A Tribute to Josh Walker

Mr. Walker, our distinguished and erudite blogger, is going to be turning 85 on Tuesday. Born in 1924 to immigrant parents, Josh traveled the world, eventually discovering the fountain of youth after studying the handwritten journals of Francisco DeAntonia (which he stole from a safety deposit box in Zurich). After his adventures in South America, Josh settled into the common life of an elderly man who appears to be only in his late twenties. Having lived through the Great Depression, World War II (where he fought as a fighter pilot), the Vietnam War, and the Death of God movement in the '60s, Josh says he is no longer afraid of anything except sock puppets, crab bisque, preachers in cardigans, and those who deny penal substitutionary atonement. When asked what he still wants to accomplish in life, Josh just sips his warm milk, looks out the window fondly and smiling says, "I just want to write a book where I destroy all heresy."

Josh's 85th birthday is also a great opportunity for me to plug his Amazon wishlist. Ironically, most of our readers are probably poor ministers/students, but it's worth a shot! If anyone buys Josh a copy of A History of Ancient Greek: From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity, I will send you a free T-shirt, straight out of my own closet as a thank you gift. You will receive a lower quality gift as thanks for the higher quality gift.

And if you plan on being at ETS, you can even present your gift to him when he delivers his paper on the authorship of Hebrews on Thursday. I hate to be the kind to spoil Josh's conclusion, but a little bird told me that in his paper Josh concludes that Hebrews was written by Brian Setzer. Stop listening to Stray Cats while working on your paper, Josh!