The Fall semester has begun. Last week I was in Church History I (Early Church through the Reformation) Monday through Friday 9-4PM. It was a long week, but our professor was quite good and Church history is always fascinating.
One of the new thoughts that came my way was a discussion on the Reformers understanding of predestination. Why was it so important to them and what necessitated that belief? Their actions had caused the Catholic Church to excommunicate them, thus they were damned to hell. They needed some heavy duty salvific assurance to stand up to the one and only church: hence, it is only God who determines who is saved (i.e. predestination). Now I am definitely not trying to instigate a discussion on predestination nor am I implying that the Reformers simply made up doctrines to react to the Catholic Church. Rather I continue to find it intriguing to look at the contexts and circumstances that give shape to who we are, what we believe and what we do. Life is always contextual and that is the beauty of it.
This week I will start the rest of my Fall classes: Corinthians, Theology I, and Human Growth and Development. Following this Fall, I will have 7 hours in the Spring and then 4 hours next Summer and I will be done with my Masters! It feels good to be on the downhill slope.
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2 comments:
Jordan,
Xian History rocks! I'm not taking it, but I wish I was.
I'm actually in class right now. We're going over what ministry experiences we need to get before we get out of seminary, but most of the stuff is directed to on-campus students, not bums like me who fly out for two two-week sessions throughout the year.
Anyway, I'm glad you're on the downward slope to graduation. Slightly jealous, but...glad at the same time.
You're awesome. Send our love to Kate as well.
I'm going to go with open theisim!
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