A little Exercise for Young Theologians

A little Exercise for Young Theologians by Helmut Thielicke is possibly one of the shortest books you will ever read. It is also quite possibly one of the most profitable books for anyone who considers themselves to be a recreational or studied theologian. The book is a short read, and will take you literally a few hours at most to read. I highly recommend it.

While speaking about the necessity of maintaining a relationship with God as you attempt to become learned in matters of theology, Thielicke says this, "a theological thought can only breathe in the atmosphere of dialogue with God". This is something that really struck home with me becuase I think one of my greatest fears as I have studied religion is the idea that as I learn more, I distance myself more and more from God.

He goes on to say that the only way theological study can be understood is when:

1) I recognize that the text is directed at ME
2)I become involved in formulating a reply

Thielicke claims that the first time someone transitioned from second person terminology regarding God to 3rd person (Genesis 3:1) is also the first time someone asked "Did God really say that?"

Educating myself Take 1

So As I have complained here before I find myself feeling completely uneducated these days and I feel that my life is suffering because of it.

I have come up with a schedule/life plan to help myself get educated and challenge myself. I have committed to:

• Staying off the internet when I get home at night.
• Watching less TV
• Reading things that stimulate my mind
• Working on my Greek, and doing a better job of making sure i don't lose it all.

So far to work on this I have been doing a pretty good job. I have failed a few nights, but mostly I have resisted the force to get online at night.

I have restricted my tv watching to a few less days a week.

I have read 2 articles in a church history journal, and am currently working my way through a book about hidden children during the holocaust.

next on my reading list is: A book by George Elliot, More of St. Francis, and A book about biblical interpretation.

The Shack

I will not attempt to give here a detailed review of the myriad of theological problems this book contains, but will limit myself to this: The theological implications of what he suggests about the saving nature of Christ are staggering, but since I do not claim to be a theologian or anything like that i will leave those issues for someone else.

Any book that claims to solve a theological claim as monumental in size as the problem of evil in this world and then proceeds to use simply emotional manipulation and underhanded tactics to do so has no place on a bookshelf of christian literature. Did the book make me cry? Yes. Did I find myself loving the main character as he struggled with the problem of losing his daughter, and his struggle to forgive the monster who killed her? Yes. But did this book actually attempt to make a theological argument against the problem of evil? No. It was emotional manipulation. Plain and simple.

I am a girl in need of education

So I am feeling very, untrained right now. I feel like In the months since I have been out of graduate classes I have greatly deteriorated in both mind and spirit. I feel like I am in danger of becoming a drone worker with no capacity for thought. I need some way to continue to challenge my mind, and I am feeling very lost about that right now.

HELP!

The Tatoo I am trying to build up enough courage to get. :)

War, Peace, and Non-resistance

So I am reading this book called War, Peace, and Non-Resistance by Guy Hershberger. It is very stimulating and very troubling. I find myself sometimes being further and further ostracized from my fellow Christians, and more and more incapable of finding any place where I can be happy comfortable to worship. In reading this book I am becoming convicted of what was previously simply a leaning before. 

I feel broken by the reality of how my convictions are driving me away from the body, rather than closer to it.

Constant Renewal

So funny. I began this blog as I was beginning a move to new part of the country, a new life, a new everything. That failed. I never once wrote or journaled about that experience, because I was so mired in pity, self-doubt, and apprehension. Now I am back to the land of light, back at Harding, and so many things have changed. 

I feel like I am at a crossroads of my life, and I don't know what or where I am going. Seminary was a catastrophe, and now I am working full time at Harding, and just dropped out of my classes for the semester, effectively making me a loser. 

I don't know what I want, where I am going, or what I am doing. I am just...freefalling. 

Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.