thoughts
Another day, another book to read...
It's really incredible, just how much material there is out there regarding theology, philosophy, history... but the amazing thing about studying this (as opposed to studying math) is that this actually *matters* to me. (I mean no offense to friends of mine who are studying math and find it very fulfilling... I respect the field greatly.) The difference is that I know that I'm studying things that I need to be studying, and that makes all the difference in the world.
I read a lot today about preparation for seminary. My Cetuk book says that seminary professors aren't interested in teaching you what to think; instead, they would rather teach you *how* to think. That's a line that I've used before with my math students...and for all the thinking I've done in my day, I know that I need to learn how to think in a different way about faith-based things.
The theme of this book is reiterated and reiterated and reiterated: be prepared for major change, major growth, major maturing in your life as you go through seminary. Be open to new ideas; be ready to reevaluate everything you think you know.
wonder #1: a good friend of mine told me today (of all days) that he believes I'm ready for this kind of work because I've learned (through math) to be able to believe the unbelievable. Oftentimes we would be presented with a result or a theorem that seemed completely unlikely or even contradictory to intuition, only to see it proved before our very eyes. What has that done for me? I am now more likely to approach new theological ideas with an inquisitive (instead of a closed-minded, skeptical) eye. Thanks, Jim, for that insight.
wonder #2: the college Bible study class that I'm leading at church this semester is, by design, going to be about reexamination of the big Christian beliefs. We'll try to tackle some of the hard questions of faith - who is God? did Jesus really have to die? how does his death work? does Christianity really improve one's life? etc. It's a wonder to me that we will be doing the same kinds of things in Logos as I'll be doing in seminary - even though I didn't realize the latter when I was planning the former.
wonder #3: Cetuk says, "Married students must, by definition, take extra care to see that they are involving their spouses as much as possible in their evolving intellectual and spiritual lives." Now, I'm not married, but I think Tara and I already fit a scaled-back version of the above statement. She isn't, out of necessity, involved in every part of my current (and upcoming) growth, but she is wholeheartedly supportive and interested in that growth. She wants to be a part of this...what a blessing to me.
One book is still en route from amazon.com for this semester's course load. I have to have it read by Tuesday. heh.
It's really incredible, just how much material there is out there regarding theology, philosophy, history... but the amazing thing about studying this (as opposed to studying math) is that this actually *matters* to me. (I mean no offense to friends of mine who are studying math and find it very fulfilling... I respect the field greatly.) The difference is that I know that I'm studying things that I need to be studying, and that makes all the difference in the world.
I read a lot today about preparation for seminary. My Cetuk book says that seminary professors aren't interested in teaching you what to think; instead, they would rather teach you *how* to think. That's a line that I've used before with my math students...and for all the thinking I've done in my day, I know that I need to learn how to think in a different way about faith-based things.
The theme of this book is reiterated and reiterated and reiterated: be prepared for major change, major growth, major maturing in your life as you go through seminary. Be open to new ideas; be ready to reevaluate everything you think you know.
wonder #1: a good friend of mine told me today (of all days) that he believes I'm ready for this kind of work because I've learned (through math) to be able to believe the unbelievable. Oftentimes we would be presented with a result or a theorem that seemed completely unlikely or even contradictory to intuition, only to see it proved before our very eyes. What has that done for me? I am now more likely to approach new theological ideas with an inquisitive (instead of a closed-minded, skeptical) eye. Thanks, Jim, for that insight.
wonder #2: the college Bible study class that I'm leading at church this semester is, by design, going to be about reexamination of the big Christian beliefs. We'll try to tackle some of the hard questions of faith - who is God? did Jesus really have to die? how does his death work? does Christianity really improve one's life? etc. It's a wonder to me that we will be doing the same kinds of things in Logos as I'll be doing in seminary - even though I didn't realize the latter when I was planning the former.
wonder #3: Cetuk says, "Married students must, by definition, take extra care to see that they are involving their spouses as much as possible in their evolving intellectual and spiritual lives." Now, I'm not married, but I think Tara and I already fit a scaled-back version of the above statement. She isn't, out of necessity, involved in every part of my current (and upcoming) growth, but she is wholeheartedly supportive and interested in that growth. She wants to be a part of this...what a blessing to me.
One book is still en route from amazon.com for this semester's course load. I have to have it read by Tuesday. heh.
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