School Cont'

Just got back from my NTII Tuesday class. Another amazing 3 hour lecture. I took another 6 pages of type written notes (that is alot of notes). The subject matter today was to finish the rest of Acts and then get into the Apostle Paul. It was fascinating because the prof went through Paul's education, background, thought process, argumentative style and really took you into the mind of Paul and what he was facing. Then, after that was finished, the prof started lecturing about Paul's letters to the various different churches and how he formulated the letters into 3 categories: to address a specific situation, correct an inaccurate doctrine or to educate. We then delved into 1 Thessalonians and started studying that specific letter to the Thessalonian church.

There is much to learn in 3 hours of lecture that I cant possibly explain on this blog, but I will give you one small nugget that was a "ah-hah" momen for me today -- something that really stuck with me and I liked:

The prof was explaining Paul's Damascus Road (where Paul, who used to hunt down and kill Christians for being Jewish apostates, came face to face with the risen Jesus on the Damascus Road and was asked point blank why he was persecuting him and then struck blind) experience and he asked the question "do you know why the Lord stuck Paul blind?" and students all gave various answers; punishment, to get his attention, to show that he was the Lord etc. etc. and the professor then went on to say that Paul was both a "Jew amongst Jews" and also a Pharisee and that with that much study Paul was very very familiar with the requirements to identify the Messiah yet even though he knew all of these, he missed them because of his pride and his zeal and the Lord struck him blind because Paul WAS BLIND to the evidence right in front of him. In otherwords, "you want to be blind to me, then I will really make you that way"...he said that the Lord uses "parallelism" in alot of situations and this was just a really great example of it. It was a small tidbit, but I really liked that.

Again, I learned more today then I have in a ton of study on my own and I really love this professor. He doesnt pull any punches and tells it exactly like it is but at the same time he can talk for 3 hours and you never get bored.

The reading is getting better. I am starting to get into a routine. It is still hard and time consuming but I am feeling more confident about it. I already have a quiz in my NT1 class this Thursday that I am studying for. The test is about Roman culture, geography, Emperors and the dates they ruled and significant events (ie. destruction of the Jewish temple). I think I will do pretty good on it, I have alot of that stuff down.

On a side note, I run the risk of being somewhat of a hypocrite and I am seriously considering going back to work. I know, I know, I said I wasnt going to do that, BUT a 30% correction in my portfolio due to this economy downturn with no relief in sight may just force my hand. I am thinking and praying about it but I believe it is in the best interest of my family for at least one of us to be working in this dire economic time. I think it is going to get much worse in the next few months and I think it is wise to be in a job. That doesnt mean I would give up school. I thought about it and talked to Kim about it and I will probably just finish these two classes and then only take 1 class a semester at night for the foreseeable future that I can work into my work schedule. Kim is on board with it and supportive (she is my rock) like she has always been...I am going to put a few calls into my good friends in the industry and see if there is anything that fits. Hopefully I didnt burn too many bridges. But if nothing turns up, then it was never meant to be and I will just push forward....honestly, I also miss my friends at work and the work itself. 99% of the people in Seminary are working full time so it is very common.

So that is it for now. Two more books arrived from Amazon today on how to write research and essay papers so I have to get cracking on those and figure out what the heck a "Turibain Format" is because that is how I have to write it. BTW: My research paper for NT1 is basically on any subject in the NT I want to pursue (ie. Paul's "suffering", or a parable, or a specific teaching)....I am thinking about subject matter now. Let you know on what I decide.

Take Care


Dean