Release date: March 13, 2006
Contact: Elaine Justice at 404-727-0643 or elaine.justice@emory.edu

Hayes Named to Franklin Parker Chair at Emory

John Hayes, a teacher and professor at Emory University's Candler School of Theology since 1972, was installed to the Franklin N. Parker Chair of Old Testament at the school's spring convocation. The announcement was made by Russell E. Richey, dean of Candler, and the installation was completed by Emory University President James W. Wagner.

In his presentation, Hayes recounted his personal history, starting with his life as the son of a sharecropper in rural Alabama and assured the gathered community that "Reality can sometimes exceed our wildest dreams."

Discussing Psalm 139, he pointed out the futility of the call to "know thyself" as recorded at the Delphi Oracle. Rather he said, Psalm 139 calls us to "understand thyselves." He detailed four personas he has encountered in himself and others–the public self, the personal sense of self, the normal or natural self and the submerged self. "Psalm 139," he said, "is a cry of innocence from one who feels wrongly accused." The hope for such people is that God knows all our "selves."

Hayes, a Fulbright Scholar and Woodruff Research Fellow, is author of "Introduction to Old Testament Study," considered the standard text for Old Testament introductory courses at seminaries and schools of theology across the United States and in many parts of the world.

The chair is named for Franklin N. Parker, professor of systematic theology at Candler from 1915–1942 and dean from 1919–1937.

Hayes is a resident of LaFayette, Ala.

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For more than a decade Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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