Mount Olive professor has commentary published
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 23, 2005 1:46 PM
MOUNT OLIVE- Lloyd R. Bailey, barrow professor of biblical studies at Mount Olive College, has completed a commentary on the Biblical books of Leviticus and Numbers. It took four years of preparation to write the manuscript that consists of 648 pages of biblical commentary and illustrations. Smyth & Helwys, a well known Baptist publishing house, just issued this latest volume in a major commentary series on the entire Bible.
In the publication, Bailey reacquaints the reader with a powerful, yet often ignored, theological voice within the biblical canon.
"For those yearning to read the biblical text in all of its richness, I heartily recommend this volume," stated W. Dennis Tucker, Jr., assistant professor of biblical studies at Baylor University.
The entire Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary series is innovative both in its content and in its stunning array of illustrative art. Hundreds of maps, photos, drawings and marginal explanations are used to clarify and illustrate the content of the Bible.
In 1956, Bailey earned an associate of arts degree in engineering from Mars Hill College, and later a bachelor of arts degree in physics from Duke University. Upon graduation, he was offered a job with the US Navy to design missiles. Instead of accepting, his interest in Biblical studies had intensified to the point where he chose to continue his education at Duke, earning a bachelor of divinity degree in 1961. He attended the Hebrew University in Israel from 1965-1966, earning his doctorate from Hebrew Union College in 1967.
After teaching at Union Theological Seminary in New York, the Yancey County native moved to Durham in 1971, where he became associate professor of Hebrew Bible at Duke University. Having retired from Duke University in 1998, Bailey now divides his time between Mount Olive College and Methodist College in Fayetteville. He currently teaches Old Testament, New Testament, Hebrew Prophets, Introduction to Hebrew Bible, and Religion in an Age of Science.
Because of his extensive studies, Bailey has authored more than 20 religious books and nearly 100 articles. He has also appeared on television documentaries for A&E, The History Channel and The Discovery Channel.
Of his latest accomplishment, Bailey said, "Unlike the usual commentary that express contemporizations in general and abstract terms, those in the present volume are often personal and derived from the author's life and observations concerning self, human beings in general, and Protestant Christians in particular. The portrait is not always a flattering one."
Aside from teaching, Bailey maintains an interest in science and genealogy, and he has published several volumes of his family history and on the history of Yancey County. He is married to Judith Bailey and has five sons.