[LIF] Grad School

Wow, this is a bit different than I expected. This is going to be an awesome semester. I finally made it through the first class for each prof. and I'm both overwhelmed and excited.

I'm actually happy with the classes in French. I feel like my head is about to explode towards the end of the class, but I'm positive my comprehension is increasing each moment. I was able to follow both profs, at least for the main ideas being presented. There are quite a few of us in the same boat which makes it easier. It is hilarious how we each heard different things for the assignments in one class. :-) We'll do fine.

The programme is focused on the thesis, which is 60 pages max (including bibliography). But the process of even beginning that thesis is intense. I am supposed to be chatting with different profs already to find a director, but I'm not completely sure how to carve off a manageable portion of what I want to study - basically Evangelical hermeneutics as it relates to social engagement. I was feeling stressed over this but right now I have too many other homework assignments to worry about that.

My courses are Spirituality with Prof. Heather Eaton, as you know from my blog I really like Prof. Eaton. She has challenged the heck out of me, but I really feel I grow spiritually in her courses. Plus she is the one that introduced me to Thomas Berry. Sad news is that the Berry Group looks like it might not do too much over this semester, everyone is swamped.

I am taking a Methodology class with Prof. Gregory Bloomquist, I've always wanted to take a course from Bloomquist, he is an amazing biblical scholar. But he is looking like the best candidate for director right now, he has a doctoral student doing a similar topic. This is the course that gets us ready for the thesis, so the class is pretty informal and geared towards coming along side us in this process.

I am also taking Biblical Hermeneutics with Prof. Christian Dionne. This one is in French and thankfully I find the biblical courses like this really easy. My mistake of neuf for nine instead of new really broke the ice for me. The anglophones outnumber the francophones, but the lecture is delivered in french. I'm happy with this one. His french is clear so I'll benefit a lot from the lectures.

Finally I am doing a directed reading course with Prof. Ramon Martinez de Pison Liebanas (there is a mouthful). He is Spanish, so his french is not bad to follow, his english is a bit funny though. This is my first directed reading course, I think it will be great. I'm re-reading Dermot Lane's The Experience of God this week. The topic of the course is Religious Experience.

Today I have to go to the library and get my late night pass approved! But tonight I have a little me time, gaming with my East end friends. Then it is nose to the grind.

[THO] Finally Done!

I'm looking down at my last exam. Don't worry it was a takehome, due tomorrow. I wrote in less than eight pages (Prof. Eaton appreciates brevity) a primer to Liberation Theology and a short essay on how we could do Liberation Theology from a priveleged society like Canada. The first essay is better, but I'm happy with them both. It sure feels great to be done. The second essay included a rant over the schenanigans our conservative government is pulling to try and bail on Kyoto. No kidding it will impact the economy, but I'd rather wrestle with the economy in my lifetime than leave a burnt out husk of a planet for my kids. Liberation Theology begins from righteous indignation, and that is right where I started today after hearing the news. Ok, got to get this to the school.

[LIF] End of Semester

Things are wrapping up, I wrote my last non-exam paper of the semester tonight. I have a bit over a week before my first exam is due. This is the time of the semester when the stress on my family is the greatest. Sharon hasn't seen much of me since the paper crunch and the times we have had together have been really catching up on what's going on in each others lives. That is freaky considering we sleep in the same bed every night. I really need to hire a sitter and take her out for dinner or something, just the two of us.

Today we went to buy me some much needed pants - a lot of my clothes are getting worn out simply because I don't have the time to buy new ones. I bought three pairs of jeans, good ones that will last a while. I need desperately to replace my orange GAP sweater, but they don't make the pullovers like that anymore. Sharon needs to get out shopping too, but our lives are pretty packed.

I have two weeks off after exams and then I take on two summer intensives. Good news is that will complete my degree, bad news is it will be June before I get a real breather. I'm just glad I don't have another year of my undergrad left.

J’ai faire bien progrès en français. Je pourrai pour comprendre la français. Bientôt, j'espérer. As you can tell it is still pretty bad, but a few weeks ago I wouldn't even know where to look to try and figure out to say that (whatever I said in them there words, Steve help me out buddy.) It is going to be an intense Summer. If I don't post so much it is because my head is buried in a book.

[THO] Moltmann and the Resurrection of Christ

I'm just about to write my Christology paper on Resurrection in Moltmann's Theology of Hope. Not just the book of that title, but that is what I would label his whole theology. Moltmann read Bloch's The Principles of Hope and realized that the category of hope had been lost to Christianity. In fact we were discussing in Liberation Theology class today how the early church practiced hope, yet we tend to practice systems of belief (dogma). Moltmann's response was his groundbreaking book The Theology of Hope, which is a profound read that I've worked with the last two semesters (last semester as a critique for the evangelical vision of grace). This time I did a survey of Moltmann's major works (Crucified God, Coming of God, Church in the Power of the Spirit, The Way of Jesus Christ, etc.) as well as some of his applications of the Theology of Hope (In the End...the Beginning, Future of Creation, etc.) Honestly I think I overdid it, but it isn't that easy to stop once you get started. I found that Moltmann is consistant all through this theology, at least in terms of the Resurrection. He brilliantly exposes why this foolishness about the Platonic Immortality of the Soul is a blight on modern Christianity and how the remedy is Resurrection faith. And Moltmann masterfully exposes the whole understanding of Resurrection in the langauge of promise, that is enough to give me goosepimples! But the best is his understanding of Resurrection as the inbreaking of the future into history in a way that re-makes history! This is such a profound insight that almost every text I looked at tried to unpack this idea. Just as Volf [Correction: it was Geiko Muller-Fahrenholz not Volf] says the theology of the Resurrection is the hinge on which the Theology of Hope turns, this understanding of the Resurrection builds the anticipation of Kingdom Inbreaking in the believer and becomes the imperative for our lived faith in this world. It is just so good.

Well I better get writing.

[LIF] Küng Foo

I went to hear Hans Küng last night. It was a bilingual event, which apparently means something other than parallel translation, doh! But thankfully Hans made some comments about his French in French and continued almost exclusively in English. I still have a long way to go this summer to pass the French competancy. I was struggling with only getting the smallest bits of the spoken French, so frustrating. Küng was very interesting, it was basically his life's work in brief. I think if I were Roman Catholic I would have appreciated it more, he talked about the issues post-Vatican II of only instituting 'yes' men bishops and of refusing to deal with the law of celibacy. I didn't see a lot of recognizable clergy though, so I suspect Hans is a Catholic Theologian for the lay person who longs for semper reformation in the Catholic Church.

[THO] Jacob Boehme Redux

I can't imagine a more complicated time to be writing about than turn of the 17th century Upper Lusatia. Religiously you have the enforced Lutheranism (house by house baby!), duplicitious Crypto-Calvinists and Phillipists, wandering Anabaptists, entrenched Catholics, artillery inventing Hussites, hopeful Humanists and enough Silisian mystics to fill a large bathtub! Politically it is even more of a mess, the Turks at Europes doors, the inability of the Protestants to get along with each other, let alone the Catholic. This is the time of rising German nation states and the decline of the Holy Roman Empire. It is also a time of apocalyptic expectation, what Luther had done for the Gospel, science would soon do for philosophy, or so they though (Weeks, Boehme, 48). Now throw into this mix a self-taught cobbler mystic who felt compelled to put his thoughts to paper. At least I have no shortage of things to write about for this paper - the hard part is trying to tame this unruly beast!

[THO] The Problem with Personal Salvation

I wrote a paper last year which uses Moltmann's theology as a critique of the Evangelical vision of grace. I did really well on it and the professor, Ken Melchin, agreed to help me work on it some more in hopes of finding it a home in a scholarly journal of some sort. I just finished reading it and it was really encouraging. If I were to nutshell my argument I would say that Evangelicals consistantly have an orientation towards personal salvation that blinds them to constructive participation in the world. The hard part is that this insight of personal salvation is important and worth protecting. But when our focus on personal salvation becomes an escapist philosophy then we miss the incarnational insight of Christ's life. I tackle some of the issues that flow out of this like the breakdown of medieval synthesis and the prevalence of apocalyptic decline narratives in the article, I think it will be a worthwhile read if I can find it a home.

[THO] Jacob Boehme

I'm really enjoying Andrew Weeks book Boehme. He does a great job of surveying the theology of this influential mystic. The more I get a handle on Boehme's ideas the more of his influence I can see in philosophy and theology. Not bad for a cobbler with no formal theological education. Perhaps that is exactly why he dared integrate theosophy, alchemy and mysticism into his ecstatic influenced theologizings. Boehme took chances with mixed results. After reading the Confessions of Jacob Boehme I was struck by just how devotional his text was, not at all what I expected after reading snippets of the Aurora. Especially towards the end Boehme called the Christian to integrity and piety, lest they bring upon themselves condemnation (wrath is one of the two experiences of God, love is the other). At the same time this text offers some interesting views of God (borrowing from his three principles of God) including a denial of creation from nothing (Boehme discards this idea as foolish) and a careful tread along the edge of pantheism. I appreciated the trip along that edge though as this is the insight that mystics often bring us back to - God is closer than you think!

I've almost compiled enough data, I'm just reading a few great articles Kenny's buddy pointed me to regarding 16th Century German socio-economic situations. Sometime this weekend I'll sketch out my paper and identify the missing holes in my research. I haven't decided if I will read a substantial portion of Aurora or not. At this point I have a pretty good sense of Boehme's theology, confusing though it is. And I am missing more mundane information like the name of his wife? Ah the joys of preparing papers.

[LIF] Wahoo!!!!!

I just got my letter of acceptance for the Masters programme at St. Paul next semester! Plus my marks earned me a bursary! I'm so stoked! Got to run, church in just a bit.

[LIF] Midterms Back

I'm doing well this semester. I did really well on my paper concerning the historic Jesus, Wright would be proud. My English exam was my lowest score (possibly my lowest score ever - a B!), I thought I did poorly on it because I became disillusioned with my thesis statement midway through writing. But that isn't why I lost points, mostly it was because I was trying to work within structural constraints that my thesis was too complex to remain within - I bit off more than I could chew in a sit down exam! Not a bad lesson to learn.

I have to keep my nose buried in books all the time now, I have three major papers coming up real quick. On another note though, I have an appointment to review some work I did last year in hopes of trying to get it published. That is exciting. And I confirmed that my application for the Masters programme has gone up and is waiting for the committee to make their decision. Oh the tension!

[LIF] Reading Week begins!

Because I front loaded my week with classes I end up with an extended reading week! Unfortunately I forgot my chequebook yesterday when I was at the school so I had to go back today. I did get to attend a student council meeting, but the whole day I've been stumbling around making little progress. Part of the problem is that I'm still a bit stunned. Today I submitted my application for the Masters of Theology with a concentration in Systematic and Historic Theology. What is scary is that the faculty head thinks they will accomodate my course mix-up, they think my work shows I'm ready for this step. I only needed two profs to write me letters of recommendation, the first two I asked were very eager to help. I've been dreaming of this since 2000 when I started and now it is finally happening.

I need to be competent in French by September, I have signed up for help with that. That is daunting but very doable, I have lots of support with friends and we can switch to French at home between me and Sharon. Sharon emailed me a lot of great links for French resources, what a great wife. It will be important to come up to speed in French fast because as soon as I start my Masters I am also going to start German.

Kenny was asking what my focus will be on, I don't have to choose right away and the methodology course will also help me narrow my subject. The Masters at St. Paul is an interesting programme, basically it is a course to see if you are ready for the Doctorate programme. You write maybe a chapter's worth of a thesis - 40-60 pages. And you work in all the disciplines attached to Theology: Spirituality, Ethics, Systematics, Biblical Studies, etc. They want to make sure you don't narrow your studies too soon. It is completable in a year and I know a bunch of the other students applying this year. Soon as I narrow it down I'll let everyone know.

I feel like a chapter of my life is closing, and in fact it is. I know that this transition is from a wide focus to a more narrow focus. This is good, but it is hard to choose. I love so much about many aspects of thoelogical studies. I really enjoy history and biblical studies. I am going to miss taking Political Ethics with Ken Melchin (that was going to be my last required course in my undergrad degree). I am going to miss Spirituality with Heather Eaton, she has opened me up to more diversity than any other professor at St. Paul.

The good side is that as one chapter closes another opens, and with it new possibilities. I've come to expect that God is in the possibilities so that is exciting. Please pray with me that everything will work out for me to graduate this Spring and start right in on the MATh degree. And yes, it is really funny to me that the degree is named that when I have trouble with simple arithmetic at times.

[LIF] Distractions, distractions, distractions...

I think Ze Frank's vidpost on procrastination the other day was appropriate for me. Or rather it discribed my present state to a tee. I am 1/2 a page from completing the paper due tomorrow and I still have to re-read the short stories for my English midterm. I fell asleep trying to do the reading and now am late making supper. Last night I was up until 2AM working on the paper and managed to grind out a mere 4 pages??? I was scattered. This is that unrefined moment in every semester when the immensity of the workload (no matter how heavy or light it actually is) hits me. I always make it through, but it isn't pretty. I can usually grind through papers a lot faster than that and I am actually clocking some impressive reading speeds this semester (thanks Kenny). The problem is I've seen an entire season of Kenny vs. Spenny, surfed the majority of the blogs listed on this site - daily, and read almost all of the novel for my English class. Grant it the novel is reqired reading - but not just yet. It is just so well written. Medicine River if you are wondering, laugh out loud funny in places gripping with its realism.

Well, my wife is on her way home from work and I need to finishe supper, pack up my study materials and head out to the coffee shop where it is harder to procrastinate.

[LIF] I'm in Shock!

I was under the impression that I had two full semesters left on my degree, but it turns out that I had some advanced standing for my College course! So I'm two courses away from a BTh!!! Now one of them is an ethics course and I won't get that until the Fall, but wow that is amazing. Next week I'm meeting with the faculty head to discuss moving right into a Masters. That means I will need to do langauge studies this summer - French to start then I'm hoping to do German in the not too distant future. I'm still in shock!

[THO] Modern Church Mystic

I have to choose a 15th or early 16th century figure to research for my Modern Church History course. I really have my heart set on a mystic, I was thinking of Jeanne Guyon but she is born just a little too late. The ones that come readily to mind are: John of the Cross, Jakob Boehme and Theresa of Avila. I can only choose one and I would really like someone with a sense of Earthiness. I'm open to suggestions, I need to start some preliminary research soon.

Thoughts?