Style footnotes to cite them,” Wilkinson said. “I also did various formatting, proofreading, and modernization tasks, while other students assisted in the translation of Greek and Latin phrases in the text.”
Wilkinson said she researched patristic fathers she had never studied and learned how to format anthologies — collections of compiled works for publication.
“I enjoyed tracking down the works by obscure church fathers, many of whom I had never heard of, and learning how the edited anthologies that we use every day in class are actually created,” Wilkinson said.
Interested students should send their résumé, a cover letter, and the contact information for an academic and pastoral reference to josiahleinbach@gmail.com by March 14. Finalists for interviews will be notified by March 19, and the program’s applicants will be notified of acceptance by April 11, Leinbach said.
Wilkinson, who is planning to study abroad this summer, said she will also apply to the Whitaker fellowship and hopes to continue her work editing and researching.
“I think anyone interested in writing and research, especially in the realm of church history should apply to the fellowship because it is an excellent opportunity to practice professional skills related to editing and research,” Wilkinson said.
