Acknowledgments
Studying the imitation of Christ has been a rich and lengthy journey. It began during student days at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland) in discussions with Jimmy Agan, Andrew Clarke, Brian Rosner, Paul Ellingworth, and I. Howard Marshall. It then developed through a sabbatical spent at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam with Bert Jan Peerbolte and Arie Zwiep. Students and faculty at Tyndale Theological Seminary in Amsterdam and Evangelische Theologische Faculteit in Leuven, Belgium helped sharpen my thinking. Responses to papers given at the New Testament Colloquium at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the annual doctoral colloquiums at Evangelische Theologische Faculteit in Leuven, Belgium, and a special gathering at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa were invaluable.
I am also thankful to those who serve at Tyndale House Cambridge, United Kingdom and Westminister Theological Seminary in Glenside, Pennsylvania. They provided numerous resources for this study. I am grateful to Paul Anderson for accepting this manuscript into Brill’s Biblical Interpretation Series.
While many have encouraged this project along the way, some are deserving of particular thanks. Bert Jan Peerbolte, Arie Zwiep, Tom Marinello, Jordan Scheetz, Henry Baldwin, Kobus Kok, Andreas Beck, Martin Webber, Armin Baum, Jermo van Nes, Jeremy Otten, Peter-Ben Smit, An-Ting Yi, Ruben van Wingerden, Scott Hafemann, Octavian Baban, Alexander Stewart, Lodewyk Sutton, David McKinley, and Julian Scavetti have constantly encouraged my writing. Special thanks are due to Arie Zwiep for his careful eye at looking over this manuscript.
Imitation of Christ takes place in church communities and in family. Members from the Central Schwenkfelder Church have encouraged the development of my thoughts. My wife’s parents John and Rita Gasser have consistently encouraged my attention to the interpretation of the Bible. My children, Henry, Abby, and Sam have taken interest in this manuscript. My father Drake Williams, Jr. and late mother Sandy Williams, who were both church leaders, also sharpened my thoughts on this topic, as did my brother-in-law and sister David and Wendy Smith, who also are church leaders. My brother Christian Williams has also developed my thinking about memory, too.
Nobody has walked beside me more faithfully than my wife Andrea. She has helped proofread and dialogued with me about this work. Her patience has been extraordinary. Furthermore, unknowingly, she has illustrated the Christ-like characteristics found in the early collective memories of Jesus. This book is dedicated to her.