Bloom Hamner

Christopher Seitz '72 at the Forefront of Biblical Study



Christopher '72 and Elizabeth Seitz along with their dog, Marcel.



Christopher Seitz '72 at the Forefront of Biblical Study

Son of former Christ School chaplain has forged his own path

Christopher Seitz '72 gets it honestly. His father, Thomas '45, was Christ School's chaplain from 1967 to 1976. Christopher Seitz is one of the world's foremost authorities on the Old Testament and known around the globe for his work in biblical interpretation and theological hermeneutics. Seitz is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church and presently Senior Research Professor of biblical interpretation at Toronto's Wycliffe College. He even has his own Wikipedia page. Seitz and his wife, Elizabeth, have lived in the French town of Courances for two years which is where he spoke of not only his career but growing up at Christ School.

Question: You have vast experience in higher education, can you catch everyone up on what you've done since graduating from Christ School?

Answer: When I left Christ School, I went to (the University of North Carolina) and then seminary in Virginia. I decided I wanted to pursue teaching at that point. I taught at Yale for 10 to 11 years and went to the University of St. Andrews in Scotland after that. At present, I have a senior research post and I'm directing PHD students in Toronto. My wife runs a French travel and culture business, French Affaires. We live south of Paris and have a second home in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Question: How did the curriculum here at Christ School serve you?

Answer: If the learning of foreign languages hadn't been so drilled into us, I think I would have struggled. I took four to five years of Latin, and I think, three years of French. When I went to seminary, I realized how big a part of Biblical studies that was. I liked learning languages. I was an English major at Chapel Hill. I wondered into English literature, and found that a lot of English literature is indebted to the Old Testament.

Question: What was it like growing up on Christ School campus?

Answer: People ask about my upbringing and the work program is something I often make note of. Since we lived there at Christ School, it never stopped for me. You were always working with your hands. We were encouraged to take the initiative and learn to work. I did every job on the board. Shoveling coal into a flat-bed truck, these are the things that you remember.

Question: And how was it attending Christ School while you father was chaplain?

Answer: Christ School was everything to him. He thought so highly of it, and our family has so many memories of growing up at Christ School. I was a good student. Partly because we lived there, I had access to all the gym facilities. I loved basketball. We had an undefeated JV team one year. We all moved onto varsity, but we were never as good as that one year.