Steve Noel wrote this morning and identified former professional golfer Kermit Zarley as Servetus the Evangelical. A brief look at his website seems to confirm this, as he has written a few religiously oriented books, and, more importantly, says the following:
North Park University’s gregarious New Testament professor, accomplished golfer, and my close friend–Dr. Scot McKnight–a well published author himself, is the director of the Kermit Zarley Lecture Series.
I had been told from the start that Scot McKnight knew the identity of this man (shame on him!). Further, in talking about his “next book,” Zarley says, “But my next book after that will be a double eagle! Stay tuned.” More like a triple bogey, but let’s not go overboard on the golf imagery.
Evidently, if you look over the “clues” Zarley posted, they all fit, including having the same birthday as Miguel Servetus. I have not gone through the entire list, but I would assume the book endorsement by a well known evangelical would be McKnight. [Update: it was actually Billy Graham, according to the back cover of his book on Amazon]. Also, some had traced his e-mail ISP to Scottsdale, Arizona, and wikipedia indicates he lives in Scottsdale.
So, there you go. A retired professional golfer with an interest in religion has dug up all the old liberal arguments against the deity of Christ that have been popular in the dead and dying “mainstream” Protestant denominations for over a century now. Woohoo! I’m sure some of my Muslim friends are really disappointed, since, obviously, this is about as major a non-event as you could imagine. We now return you to your regularly scheduled meaningful life!
