Issue: Spring 2018 | Posted: June 1, 2018
George Guthrie ('81)
G.M. Savage Legacy Award
Given to a faculty or staff member for their ongoing commitment to Christ-centered education at Union University.
George Guthrie, the Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible at Union and a 1981 Union graduate, said seeing how the university has grown over the last 40 years has been a blessing to him.
“I have loved being at Union University,” Guthrie said. “The joy of seeing this place grow dramatically and thrive under good leadership, both past and present, has been a great gift, and I have had great pleasure in Christian community with my colleagues.”
Guthrie spent some time away from Union after his graduation, completing a Master of Divinity degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Master of Theology Degree in New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
In 1990, while working on the dissertation for his Ph.D., Guthrie was invited back to Union to teach. In 1993, he became chair of the Religion Department—later changed to the Department of Christian Studies—where he served for more than a decade. He also led in the establishment of the Ryan Center for Biblical Studies.
Guthrie said he loves the balance of teaching, research, writing and ministry that academic life provides. He said as a student at Union, he learned to love learning and grew academically and spiritually.
“To arrive at Union and find all of these brothers and sisters who were serious about the Christian life shaped me,” he said. “So my spiritual and academic lives were growing and blending, leading to a life of integration.”
Guthrie has written numerous articles and more than a dozen books in his time at Union. He has also participated in translation projects, such as the revision of The New Living Translation, and has served as a consultant on the Holman Christian Standard Bible, the New Century Version and the English Standard Version.
Guthrie, whose tenure at Union ended after the spring semester, said he wants to do all he can to advance God’s kingdom and build up the body of Christ.
“My prayer is that in various ways, by God’s grace, I have been able to participate in that greatest of all calls during my time at Union,” he said.
