Jackson was a scholar of the ancient Greek language and Roman Period Palestinian culture. Having exhaustively studied the New Testament in this context, he emphatically believed that the Holy Bible was not intended to be casually read or taken as literally inerrant, but rather to be considered and studied for its broader message. His beliefs regarding separation of church and government, social responsibility, the equality of men and women in the church and a woman's right to choose an abortion put him at odds with fundamentalist Southern Baptist leadership, and he was sometimes ridiculed by colleagues.