The Legacy of Thomas B. Warren
Honoring the Legacy of Dr. Warren
by Thomas C. Derby
Dr. Thomas B. Warren touched an untold number of lives through his knowledge of God's word and his ability to logically reason in its truth. It was my good fortune to sit at his feet on different occasions while I was a student at the former East Tennessee School of Preaching and Missions which is now Southeast Institute of Biblical Studies in Knoxville, TN.
At the time, Dr. Warren was preparing for a debate concerning the existence of God with Dr. Antony Flew, a renowned atheist. Warren had a team consisting of, but not limited to, Roy Deaver and Thomas Eaves who were assisting with the research, developing questions for the debate, and constructing the charts to be used. We students would sit for hours listening to bits and pieces concerning the upcoming discussion. Although the tone of these discussions was extremely serious, we were entertained by the humor of these godly men.
Remembering Thomas B. Warren
by Ron Thomas
In 1994, or perhaps 1995, I was a student at East Tennessee School of Preaching. At the time I was having a dispute with my teacher, Al Simmons, on a logic matter. If I recall correctly, Al was teaching a hermeneutics class when the dispute arose; Al was a good student of Scripture and logical analysis. Before my enrollment in the school, I took some philosophy classes at Boise State University and one formal logic class. This was about 1990, while I was serving in the US Air Force. Since Al was the teacher of the class, I was on the short end of the dispute, but I was convinced I was right on the problem. All I knew to do was call someone of logical note, and I thought the best one to call was Thomas B. Warren. Not knowing how to get in touch with Dr. Warren, I called Garland Elkins at Memphis School of Preaching. I explained my conundrum and asked for assistance. After a few moments of conversation, he said I should call Warren, something which I was very much interested in doing. After having given me his number, I made the call.
Thomas B. Warren was very charitable with his time to me, a person whom he had never met. I explained the reason for my call and asked him if he could take a few moments and help on the issue. He said he would be happy to do so. After setting forth the issue and talking about logic-form, Professor Warren asked me what logic textbook I used. I mentioned I had a few, but while at Boise State, I used Irving Copi’s book. He said that was a good one and that I should continue to make use of it (I still have it and use it occasionally). I wish I could tell you Dr. Warren said I was correct on the disputed issue, but I really do not remember what was said. What I do remember was the impression he left on me after the conversation.