Wendell Berry

After class a student shared a great poem with me, so I thought that I would share it with you all. It captures a lot of what we talked about today in class. Oh to feel resurrection in our bones...

Sabbaths (IV)

The woods and pastures are joyous
in their abundance now
in a season of warmth and much rain.
We walk amidst foliage, amidst
song. The sheep and cattle graze
like souls in bliss (except for flies)
and lie down satisfied. Who now
can believe in winter? In winter
who could have hoped for this?

by Wendell Berry from Given (2005)

Thank you to all that shared today. I've really enjoyed this class. See most of you next term!

Peace,
Chelle

Atonement Slides and The Reading Report!

Hello to you all,

Perhaps this is the first time that you knew that this class had a blog, but here you are now!

First, here is the link to the power point slides for today's discussion on Atonement.

Second, here is the link to the Reading Report that is due in class next Wednesday.

Oh, and I heard a very disturbing thing today. Bacon fat may actually be beneficial to your health! Boy, that really messes with my brussel sprout/bacon atonement theory...

Great class today!!

Happy Advent!
Chelle

Luci Shaw at Elliot Bay Books

A few of you asked for details of Luci Shaw's book reading/signing on December 8th. Looks like she will be at Elliot Bay Book Company at 7PM on December 8th. This is for the launch of Image Magazine's Bearing the Mystery (A "best writing of the past twenty years" book).

Should be a very interesting evening!

-Chelle

Creative Project Rubric

Here is the link to the Creative Project Rubric. Keep in mind the language is around the MDiv Integrative project (integrating "text.soul.culture"). Your goal is to communicate a theological idea or question, so read the rubric in that light.

Blessings as you work,
Chelle

Research Papers

Hello All,

I just thought that I would give some thoughts on your process of writing.

First, the research papers are due no later than 4:30 on Monday November 23rd. This due date includes the papers for the creative projects. I will be in my office most of that day, so you can give them to me or to Molly at the front desk. If you are mailing in your projects, please talk to Jordan about where you should mail your papers. Officially, the creative portions are due the following Monday, the 30th, though you can turn your creative projects into me on Monday the 23rd.

Now, a little inspiration for all you writers, from Henri Nouwen's Theological Ideas in Education:

Most students...feel that they must first have something to say before they can put it down on paper. For them writing is little more than recording a preexistent thought. But...writing is a process in which we discover what lives in us. The writing itself reveals what is alive.

In another place he writes:

The deepest satisfaction of writing is precisely that it opens up new spaces within us of which we were not aware before we started to write. To write is to embark on a journey whose final destination we do not know....Writing is like giving away the few loaves and fishes one has, in trust that they will multiply in the giving. Once we dare to "give away" on paper the few thoughts that come to us, we start discovering how much is hidden underneath...and gradually come in touch with our own riches.

So, as you write, I pray that you will "come in touch with" your "own riches."

Grace and peace in the hard task of writing and analyzing crazy theology!!

Peace,
Chelle

Luci Shaw

This next Wednesday, November 18th, Luci Shaw, Christian poet and personal hero, will be honoring us with her presence. She will be talking about the Incarnation/Advent and reading some of her poems. She came to Theology I last year and everyone was drawn in by her soft-spoken wisdom. We are in for an amazing treat!

See you next Wednesday!

Chelle

"Like all art, poems are only hints and guesses
that draw our attention to something larger."

Luci Shaw

Pub Quiz!!

I hope you are all ready for the Pub Quiz tomorrow morning: "Name that Heresy!!"

(Oh no! Look out!! It is Arius over there. What's he doing here? I wonder if he'll show up on the quiz?)

Come prepared to share some food, work together, have some fun and maybe even learn something.

Peace,
Chelle

Thesis Generator and Radom Thoughts about the Short Papers

Here is a link to the Thesis Generator that Alex mentioned in class.

Also, here is a link to a guide to writing short papers that I wrote a number of years ago. It is a bit goofy, but it may help to focus your writing a bit.

One more thought about these short papers. Keep in mind, even if you are doing a more creative "conversation in a cafe" approach, that you need three specific things in these papers.

1. A clear statement at the beginning and end of your paper about your argument. This helps with the readability of your short paper. (Always think about ease of reading!)
   
2. An articulation of the assigned and suggested readings from the class. This doesn't have to be lengthy, but it should show that you have listened well to the opinions of others. In other words, have you read enough so that you understand some of the key issues surrounding this doctrine? If not, perhaps you should read another article, or go and talk with friends about the subject.
3. Some kind of statement about your own understanding of the doctrine. Hopefully your reading will help you land somewhere. You may be stuck between opinions but that is OK as long as you articulate that.

Remember, clear writing covers a multitude of sins. Read back through your paper. Are you convinced? Or do you just sound confused? Ease of reading and flow of argument in your writing are transferable skills! They are not just useful in theology. ;)

Peace,
Chelle

Lecture Today: November 4, 2009

Here is the link to today's material:

• Lecture
• Power Points ~ Part I & Part II
  

Peace,
Chelle

Power Point Slides, October 28th, 2009

Here is a link to the Power Point slides on Sin. Enjoy!

-Chelle

Earlier Lectures

There has been a request to post some of my earlier lectures, so here are links to my first two lectures:

• September 2nd (Intro to Theology)
  
• September 9th (Intro to Trinity, Nicean Creed, etc.)
  

These are both a bit outlinish, but have footnotes, etc.

Hope this helps.

-Chelle

October 7th: Thomas Tallis's "Spem in alium"

First off, here are the links to my lecture on Biblical Personhood and the power points from Wednesday's Class. There are some great quotes from Bruggemann that we didn't really get to in class, check it out! “

A few of you have asked about the choral piece that I played at the end of class on Wednesday. It is "Spem in Alium" by Thomas Tallis (c. 1570). Here is what Jeremy Begbie has to say about this piece: "Here forty different voices weave their way in and through each other…. Despite the sonic profusion, it never sounds ‘jammed’ or crowed. There is multiplicity without dissipation, togetherness without mutual overwhelming, each voice being enabled to become more fully itself: ‘As though being ourselves we’re more capacious.’" (Jeremy Begbie, "Through Music: Sound Mix," in Beholding the Glory, InterVarsity Press, 2000, 152.) Thanks, Jeremy. Great description!

Here is what they are singing:
I have never put my hope in another
except in you, God of Israel,
who will be angry yet become gracious.
And all the sins of man
in suffering you forgive.
Lord God, creator of heaven and earth:
look on our humility.

Here are a few videos of this piece from youtube.

Here is one that shows part of the score, with the Tallis Scholars singing:


Here is one with a slide show with images from all over Britain:


Here is one with the King Singers. The group sings each of the eight choir parts (40 voices in all). The video shows a bit of the complexity and breadth of this wonderful work:


Enjoy!
Chelle

God Maps/Self Maps

There seems to be quite a bit of anxiety over the God/Self Maps, so I thought that I would offer a small bit of advice.

Remember, this is just an exploration. As you are all working on this project, begin with your own questions and even your doubts. Perhaps you will only have questions and no answers. That is OK. This is your project. Don't try to please me. This about your thoughts regarding God and yourself. There are no right answers. The only wrong path would be to not bring yourself to the project.

So, explore with peace and freedom.

-Chelle

September 30th, Power Points and Lecture

Today we will be talking about about the relationship between God and humanity (and the whole of the created order). I know, it keeps you up at nights.

Soooo here it is... a rare occurrence these days, but here is the link to the lecture and the power points for Wednesday's class:

• Lecture
• Power Points

Peace,
Chelle

Lecture Today: September 23rd, 2009

Here is a link to today's lecture.

This lecture is not as polished in written form, but has all of the essentials of what we talked about in class. If you more details about anything in this lecture, let me know. I have written about most of this in one form of another in other places.

Peace,
Chelle

Sept 23rd Power Points

Here is the link to the Power Points for today.

Lecture Today: September 16th, 2009

Here is a link my lecture from today: Trinitarian Creation. The first half is what we talked about today, and the rest I'll talk about next week; although I will most likely change some of it. So read as much as you want. If this is helpful to post my written lectures as well as the power points, let me know and I can do it whenever I have a written lecture.

Peace,
Chelle

Power Point Slides September 16th, 2009

Here is the link to the power point slides.

-Chelle

Early Sources for Trinitarian Language

I was looking back over some of my notes and found the first use of the concept of "triad".

Theophilus of Antioch (180 AD), in his To Autolycus, discusses the shape of God's creative activity as Father, Logos and Sophia. Here is a quote:

• "He is God, who heals and gives life through Logos and Sophia. God made everything through Logos and Sophia, but by his Logos the heavens were made firm and by his Spirit all their power [Ps 32:6]." Theolophilus of Antioch, Ad Autolycum, tr. by Robert M. Grant, Oxford: Claredon Press, 1970, I.7.
  

In another place, he says:

• "the three days prior to the luminaries are types of the triad of God and his Logos and his Sophia. In the forth place is man, who is in need of light--so that there might be God, Logos, Sophia, Man." (the footnote to this: "This 'triad' is not precisely the Trinity, since in Theolophilus' mind man can be added to it.") Theolophilus of Antioch, Ad Autolycum, tr. by Robert M. Grant, Oxford: Claredon Press, 1970, II.15.
  

Though this is not a perfect articulation of trinitarian theology, you can see how Theolophilus is attempting to put words and concepts to something that was already actively believed in early Christendom.

Another source of early trinitarian thought is Irenaeus of Lyon (125-203). He also talks about God creating through the Logos and Wisdom (Sophia), but more specifically talks about the Son and the Holy Spirit as the two hands of the Father:

• "It was not angels...who made us, nor who formed us, neither had angels power to make an image of God, nor any one else, except the Word of the Lord, nor any Power remotely distant from the Father of all things. For God did not stand in need of these [beings], in order to the accomplishing of what He had Himself determined with Himself beforehand should be done, as if He did not possess His own hands. For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and spontaneously, He made all things..." Ireneaus, "Against Heresies," in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, Edinburgh: T&T Clark; Eerdmans, 1996, Book IV: chapter XX.1.

Well, I hope that gets you thinking about early sources of trinitarian language and theology. I find it interesting that the activity of creation is trinitarian in shape and motion for these early theologians of the Church.

Peace,
Chelle

Power Points for Sept 9th, 2009

Here are the ppts for last week (intro to theology lecture continued today).

Here are the ppts for this week's lecture on the Trinity.

-Chelle

Why Do Theology?

When we, as embodied human beings, experience the world around us, we tend to make certain assumptions or begin to ask questions. A few classic questions are: “Why is there something rather than nothing?” “What is the meaning of life?” or another way to ask this is “What brings meaning to life?” “Who are these people around me and what is my relationship to them?” “What is the definition of family in such a fragmented and alienated culture?”

These questions are inherently theological because they ask how we are in the world in relation to that which is not ourselves. In other words, is there anything beyond and/or outside of the individual self? And, if so, what is it?

We all ask these questions. The problem is, if we don’t take the time to explore and examine our presuppositions, then we are left with half articulated beliefs that seem proper or correct in the moment but doesn't have real substance for the long haul called life. So, when life happens and we come to the end of our understanding, we tend to either turn to anger and frustration or to simply reject faith all together; especially faith represented by the established church. I think that this is amazingly characteristic of our contemporary culture. How do we respond to this within our culture? Or, more honestly, how do we respond to this within ourselves?

Again, we ask the question, why do theology? Well, you are here at this graduate school doing a degree at this particular time and place. I assume that you are interested in theological questions or you would not be here because you would have gone to a different school. However, you are diverse in your goals. Some of you are counseling students, some are training to be pastors and some of you are not sure why you are here . (There is nothing wrong with not really knowing why you are doing a degree. That was me when I went to do my master's degree and now I'm teaching at a seminary. You never know where you'll end up!) In that context, the challenge of this class (which is my task as much as it is your task) is to learn to connect our individual questions about life, the universe and everything to the discipline and tradition of Christian theology. I will be honest. I don’t really know how to do that in a classroom, and I don’t know how to do that for each of you.

So, I would like to challenge you, to charge you with this task: work hard in this class to push your own questions outward in order to connect those personal questions to the wider tradition of theology. In the midst of this, it is OK to disagree with me, with one another and even yourself. (I saw a bumper sticker once that said: “Don’t believe everything you think.” It is a good philosophy when approaching theology!!)

I believe that theology should be transformative and even life-giving. But, in my own story, it wasn’t until theology was connected to my own questions that I could even understand the broader theological questions. In fact, it wasn’t until I connected theology and music that I became a theologian. Throughout my theological journey, I have worked to connect my questions and my ways of thinking with the traditional questions. It was hard work. I’m still working hard, and that is why I am here at Mars Hill Graduate School teaching. I want to understand how theology connects with life, with us as individuals and how the hard work of individual exploration can connect us back to a wider community that transcends time and space: throughout the world and throughout history. When we sing, when we proclaim and profess, when we preach and when we laugh and cry with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, we do so with Christians throughout the ages and the world. We sing “Holy, holy, holy,” together in the broadest sense of that word.

Therefore, as we start this class, we need to acknowledge that we are not the first people to ask the ultimate questions. We are also not the first ones to offer answers. It is the height of arrogance to say that we understand the relationship between God and the world better than those believers that lived 50, 150 or 1500 years ago. However, we do understand the world differently. We have a different context and a different Zeitgeist. But to answer these questions in isolation, ignoring the tradition, is naïve at best. Despite our attempts to answer these questions in isolation, we should acknowledge that we all have inherited many assumptions and beliefs, often unexamined. In this class, with respect I hope, we will work to question, critique, explore and sometimes even answer these inherited presuppositions.

So, why do theology? Because it hits us in the intimate places where we live. It shapes the way we are in the world.

To the Task!

Chelle

Vocab Quiz, Missing Words...

I have heard that there are a few words missing out of the Pocket Dictionary. Let me define them for you here:

Doctrine of God: The area of systematic theology that focuses on the study of God's being; e.g., God as Trinity or God as Creator.

Theological Anthropology: The area of systematic theology that focuses on the human person, in other words, in the light of who God is, who and what is humanity.

Dual Natures Doctrine: This doctrine articulates the paradox that Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine; i.e., one person but two natures.

ex nihilo: literally, "out of nothing". This doctrine holds that God created the world out of nothing rather than out of some kind of pre-existent chaos or formless matter.

Heterodoxy: Other or different belief.

Transgression: Sin.

Hope that helps!

-Chelle

Reading Pods!!

OK. So...this was a little more confusing that I was hoping. Here are links to the readings for each group. If you are not sure which group you are in, email Jordan.

African-American Liberation Theology
Anabaptist Theology: Thomas Finger
Baptist: Stan Grenz
Baptist: Roger Olson
Mike Higton
Church Fathers
Eastern Orthodox Theology
Feminist Theology
South and Central American Theology
Jurgen Moltmann
Kathryn Tanner

Here is the the final syllabus (without proper formatting): Constructing the Theological Mosaic. There is an up-to-date syllabus in the Theology I folder found at our.MHGS. That copy has better formatting, etc.

Let me know if you have any problems opening any of these documents.

Peace,
Chelle

A New Year!

Welcome to Constructing the Theological Mosaic!

You may be wondering, or not, why the term 'mosaic' is used in the title of this class. Why not just call it 'Systematic Theology' or 'Theology Survey' or some other such exciting name? To be honest, I don't really know. However, I can take a fairly educated guess.

This class was developed by the late theologian, Stan Grenz and he was good friends with Roger Olson, who wrote The Mosaic of Christian Belief. It seems that both of these theologians longed for a broader theological method that took seriously the theological tradition as well as current thinking about God and culture. Olson, in the intro to his book, talks about the need for a "both/and theology." What he wants is a theology that can hold an orthodox understanding of God while simultaneously holding our current questions about God, the universe and everything. In addition, if we are willing to look and explore, many of the questions that we ask today have been asked before, so we also look to the tradition to help us in our questioning and theologizing. Thus, our first week's reading turns to Olson to help us understand how we might begin the theological task together.

I believe that this background is an invitation to wander and wonder about God. We should all bring our questions to the table. Just like a pictorial mosaic, each of our offerings becomes a small tile as we work together to understand the God who is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. We will also read and read in this class, attempting to understand the questions of the tradition so that we might ask better questions.

To help broaden and deepen our discussions, the class will be divided into different reading groups. My hope in diversifying our readings is to create a different sort of mosaic, diverse views of God, Trinity, creation, humanity and the person and work of Jesus Christ. You will all be given an opportunity to bring this diversity to our class discussions. The goal is to search out the "least inadequate language" through which to talk about God, as theologian Colin Gunton puts it.

So, I invite you to bring yourselves, bring your questions and bring your minds to the theological mosaic. We will read, sort, discuss and listen to a variety of voices. Come and help create the theological mosaic with me and all your classmates.

See you next Wednesday at 9:30AM (yes, that is 9:30AM).

Peace,
Chelle (a.k.a. Dr. Stearns)

Final Schedule For April 17th, 2009

Here is the official schedule for our Theological Mosaic Extravaganza!

Time	Name	What	Media Needs
10:00	Kerry & friends	Liturgy	Mics, Projector
10:30	Ed & Chelle	Announcements
10:45	Chelle	Lecture-ish
11:20	Break
11:30	Heather Smith	Performance Piece	Total Darkness
12:00-12:45	Parallel Tracks: Choose One	Large Classroom: Ali Bradford Sara Vander Woude Ben Olson & Steph Shaffer
		M3: Barbara Tantrum, Shannon Stauffer & Friends (God as Mother) Elise Cadwell
		Small Classroom: Informal Sharing of Paper Topics
1:00-2:00	Lunch	Downstairs	look at art, etc.
2:00	Alison & Amy	Songs, presentation	4 mics, mic stands & doc projector
2:30	Poetry Slam!!	Andrew Bauman Abigail Jimenez Campbell White	mics
3:00	Small Group Share Time	Papers? Thoughts from the Class? Wander Freely and Look at the Art?
3:30	Chris Fine	Song
	Brent Brownlee	Song and Video
	Damon Vrabel	Song
4:15	Austin & Kevin	Movie	Darkness, Projector
4:30	Chelle	wrap-up or down	Clarity

Schedule For April 17th (Tentative)

Here is a first go at a schedule for this Friday's Class. If you are not on this schedule and would like to be, please let me know right away!!!

Time	Name	What	Media Needs
10:00	Kerry & friends	Liturgy	Mics, Projector
10:30	Ed & Chelle	Announcements
10:45	Chelle	Lecture-ish
11:20	Break
11:30	Heather Smith	Performance Piece	Total Darkness
12:00-12:45	Parallel Tracks	Large Classroom: Ali Bradford Elise Cadwell Sara Vander Woude
		M3: Paper Presentations Barbara Tantrum, Shannon Stauffer & Friends (God as Mother) Other creative presentations?
		Small Classroom: Informal Sharing of Paper Topics
12:45-2	Lunch	Downstairs	look at art, etc.
2:00	Alison & Amy	Songs, presentation	4 mics, mic stands & doc projector
2:30	Poetry Slam!!	Abigail Jimenez Campbell White Andrew Bauman	mics
3:00	Small Group Share Time	Papers? Thoughts from the Class?
3:30	Chris Fine	Song
	Brent Brownlee	Song and Video
	Damon Vrabel	Song
4:15	Austin & Kevin	Movie	Darkness, Projector
4:30	Chelle	wrap-up or down	Clarity, Brevity, Levity?

Creative Project Rubric

Here is a link to the Creative Project Rubric.

-chelle

Reading Report Link

Exactly. Here is the reading report link, one more time so that it is obvious where it is.

Cheerio!
Chelle

Papers Due

Just to let you all know, from this point on the paper due date of Monday, April 20th is firmly set. If papers are turned in late, they will be automatically docked 1/3 of a grade. No paper turned in after the morning of April 24th will be accepted without an approved incomplete for the class. (No graduating students can apply for an incomplete without it affecting their status as a graduate of MHGS.)

(If you have already spoken to me about a different due date, then that is OK for you, so don't worry.)

If you have questions, please ask either Ed or myself.

Thanks!
Chelle

Turning in Journals this Wednesday

Hello All,

Journals are due this coming Wednesday. Please turn in all materials to the front desk. (I'll warn Molly.) I'm around all day, so I'll go down periodically to pick up your work.

If you really want to hand your stuff in directly to my greedy, wee hands, I'll be in my office from about 1PM on. I'll be with students. Just knock and the door will be opened for you. (You know, that sounds vaguely familiar...)

Peace,
Chelle

Things coming up!

OK. Y'all have a couple of assignments are due over the next week or so.

One of them is the reading report or bibliography. Here is a LINK to a document that lists all of the assigned readings for the term. That is due on Monday, April 20th.

Here are the dates due for the other assignments:

Journal (both options): Wednesday, April 15th

Creative Project: Wednesday, April 15th (Your projects can be brought to school on the 15th or the 16th. We'll be hanging up art projects on the Thursday. Any volunteers to work on displaying projects, etc.? If you are playing music or performing something on April 17th, your performance is your 'turning in.')

Research Paper: Monday, April 20th

If you have questions, let me know!!

Peace,
Chelle

Classic Religious Sectarian Joke

OK, here is a little random, cynical religious humor for y'all:

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump. I ran over and said: “Stop. Don’t do it.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” he asked.

“Well, there’s so much to live for!”

“Like what?”

“Are you religious?”

He said: “Yes.”

I said: “Me too. Are you Christian or Buddhist?”

“Christian.”

“Me too. Are you Catholic or Protestant?”

“Protestant.”

“Me too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?”

“Baptist.”

“Wow. Me too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?”

“Baptist Church of God.”

“Me too. Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?”

“Reformed Baptist Church of God.”

“Me too. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?”

He said: “Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915.”

I said: “Die, heretic scum,” and pushed him off.

(Hey, I did say that it was a cynical joke!!)

Writer on Psychology and Spirituality

Here are a few writers that have done integrative work in Psychology and Spirituality.

• L. Gregory Jones
• F. LeRon Shults and Steven Standage
• Mark McMinn

Peace,
Chelle

Conversations about Satan

Well, I was just reading the Seattle Times and came across an interesting story. I guess a conversation is about to take place here in Seattle about the existence of Satan. I'm not sure why these particular people have been asked to participate, but it nice to see that Marc Driscoll (of the other Mars Hill) remains in the national news.

If anyone tapes this, I would love to watch it!

-chelle

Dr. Johnson on Millennialism

Here is a link to Kristen's power point slides for her Millennialism lecture.

We are still working on Trygve's slides! Stay tuned!!

-chelle

Power Point Slides from My Lectures this Term

Here are all of my Power Point Slides from my lectures. I combined a couple of them. I meant to post them all at one point...

Well here they are:

• Pneumatology I
• Pneumatology II
• The Church
• Shalom/Heaven/Hell

I hope this helps you prepare for the exam.

Peace,
Chelle

Exam Questions

This is a closed book exam. Please do not cut and paste from other sources or previous writing. However, you can look at the questions beforehand and prepare for the exam. As you are writing, you should refer to the assigned readings from class for it will do great things for your grade (hint, hint). But you are not required to formally cite your sources. It would be helpful if you knew which author the idea came from but you don’t have to give the article title or page number.

Choose TWO of the following questions to answer. There is a two-hour time limit to your writing of the exam. The exam is due by 4:30 on Friday, March 20^th. If you are mailing the exam to MHGS, the exam must be post-marked by March 20^th.

1. What are some ways that the concept of ‘hospitality’ was defined throughout the course of the class? How would you define hospitality for yourself? Do you think hospitality is possible (ala Boersma)?

2. Do you think that the Holy Spirit is a ‘person’? (Remember to define the term ‘person’.) What difference does this make to your own understanding of who God is in your life and in the world?

3. Do you think the Church is a sacramental community? What difference does this make in your vision of the Church? And what role does the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist play in your understanding of who the Church is in the world? In other words, do the sacraments really make a practical difference to the practice of faith?

4. What is the difference between the ‘seen’ Church and the ‘unseen’ Church? How does your Pneumatology shape your understanding of who is inside and outside the Church? How does your Ecclesiology shape your understanding of who is inside and outside the Church? How does your Eschatology shape your understanding of who is inside and outside the Church?

5. How would you articulate your understanding of ultimate hope? Does this hope make a practical difference in your everyday life? And how does (if it does) the Resurrection of Jesus Christ fit into your vision of eschatological hope?

Due Dates for The Theological Mosaic

As you enter the final month or so of the school year, it is wise to review your various assignments and the dates that each are due. So, for your convenience, here are your due dates for the rest of this class.

Exam: Questions up on March 16th. Exams are due in by 4:30 on Friday March 20th.

Journal (both options): April 15th

Paper for Creative Project: March 13th

Creative Project: April 15th

Research Paper: April 20th

Reading Report/Bibliography: April 20th (For your convenience, here is a link to a list of the readings. You can turn in this form.)

If you have questions or need guidance for any of these assignments, feel free to contact either Ed or myself. I have office hours on Wednesday afternoons, but am able to meet at other times if that does not work for you.

Peace,
Chelle

Resources for you!

Throughout this week, I'll be putting up various resources for you. I'll mark them individually for you so that you can find them easily in the weeks to come.

For example, here is the power point from my lecture on Saturday. I have included a number of new slides to help with clarification. Sorry for the jump in my logic when we got to heaven! That will teach me to squeeze together two lecture at the last minute!!!

Trygve & Kristen's power points will be posted in a separate blog post. We are experiencing the inhospitable divide between the worlds of the PC and the Mac. Yes, one day even PCs and Macs will be reconciled with one another. However, until that eschatological event happens, we will search for alternative means of posting the slides.

The peace of Christ to you all. Not an easy peace, not an insignificant peace, not a halfhearted peace, but the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

-Chelle

Schedule for March 13th & March 14th, 2009

Our Guests this Weekend are Dr. Kristen and Rev. Trygve Johnson from Hope College in Holland, MI. I am very excited that they are coming to share with us. Tryg, the campus pastor at Hope, is a very talented sermonator and Kristen is one of the brightest (and most beautiful) women that I know. The Johnson's are thoughtful and interesting folks, so I hope that you will greet them with a very warm Mars Hill welcome. They will take some time on Friday to share their own stories with you. It should be a very thought-provoking weekend that will send you on your way wondering what the resurrection of the body matters to your own life!! Good stuff!

Peace,

Chelle

Friday March 13th (Start Time is 1PM!!!!!)

1.00 ~ Quiz

1:15-2.00 ~ Introductions: Our stories, overview of the weekend, key ideas and readings

2.00-3.15 ~ Lecture: Imagination, story and hope by Trygve

3.15-3.30 ~ Break

3.30-4.45 ~ Lecture: Eschatology Matters--Recent History of millennialism & evangelicalism by Kristen

4.45-6.00 ~ Large Group Discussion

Saturday March 14th (Start Time is 10AM!!!)

10:00-11:45 ~ Discussion: please read the N.T. Wright and the Hart/Bauckham articles

12-1 ~ Lecture: Shalom and the Story of God's Redemption by Chelle

1-2 ~ Lunch!

2-3 ~ Lecture: Barth and Moltmann by Kristen

3-3:15 ~ Break

3:15-3:45 ~ Small Group Discussion on Lewis' The Great Divorce

3:50-5 ~ Bringing it all together: Panel Discussion on Ressurection and Eschatology

A funny for you as you work on your papers!!

Of course none of you would ever sink to this level. On the other hand, the title of Calvin's paper is very reminiscent of many a dissertation title...

Exam Next Week

For all of you who may have forgotten or who are just nervous about such things, I thought that I would write a little reminder that yes indeed we have an exam next week. I will post the questions on the class blog on Monday. There will be about 5 questions, but you will just choose two to write on.

The exam is due by4:30 on Friday. (If you need to mail to MHGS the exam, it needs to be postmarked by that Friday.)

What is the purpose of an exam such as this? My hope is that the exam will be an opportunity for you to express some of your thoughts and opinions about the readings and the class sessions. This means that Ed will be searching for your use and understanding of the assigned readings as well as the integration of the content of the class within your own theological thinking. This is a closed-book exam, but you will have some time to think through the questions before you sit down to your two hours of writing.

I can't really say that this should be a fun activity, but I do hope that it will be fulfilling in some manner. I know that I enjoyed reading your exams last term. Some really good integrative thinking going on inside your heads!!!

See you tomorrow!
Chelle

Vocab for Friday's Quiz:

1. Eschatology
2. Eschaton
3. Telos
4. Parousia
5. Utopia
6. Sabbath
7. Millennium
8. Premillennialism
9. Postmillennialism
10. Amillennialism
11. Hope
12. Resurrection
13. Son of Man
14. Day of the Lord
15. Creator ex nihilo
16. Eucharist/The Lord’s Supper
17. Shalom
18. Revelation
19. Hell
20. Heaven
21. The Kingdom of God
22. Apocalyptic

WATCH THIS SPACE!!!

Please watch this space for announcements this week. For example, class begins at 1PM this Friday. And yes, we do have a vocab quiz at 1PM this Friday. Thanks for asking!

Peace,
Chelle

"Jesus Prayer" Song

For those of you interested in the song shared by Tim Conder in Saturday afternoon's class, here is a link to the Jesus Prayer song.

Peace,
Chelle

Schedule for February 20th & 21st, 2009

Here is the schedule for this coming weekend's class:

Friday February 20th, 2009:

10:00: Quiz
10:30: Intro to the Church
11:15: Conversation with Dr. Hollins: Hospitality: Being Host and Guest in Church
12:30: Small Group Discussion: B. Salter McNeil, "Be a Bridge Builder"

1:00: Lunch!!

2:00: Panel Discussion: "The Pastor & The Therapist: Partnership or Competition?"
3:30: A short wander through the Doctrine of Election

(Don't forget that there is a reception at MHGS on Friday night starting at 5:15. The students that participated in the Artist's Residency over the Christmas Break will be sharing some of their work. There will be food!)

Saturday February 21st, 2009:

10:00: Dr. Ron Ruthruff, New Horizons Ministries, "Table Fellowship in the Gospel of Luke"
11:30: (if time) Small Group Discussion on Boersma, "The Church as the Community of Hospitality"

12:00: Lunch!! (The MHGS Bookstore will be open!)

1:00: Tim Conder, Pastor of Emmaus Way Church in North Carolina & MHGS Board Member. Tim will be leading us in discussions (small and large group) on Church, Sacrament, and the Body Politic. Please read both the Cavanaugh (on the e-reserve on mhgs.edu) and the Yoder (on reserve in the library).

See y'all tomorrow!!
Chelle

Quiz on Friday, Part II: Terms!!

Here, specifically, are the words that could be on the quiz tomorrow:

Filioque

Spirit/spirit

Pneumatology

The Holy Spirit

Charism – plural of Charismata

Charismata

Ecumenical

Soteriology

Sacrament

Christology

Ecclesiology

Sanctification

Justification

Atonement

Pneumatikós

Pneumatikói

Pneuma

Ruach

Paraclete

Hypostasis

Pentecost

Perichoresis

Quiz on Friday February 20th, 2009

I have received a number of anxious emails about the quiz coming up this Friday, so I thought that I would give a little guidance via the class blog. If you don't get this until too late, I do apologize.

First, the quiz starts right at 10AM, so please be on time. We will grade the quiz in class, so no late test takers.

Next. Where to find definitions? I would suggest going to the reference section of the library to look at the Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms by Stan Grenz and friends. It is a good source for the majority of terms on the Vocab List.

Where to find the other terms? There are two different power point presentations from the first weekend of the class. Here is the first one. Here is the second one. Hopefully that will cover most of the Vocab. You can always check on-line dictionaries as well.

The quiz on Friday is multiple choice, so don't panic. It is just meant to help you learn the Vocab for the class. If you don't know your vocab, you can't follow a discussion on theology!

(What is pneuma anyway? Isn't that a kind of drill?)

Peace,
Chelle

Putting it together... with Pithy Statements...

OK, some of these descriptors are more 'pithy' than others, but it should at least help you to sort through who they are and what they think. Well, kinda. (That is my disclaimer!)
Peace,
Chelle

1. Augustine: The Spirit is the bond of Love between the Father and the Son.

2. Irenaeus: The Son and the Spirit are the two hands of God.

3. St. Basil: The Spirit is the perfecting cause.

4. Wolfhart Pannenberg: The Spirit is a force field. (NOT like on Star Trek!)

5. Jurgen Moltmann: "wherever there is a passion for life, there the Spirit of God is operating" (Karkkainen, Pneumatology, 126)

6. Karl Barth: the Spirit is always in relation to Christ, mediating Christ (the Word of Christ) to people's hearts OR the dude I wish had a more robust pneumatology...

7. Clark Pinnock: The Flame of Love OR The sex dude... (the definition from the group!)

8. John Zizioulas: Eastern Orthodox. The Trinity as an Ontology of Communion. The Spirit and the Son work in parallel: "The work of the Spirit is not the subordinate to the work of the Son, nor is Pentecost a continuation of the incarnation but rather its sequel, its result." (Karkkainen, Pneumatology, 109)

9. Mary Daly: Radical, separaratist, feminist; post-Christian. (Where is that ax aimed?)

10. Rosemary Radford Ruether: Sexism and God-Talk (throw in a little Feminist gnosticism and you got it.)

11. Karl Rahner: The Spirit has a universal orientation. He talks about 'anonymous Christians', as people who are Christians but just don't know it yet. In other words, the Spirit is at work in them.

12. Robert Jenson: Lutheran theologian who believes that the Spirit is moving Christianity back to being one Holy catholic/Catholic Church.

13. Stan Grenz: We are made in the image of God, therefore we have been created for community. The Spirit constitutes and dwells in the Community of God.

14. Elizabeth Schussler-Fiorenza: Feminist theologian/biblical scholar who rigorously and passionately argues for the recognition of women in the establishing and forming of the Christian tradition.

15. Mark I. Wallace: Green or Ecological Pneumatology.

Can you match the Name to the Picture of the Theologian?

1. Augustine
2. Irenaeus
3. St. Basil
4. Wolfhart Pannenberg
5. Jurgen Moltmann
6. Karl Barth
7. Clark Pinnock
8. John Zizioulas
9. Mary Daly
10. Rosemary Radford Ruether
11. Karl Rahner
12. Robert Jenson
13. Stan Grenz
14. Elizabeth Schussler-Fiorenza
15. Mark I Wallace