May 2015
Dear Friends,
Though we cannot promise that there will be no further interruptions, we now continue our series on the professors who teach at La Faculté Jean Calvin in Aix-en-Provence.
Born in 1978, Yannick Imbert is from the French Protestant heartland, la Drôme. He is the newest member of the team at Aix. He also may be the most energetic! In his five years at the Seminary he has written two books, edited three, and has published scores of articles. He travels extensively and gives lectures all over the planet. Officially, Yannick is Professor of Apologetics and Church History. He is also the Director of the Licence program (equivalent to our M.Div.) at the Seminary. He is a trustee of several European Christian organizations.
Yannick’s passion is to communicate the truth and power of the Gospel to the present world. Here is how he views the mission of his main discipline: “Apologetics seeks to present clear answers to the objections made by our contemporaries. Its task is to make the proclamation of the Evangelical Faith pertinent and relevant, employing every area of concern in human life. Apologetics is thus not only concerned with philosophy, but with our social and cultural context as well.”
To give an idea of the range of Yannick’s concerns, his doctoral dissertation (at Westminster) is on J. R. R. Tolkien’s idea of imagination. He has written among the most refreshing outlooks on the phenomenon of Islam in Europe. He is the only literary critic that I know who has published on the poetry of Jacques Ellul, who is otherwise known for his critique of modern technology. He has written on miracles, on trans-humanism, and on persuasion. Indeed, his major book on apologetics, Croire, Expliquer, Vivre (2014) is the only text of its kind, combining a biblically-based, Reformed apologetics with a French social and cultural context, but centering on the art of persuasion.
Yannick is also very involved in the church. He also has a ministry to the local prison. One last item, of great significance, to report: Yannick is engaged to Erin Eastlack from Glenside. They are to be married in August. Together, they are committed to the advancement of God’s Kingdom in the French-speaking world.
Very Truly Yours,
William Edgar, President