Galatians 2

Assignment:
The format of the paper follows that of a relatively new commentary series published by Baker Academic entitled Paideia: Commentaries on the New Testament. Designed for students in religious and theological programs and yet accessible to laymen, the series reflects the kind of papers that will be done for this course. Quoting from the editors of Paideia one blogger notes:

Each commentary deals with the text in terms of larger rhetorical units; these are not verse-by-verse commentaries. This series thus stands within the stream of recent commentaries that attend to the final form of the text. Such reader centered literary approaches are inherently more accessible to liberal arts students without extensive linguistic and historical-critical preparation than older exegetical approaches, but within the reader-centered world the sanest practitioners have paid careful attention to the extratext of the original readers, including not only these readers’ knowledge of the geography, history, and other context elements reflected in the text but also to their ability to respond correctly to the literary and rhetorical conventions used in the text. Paideia commentaries pay deliberate attention to this extratextual repertoire in order to highlight the ways in which the text is designed to persuade and move its readers."

Critical Review - A Biblical History of Israel

Assignment:
Students will write a critical review of the historiographical methodology proposed in A Biblical History of Israel pages 1-104.

Course Reflection - Church and the World

As a student enrolled at RTS-DC and working full-time I have a very busy schedule. The virtual campus allows me to supplement my course work and work towards graduation at a faster and more flexible pace than only taking DC classes allows. I am on the Masters of Divinity track and would like to be able to complete my studies and schedule my courses without having to take vacation time every summer for class when I can sign up for virtual classes.

As a student of philosophy I have always enjoyed studying and comparing Christianity to other philosophies of the world that have influenced and been influenced by theology. Learning the history and the context of those ideas helps to equip one to appreciate them for the areas they offer truth, but also to be ready to correct them in areas where they stray from orthodoxy. There were opportunities to take another class in place of this one that focused more on the contemporary debate over post-modernism. I chose to take this class though because of the focus on Barth and Schleiermacher who have influenced both Christian and non-Christian thought so much. These are areas that most students of theology constantly call into question and I desired to understand them better. This class certainly equipped me to understand and correct the errors in their thought and showed the context that we find the church in today. In light of the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of the church to penetrate the culture today, I found this class to offer great insight for equipping the church of tomorrow to be more kingdom focused and Christ-centered.

True Beauty

Assignment:
You are to prepare a 7-10 page review of Ken Myers’ All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes. Evaluate Myers on the relation between Christian faith and popular culture. Assess Myers’ book in the light of contemporary theology and the various ways in which the church has interacted with contemporary culture. Write your paper as if addressing informed members of your church. How would you address their present concerns about popular music, the arts, television, and the media? You may assume they know little about contemporary theology, but they are aware of the ineffectiveness of the church at the end of the 20th century. Avoid the temptation to preach. Focus your attention, instead, on helping them to understand popular culture as enabled by Myers’ work.

Course Reflection - History of Christianity I

As a student enrolled at RTS-DC and working full-time I have a very busy schedule. The virtual campus allows me to supplement my course work and work towards graduation at a faster and more flexible pace than only taking DC classes allows. I am on the Masters of Divinity track and would like to be able to complete my studies and schedule my courses without having to take vacation time every summer for class when I can sign up for virtual classes.

History has never quite been something I was drawn to. I like the idea of it and I liked knowing when significant events occurred, but would never consider myself a history buff. What I learned from this class however, was a greater appreciation for God’s work throughout the history of the Church. From the brutal persecutions of the early church to the intellectual exercises of scholastics in the 11th and 12th centuries it is clear that God was and is at work. I especially appreciated learning about the councils that affected our understanding of doctrinal truth today, and how the collective body came together to work through these very difficult decisions. It became clear that, even though there were people who were deemed heretics and were on the wrong side of orthodoxy that they weren’t all malicious I their desire to spread their misunderstandings. It should give the church pause today, when dealing with misunderstandings of truth and hearts of compassion to share the wisdom of church fathers who have dealt with these topics in the past. This course has equipped me to better understand where and how the church was formed, and to trust in preserving work of God to hold his bride accountable to an unwavering truth throughout history of the past, present and future.

New Testament Canon

Assignment:
The paper itself needs to develop and unfold your subject, giving enough of the background by way of introduction to show the significance of your subject and to enable your reader to ascertain your purpose in writing the paper. Develop your subject by selecting and presenting data that you have accumulated, and include any additional background that will be helpful. Then analyze, synthesize and evaluate what you have found. Your personal interaction with the data is important, showing your line of thinking, your analysis, your synthesis and evaluation.

Christ our Humble Shepherd and Exalted King is Victorious

Assignment:
Sermon manuscript on 1 Peter 5: 6-11.