Shepherd’s Cover Letter to Faculty for Study Paper on Justification
“I would beg the indulgence of my colleagues and ask you for the reason, among others, not to regard this paper as a definitive statement or as a finished product. Hopefully, however, it can serve as a basis for discussion as requested.
Second, I would ask you to bear in mind that what you have asked for is something to serve as a basis for discussion. I have therefore taken the opportunity to present some lines of thought which are doubtless debatable and which need to be tested in an academic marketplace. I am offering them in the spirit of the statement on Academic Freedom and Responsibility to which the Board of the Seminary in a recent action has drawn the attention of all of us.
We are given the freedom to propose and discuss conclusions which are only tentative as well as conclusions which are settled.”
Hewitson, Page 42-43