A theologian, a biblical scholar, and a historian sit down to discuss the Gospel…A bad way to start a joke, but a good way to introduce three of Princeton Seminary’s newest faculty members: William Stacy Johnson, C. Clifton Black, and Scott H. Hendrix.

Over lunch in the cafeteria, students already praise and critique them, observations running from theological nuance to teaching style to fashion sense. In a relatively short time, students have come to know them well. So how to introduce the new professors to those who don’t daily interact with them on campus?

Professors Johnson, Black, and Hendrix exchanged ideas for ninety minutes over coffee and juice in a small reading room in Luce Library. They focused the lenses of their different perspectives, disciplines, and denominations (Presbyterian, Methodist, and Lutheran, respectively) on what unites them to each other and to their faculty colleagues, to students, to alumni/ae, and to the rest of the church: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The discussion (edited for space) focuses on Romans 1:16.

More than just introducing themselves, the new professors wrestle with what it means for us to be unashamed of the Gospel today.