Guggenheim Redeemer and Famous Dead People

Travelled back to NYC yesterday. Visited the Guggenheim, possibly the second coolest art gallery building I've been in. (I think the Tate Modern in London is the best.) The art works themselves were pretty amazing, but I only recognised the Picasso stuff. Why do I appreciate art work more when I'm familiar with it?

One thing about being in NYC is spotting famous people. Everyone is either famous, or trying to look famous. Yesterday I'm sure I spotted, among others, James Joyce (I know, he's dead, but really this one guy was the spit of James Joyce), Ewan Mcgregor, Kathy Burke.

Early evening I attended Redeemer Presbyterian Church again. I picked up more insights about this phenomenal church. The most impressive thing was recognising David Bixler. Who is David Bixler? Well, I don't know the guy. Last night at 5pm he was saxophonist in the Jazz worship band. A few weeks ago I watched him as part of Chico O'Farrill's Jazz Orchestra.

Cool! But what's cooler - playing at a New York Jazz club, or playing in a church worship band at the coolest church in the city? Part of Redeemer's vision includes building New York into a great city for all people through 'a gospel movement that brings personal conversion, community formation, social justice and cultural renewal'. This link shows another aspect of this big project.

It's interesting how un-Presbyterian all this feels - the opening reflection on the order of service last night was a quote from Bono about Karma and Grace. At the mic Tim Keller looked more like a stand up comedian than a Presbyterian minister. Lots to learn... but what are the Scottish equivalents to New York jazz clubs and multinational CEO business conferences?

Finis

Today is Friday, May 11. Bar the (graduation) shouting the academic year at Princeton Theological Seminary is over. Last final exams were yesterday for almost everyone. At least three of my friends have already gone home for the summer. People are leaving the dorms today too, and I guess that by Monday the only people left will be those waiting for commencement. This morning I returned the remaining library books in my room, including J. Stuart Russell's fascinating The Parousia.

My first blogpost from Princeton was fairly lengthy. Reading it again, I'm surprised how accurate some of my first impressions were. I have indeed had a great year. I've received much in almost every way, so that Luke 12:48 is on my mind these days. It's too early to reflect on what I have gained, or to assess how I have changed. At the moment I'd say that many of my thoughts and ideas about church, theology, and modern life in the West have been confirmed by my time here.

Over the last months I've learned that the world is a lot bigger and a lot more complicated, and I remain rather naive in the middle of it all. But I've decided that the Christian gospel is big enough and simple enough to embrace the world in all its complexity. The difficult thing about the gospel is not understanding it, but accepting it. It can appear too good to be true. It can seem too fantastic to be real. It can be attractive and it can be shocking.

Based on Psalm 2, and some verses in Paul's letters to the Corinthians, the truth of Jesus Christ is crisis and consummation. Christ's final appearing will be the most welcome and the most obnoxious of all events. A few people long for it. Others scorn the thought. Many are hopelessly ignorant of the prospect. If Christianity is true, all people will experience this dreadful and glorious day, it will be for all either the most welcome or the most obnoxious of events.

One day Christ's new creation will be manifest for all to see.

Things I didn't know: No 13

The LA Dodgers baseball team used to be the Brooklyn Dodgers, not to be confused with the Brooklyn Dodgers football team. The Dodgers major league baseball franchise moved to LA in the 1950s.

I learned this yesterday evening while watching the New York Yankees destroy the Texas Rangers at Yankee stadium in Bronx, NY.

Jenny Smith also taught me the difference between home and away baseball jerseys. I think the idea is that the home team jersey is always white with stripes. That's something you need to know in the US.

Last night I might just have graduated as a potential resident alien in the US. I sang God Bless America with gusto, ate hot dogs, and almost bought a baseball cap and jersey.

Sunday School art

Poptastic Lyrics of Pop: No 2

Say if it could be that we once passed like strangers,
Long before the love we ever new

Children of Men

Watched this film for the first time today. Why all the fuss? All the reviews I read, and many of my friends, told me it was a great movie. I fail to understand the enthusiasm, can someone explain it to me?

Exciting

Managed to watch both 2nd leg Champions League semi-final matches live over the last two days. Just back from an afternoon in Winberies watching AC Milan destroy Man Utd. Utd were very disappointing. Milan looked immense. As for Liverpool and Chelsea, watched that game in NYC. Can't wait to see if Liverpool can do it again against AC. But Chelsea! I don't know what, but something's not right at Stamford Bridge at the moment. One thing I noticed - Lampard looked lost. That must be a worry for England and Chelsea fans.

In my spare time I'm reading some more about eschatology, including G.E. Ladd's The Blessed Hope, and John McDowell's Hope in Barth's Eschatology.

Spot the Difference

Poptastic Lyrics of Pop: No 1

'But you’ve been cold to me so long, I’m crying icicles instead of tears...'

From a Jim Steinman song.

Things I didn't know: Nos 11 & 12

If it hadn't been for the U.S. there would be no modern Europe. (Depends how you define modern I suppose. But Matt Frei is always worth reading. Go for it Gore!)

Jonathan Woodgate has had a rough time with injuries in his career, and never settled at Real Madrid. Another case of just how good could a player have been.

Finished

As of this evening I am finished my work as a Th.M. student at Princeton Theological Seminary. Depending on how far my money stretches the next five weeks will be fun.

Mum and Dad arrive in New Jersey on May 16 for a one week stay. Otherwise I'll be taking things easy.

First Edwards Paper

Just got my first Edwards paper back today, (not this one). I've posted it here. Not sure I really say very much with this paper on Edwards and the incarnation, but I'm still curious about how Edwards manages to be 'at times on the brink of formal heresy' in his understanding. I might also post the complete version of my second paper, which amounts to a summary of The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God.

Charity

This goes out to all my good mates out there. Mates, I don't like to talk about it, but I tend to do a little bit of work for charity every now and again. This morning, took part in a fund raising walk for The Crisis Ministry.

In a day full of excitement, I also discovered that dollar bills can survive a standard wash cycle in a dorm laundry washing machine.

Tonight I'll be listening to some friends sing their little hearts out in Princeton University Chapel.

MLJ 'preached liberation theology' shocker

News is breaking that Martyn Lloyd-Jones, a famous 20thC Calvinistic preacher in the UK, known to readers of this blog, has been shown to be a preacher of liberation theology. An amateur church historian, currently working at Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS), claims Lloyd-Jones has been misunderstood for the last fifty years.

'I've been reading through some sermons that MLJ published under the title Spiritual Depression,' said David Shedden, a student coming to the end of a one year course in theology at PTS. 'I couldn't believe what I was reading near the end of the book. I'd always taken MLJ to be radically conservative in everyway.'

Shedden refers to MLJ's sermon, Learning to be Content, a sermon on Phil4:10-12. The sermon series was written for publication in the early 1960s. The following extended quote is at the heart of Shedden's thesis that perhaps MLJ was more radical than we tend to assume:

'It is characteristic of this particular generation in which we live to find a tendency on the part of large numbers of people to feel that the Christian gospel has been a hindrance to the forward march of mankind, that it has been a drag on progress, that it has been nothing but "the dope of the people". They say that it (Godliness with contentment is great gain, 1Tim6:6, cf Matt6:34) is a doctrine which has taught people to put up with all kinds of conditions whatever they may be, and however disgraceful and unjust. There has been a violent political reaction against the gospel of Jesus Christ because people have so misinterpreted this kind of text as to put it in this way:

"The rich man in his castle, The poor man at his gate, God made them, high or lowly, And order'd their estate"

Now that is just rubbish and a blank denial of what the apostle teaches here... "The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate". Were men meant to be like that and to stay like that for ever? The Bible never teaches that; it does not say than man should be content to remain in poverty, that he should never endeavour to 'better' himself. There is nothing in the Bible that disputes the proposition that all men are equal in the sight of God and that all are entitled to equality of opportunity.'

p 279, Spiritual Depression by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1965.

Ryle'd

'Happy is he who has learned to expect little from Parliaments or Convocations, from Statesmen or from Bishops, and to look steadily for Christ's appearing! He is the man who will not be disappointed.'





The quote is taken from the 1867 preface to Coming Events and Present Duties. Being Miscellaneous Sermons on Prophetical Subjects. J.C. Ryle

I don't think Ryle's statement should be understood as anti-government, as if Ryle was necessarily a 'small government is good' conservative when it came to political questions. Too many recent conservative governments have squandered the trust that was placed in them by conservative Christians. I doubt there is a conservative political party today that Christians can vote for with a clear conscience, knowing that the party is worthy of trust.

I've got no idea where Ryle placed himself on the political spectrum of his day. I think the good thing about Ryle's statement is that it puts everything in proper perspective. Regardless of how we vote, Christians look forward to an event that will change everything. We should not look for heaven on earth apart from the heavenly reign that Christ will bring about when he chooses. But at the same time we should work for the good of all people, including our politicians and governments.

Jazz

Spent second half of yesterday in NYC. Despite storms and flooding it was a great time. Ate real chips, had dinner in a French cafe, then ended up in a world famous jazz club - Birdland - which was... wait for it... niceee! Perhaps even... grreeattt. Or, smooth.

Of course, I couldn't help think about The Fast Show's Jazz Club skits. Check out this You Tube link for a reminder.

Sounds like...

...the genuine article. This post is closer to the truth than it knows. One standing joke in Alex Hall is that I'm from up-state New York, or Glasgow, Montana! And I've been told, on good authority, that a Scottish accent secures a premium on your basic stipend. Nice work if you can get it.

Afternoon Work

The draft of a chunk of my final paper for Prof Lee's Jonathan Edwards class.

Things I didn't know: Nos 9 & 10

The Moon is moving away from the Earth at a rate of 4cm per year. The cumulative effect of this is that a few million years from now solar eclipses will not occur. The Moon will be too far away from the Earth to block out light from the Sun getting to the Earth.

Paul McCartney's first name is James. He is Sir James Paul McCartney.

Counterfeit goods

"It may be observed that the more excellent anything is, the more will be the counterfeits of it. Thus there are many more counterfeits of silver and gold than of iron and copper: there are many false diamonds and rubies, but who goes about to counterfeit common stones? Though the more excellent things are, the more difficult it is to make anything that shall be like them in their essential nature and internal virtues; yet the more manifold will the counterfeits be, and the more will art and subtlety be displayed in an exact imitation of the outward appearance. ... So it is with Christian virtues and graces; the subtlety of Satan, and men's deceitful hearts, are wont chiefly to be exercised in counterfeiting those that are in highest repute. So there are perhaps no graces that have more counterfeits than love and humility, these being virtues wherein the beauty of a true Christian does especially appear."

Jonathan Edwards, in this quote taken from Part I, section VII of The Religious Affections, struggles with the problem of discerning good love from bad love, real love from false love, lasting love from passing love. Edwards was writing in a Christian context, and he was in the middle of discussions and debates about identifying real grace, real religion, real marks of the life of God in human individuals. Can the principle Edwards introduces above be applied today? What excellent things are counterfeited in 2007?

Things I didn't know: No 8

Ian McShane, the English actor best known in the UK for playing Lovejoy in the BBC drama series of that name, had a secondary role in the US soap opera Dallas. The last notable role I remember McShane playing is gangster/mob boss in the film Sexy Beast, a gritty movie which includes a remarkable and chilling perfomance by Ben Kingsley as a psychotic mobster.

John Travolta is signed up to play J.R. Ewing in the planned movie version of Dallas.

What do you study?

Yesterday I needed to buy some goodies at Wawa. As I was standing in the cashier queue the woman behind me noticed my PTS sweatshirt:

'Ah, are you from the theological seminary?'

'Emm, yes, ...'

'Oh, wonderful. Good for you. What do you study?'

I've been asked this question before, and I never know the best answer. In this instance I was sure that 'theology' was not the right reply. At a party a few years ago, while chatting to some medical students, I struggled to describe what theology actually was. I didn't think it would be any easier this time round. So, I tried to change the subject, giving the woman the benefit of the doubt that she already knew what theology was:

'Oh, bits and bobs. I'm doing a one year course, doing different courses and modules. I'm from Scotland.'

'Ah, that'll be where you got your accent from.'

Brilliant! I had managed to change the subject using my well tested 'I'm from Scotland...' fall back, always a winner in New Jersey. But I'll need an alternative fall back when I return to Glasgow in June. Although, by then, I'll no longer be a theological student. Instead, I'll be a student assistant minister in the Church of Scotland. 'Eh? What's that all about then?' 'Emm, well, I used to study theology at university...'

This morning I read the first three chapters of Paul's letter to the Corinthians. I think Paul might have experienced something of the same struggle Christians have today in explaining our faith. Paul was not sent to Corinth to administer the sacraments, or to manage the church. He was not sent to help the poor directly, or challenge the powers and authorities directly. Although it was the poor, for the most part, that God called through the gospel proclamation, 1Cor1:26-29. And it was the powers and authorities that were doomed by the revelation of God's wisdom in Jesus Christ, 1Cor2:6-8.

I'm not sure he was sent to teach theology either. He was sent, by Jesus Christ, to proclaim the gospel, to proclaim the foolishness of the cross, 1Cor1:17-25. I once preached from this passage at a midweek bible study in my home church. I got into a real exegetical and homiletical mess. I struggled to explain what Paul was on about. I tried to illustrate the Jewish demand for signs, and the Greek desire for wisdom, in current terms. But I couldn't do it. I still remember the glazed look over the eyes of my audience. I remember giving up, in silent despair, saying, 'I think I'll just leave it there...'

Given my conversation yesterday at Wawa, I'm not sure I'm any better prepared to spread the good news of the cross of Jesus Christ:

'... What do you study?'

'A story about a man born of a virigin, who was crucified at age 33, and who then rose from the dead three days later.'

Who would believe such a thing?

Global Trotters

Resubmission

The Familiar Stranger: an account by a former cynic. A sermon based on Luke 4:21-30.

Getting it right second time round

I need to rewrite and resubmit a sermon on Luke 4:21-30 for my Church of Scotland second placement assignment. My first effort was aimless, full of mushy sentences, and it lacked focus. The illustrations didn't work either, apparently. I've been asked to provide a sermon with one theme aimed at a specific need of the congregation I'm in at the moment. My supervisor has 'been to Princeton many times' so he or she must know exactly the kind of sermon that will work.

I'd love any help, by comment or email. Themes I could develop? Illustrations and stories to drive the points home? What kind of sermon does a person living in Princeton, NJ, need to hear?

Hmm... I thought my first attempt was okay. One mistake I made was choosing to include Luke 4, verses 14 to 20 in my reading and in my exposition - I thought that was just setting the context. Another mistake was assuming that notes used for preaching are the same as a written sermon. This is obviously not the case. My supervisor's comments display how badly notes can be misread or misunderstood.

From what I've been told my sermon went down well in Princeton. Perhaps no candidate minister is accepted in the candidate's own church?

The Message of Eugene H. Peterson

Eugene Peterson's best known and most popular contribution to the world is his paraphrase of the Bible, The Message. I love to read paraphrases of Bible texts, so I was delighted to receive a copy of The Message as a gift last October.

However Peterson has a substantial back catalogue of books on the nature of pastoral theology. I've decided to read a few of these for a pastoral theology paper I need to write. Although I am pretty close to being set in my ministry ways, Peterson may yet become one of those writers that I read totally and completely. He is currently working on a five volume series of books on spiritual theology. I have yet to read the first three volumes, so I might wait until the series is complete and read the whole series over a year or so.

Peterson is probably not in the same camp, and his emphasis is pastoral and 'spiritual' theology rather than systematic or dogmatic theology, but I think his work is comparable to that of David Wells (who did his Ph.D. at Manchester University!)

Here are two Peterson quotes.

'A sense of hurry in pastoral work disqualifies one for the work of conversation and prayer that develops relationships that meet pastoral needs. There are heavy demands put upon pastoral work, true; there is difficult work to be engaged in, yes. But the pastor must not be 'busy.'

p.61, Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work, Eerdmans, 1992 edition.

'Despite the unsurpassed academic training that American pastors receive, it looks very much as if no generation of pastors that we know about historically has been so embarrassingly ill-trained in the contemplation of Scripture.'

p109, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Theology, Eerdmans, 1993 edition.

Things I didn't know: No 7

The song, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?, perhaps best known as an Al Green song, was actually written and released as a single by the Bee Gees in 1971. The single did not chart in the UK but it was their first US Billboard No 1. Green covered the song for his 1972 album Let's Stay Together.

Paul Gambaccini is currently hosting a show on BBC Radio 2, You Win Again - The Bee Gees Story, Tuesdays at 8.30pm UK time.

Encouraged

Arrived back yesterday from my week in the UK. It turned out to be a really worthwhile trip. Meeting up with family and friends again was cool. I had no great sentimental feelings about being back in Scotland. But returning to Princeton feels like an exercise in tying up loose ends. I have effectively got four weeks of work left to do here. And this morning I discovered that I have less to hand in than I had anticipated this time last week.

Why encouraged? Well, the Church of Scotland conference I attended was fairly standard. But I got to know one or two colleagues a little better. On top of this I learned, and began to realise, that there is a real melting pot situtation in the church in Scotland at the moment. This may or may not end in some greater uniform good. My optimism comes from believing that I can stir the pot, and add a little seasoning of my own. The plan is to choose an area, perhaps a presbytery, and focus on reforming and reviving that area with the help of colleagues I have got to know in the last year or so.

You read it here first. Wherever I end up late 2008 or early 2009 will indicate the strategic choice for this plan. Chances are this place will not be one of the big cities in Scotland. Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and perhaps Dundee are well served by churches. Why duplicate effort?

Preparation for this project will be 15 months probation ministry at Partick South Church of Scotland in Glasgow, working with Rev Dusty Dunnett. I had a great conversation with Dusty last week - the most encouraging chat I have had with a potential supervisor/boss. Bring on July 2007!

Flying Visit

In Scotland this week for a conference I need to attend. The theme is 'Power and Privilege'. One of the sessions is to be on race awareness, which is very interesting given my current placement at Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church. WSPC is a mostly black church, and is historically the black church in Princeton. I've learned a lot about my own attitudes over the last few months.

On the plane to Glasgow I skim read Five Views on Law and Gospel. Turns out I'm a Dispensational Modified Lutheran when it comes to the relation between law and gospel.

I did not expect to become more conservative and more fundamentalist after seven months in Princeton reading theology. Someone somewhere has a sense of humor or humour.

Premillennialism 2

It's very interesting that John MacArthur is not novel in his claim that to be Calvinistic or Reformed, when taken to its logical conclusion, implies buying into a millennial view of future history.

Nathaniel West was a Presbyterian minister in America in the second half of the 19th century. He was one of a number of leading premillennialists who were also Calvinistic and Reformed. Well aware that the millennium was not explicitly mentioned in the Westminster Confession of Faith, West still urged that the corollary of the Confession's eschatological statements was the doctrine of the premillennial second advent of Jesus Christ as Lord. West described the Westminster Standards as the strongest pre-millennial symbol ever made because they contained every proposition needed for that conclusion. The rejection of a premillennial advent of Christ was 'an open abandonment of the Reformed ground.' It was also an 'open assault on the Westminster Confession.'

It hardly need be written that many would disagree with West. Preterists, amillennialists, and postmillennialists all subscribe to the Westminster Standards to this day. However to be reminded of the views of MacArthur and West is to be challenged about the meaning and signficance of following the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith today. Will Reformed Christians allow historical studies of the first century to shape their doctrine? W.W.J.D. about the millennial conundrum of our day?

The more I read and study theology the more confused I tend to become about stuff. But more importantly, I'm getting tired of reading and listening to Christians who claim the authority of Scripture, only to preach, teach and do things contrary to Scripture. The question is not WWJD but WDJDADIM (What did Jesus do and does it matter?) Answers to this question that fail to correspond to the New Testament witness are possible. But are they credible? Or faithful?

Antichrist

More stuff from my dissertation. This time a quote from an article I've had to read:

Antichrist is not a mere principle, nor a myth. If Christ be a real person in human form, so is he. If Christ is declared and spoken of as endowed with all grace and humility and glory, and having a glorious retinue of the saved and glorious ones - Antichrist is the embodied reality of the very opposite principles and their malignant supporters, which shall be utterly destroyed in all their usurped empire, and in the very person of their boastful and and blasphemous king, in that day when the Faithful and True shall ride forth from the opened heaven with His armies to 'judge and make war.'

Premillennialism

What, with all the current froth about John MacArthur's 'Calvinists should be premillennialists' speech, I'm glad that my dissertation topic is relevant and bang on the pulse of today's burning issues. I'm surveying premillennialism and responses to it among American Presbyterians in the late 1870s and 1880s. Really quite a narrow topic, but some interesting things are cropping up. For example, I've returned to J.C. Ryle through my background reading. I've just crept onto page 24 of my first draft.

Here's an interesting observation I made, interesting, because it raises the question of what we mean when we quote some source or authority:

Presbyterians contributed several papers or addresses at the New York Prophetic Conference of 1878. Some of the addresses from the conference were collected and published in a book the following year. Introducing the book Nathaniel West cites two recent examples of preterism before quoting at length J.C. Ryle’s ‘expression of the true faith’ in Ryle’s own ‘Pre-Millennian Creed’ published in the preface of his 1867 book Coming Events and Present Duties. Ryle became the first Anglican bishop of Liverpool in 1880, having served as a Church of England vicar in various parishes in the middle years of the 19th century. This reference to Ryle illustrates that J.N. Darby was not the only transatlantic influence on American millennialism. However a comparison of Ryle’s preface and West’s introduction reveals a curious omission in West’s recording of Ryle’s creed. In the second edition of Coming Events and Present Duties, Ryle’s 1867 preface includes the creed that West quotes. But West only records ten of the eleven paragraphs in Ryle’s creed. Ryle’s ninth paragraph is worth quoting fully because it is wholly omitted from West’s introduction:

IX. I do not believe that the preterist scheme of interpreting the Apocalypse, which regards the book as almost entirely fulfilled, or the futurist scheme, which regards it as almost entirely unfulfilled, are either of them to be implicitly followed. The truth, I expect, will be found to lie between the two. (Ryle xi)

West’s introduction omits this paragraph and replaces it with Ryle’s tenth paragraph about the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. Ryle’s eleventh paragraph, which encourages Christians ‘to expect as little as possible from Churches or Governments under the present dispensation,’ while at the same time holding themselves ready for sudden changes in the established order of things, is quoted. West fails to note the list of things that Ryle refuses to comment on, including the rapture of the saints, the burning up of the earth, and the first resurrection.

Googlewhack

'golf course/cemetery combo'

I googled this phrase while reading a book for a review paper. I was trying to discover if there existed a golf course that also doubled as a cemetery.

This is my first ever unintentional Googlewhack, although, I did not have the patience to read up on whether my potential Googlewhack met the criteria. I suspect the '/' (would you call that a forward slash?) is against the rules.

Update: it's nothing like a real Googlewhack, which is made up of two words only. But I was surprised to see only one hit all the same.

Weather 2

Snow and hail. Just weird, after the summers day we enjoyed here in NJ earlier this week. I know there has been recent debate about the global warming conspiracy theory thing, but can anyone doubt that our weather patterns are changing?

Things I didn't know: No 6

Abraham Lincoln liked popcorn, oysters, and good strong coffee.

Weather

Just last week temperatures in New York and New Jersey were in the 25 to 35 degrees farenheit range. Today the temperature in Princeton, NJ, is 75 d.f. It's also the middle of reading week here at the seminary. So I might lie out in the quad and do some reading later this afternoon.

Kirk to run prisons?

Noooooooooo!!!!!

I'm not sure we know how to run our nursing homes. And we struggle with our churches. Letting loose OAPs is one thing. Mismanaging Scotland's historic church buildings, not to mention its spiritual heritage, is another.

But losing control of a prison would be bad. We don't need to get involved. Let's keep visiting the people in our prisons. Let's support all who work in them. But let's not try and run them. Prisons are a bad idea, and, instead of touting for business, power and influence, we should be campaigning to close as many of them as possible.

When I leave should I bring back

When I leave should I bring back
Some presents from America?
Have a case on the jumbo
Full of goodies for relatives?
I got a scholarship to seminary
Flew across the ocean
To read about the narrow way
My head was beaten, my heart was torn
I wonder what it means when I leave the promised land?

When I leave should I bring back
Some presents from America?
Have a case on the jumbo
Full of goodies for relatives?

I’ve looked at the classics
Tried hard to envision
The Way they saw the day they knew
That Jesus was their Lord and Saviour
I should’ve worked hard
I should’ve prayed more
But you know my sense of sin, Lord
I always flail too much

When I leave should I bring back
Some presents from America?
Have a case on the jumbo
Full of goodies for relatives?

Princeton no more
McCormack no more
Dykstra no more
Barth no more

I wonder my heart
Will you ever affirm
To give the Kirk a pay back
To fight its cause and win the nation
Do I not owe her?
Does not Christ love her?
Do I have to read the classics
To prove how much God cares?

When I leave should I bring back
Some presents from America?
Have a case on the jumbo
Full of goodies for relatives?

Moorhead no more
Johnson no more
Torrance no more
Capps no more

Moorhead no more
Johnson no more
Torrance no more
Princeton no more

View from the top...

...of the Empire State Building. The picture was taken yesterday evening. I was reminded that I suffer from a form of acrophobia, which causes in me a sense of vertigo.

Vertigo or not, the sad reality is that I am coming to the end of my American adventure.

Things I didn't know: No 5

In antiquity silent reading was uncommon, not unknown. (The reference here is to my reading of Henry Chadwick's translation of Augustine's Confessions, ft 5, p93, commenting on Augustine's observation that Ambrose would sit and read in silence.)

All Gore

This post is partly for my American friends. Check out the article by Matt Frei. I watched the Oscars live on TV on Sunday evening. It was amazing! It reminded me of Team America, but I really thought it could be the beginning of Gore's route to the White House. Amazing how a politician's image can change, especially if he or she takes some time out.

Ridiculous

Today I bought 4 CDs at the Princeton Record Exchange for under $9.

The Cranberries, Everbody else is doing it, so why can't we?
George Michael, Older
Razorlight, Up All Night
Fun Lovin Criminals, The Fun Lovin' Criminal (this looks like a CD single, or promotional EP)

How much money have I wasted on CD albums? These CDs would have cost at least $60 new.

Things I didn't know: No 4

The pastor that stands up and documents his pain is a bad pastor.

John Piper, 41mins into this talk.

'...as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;...' 2 Cor.6:10

Thoughts on the day before Lent

What's Lent all about? Before reading Danny's post on the subject, I had already pondered the whole thing. Without knowing or caring much about the history of Lent, I've decided that the idea is a nonsense. This may well reflect my Church of Scotland and conservative evangelical background.

Whether or not Luther liked Lent, he did write this line in his famous 95 Theses:

Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be [one of] repentance.

In other words, for the Christian, every day is a Lenten day, just as, simultaneously, every day is resurrection day. This is related to my understanding of various NT passages, which seem to teach that no days, including Sabbath days, remain special days for Christian believers.

In passing, this article by Bob Holman is related to ideas behind modern Lenten views. Holman's books seriously challenged my understanding of the poverty/inequality question.

Reading Calvin

You might have guessed that I'm reading some of Calvin's stuff at the moment. Really just his chapter on prayer in book III of the Institutes. I'm doing this as preparation for a series of studies I'm going to lead soon. But it is an encouraging exercise for me, even though it is work related. I once read that a critical proportion of your work time should be enjoyable and should use your best skills, aptitudes and interests, otherwise you will really struggle in your job. (The assumption was that all jobs include tasks that do not fit these criteria. I can't remember the critical proportion, but it might have been 25 to 30 percent.)
Anyway, here is an interesting section I read today. The context is Calvin's exposition of "Our Father" in the Lord's Prayer. This means a corporate and family love between Christians, because 'all of us in common should call him 'our Father''. For a number of reasons, I'm more and more conscious of the whole inclusive and gender-neutral language debate. Suffice to write that when Calvin writes 'man' or 'brothers' I think he means 'people'. But, when he writes about God as Father, I think he means, well, Father. My christology (seriously modified over the last few months) is actually forcing me to react against gender-neutral language in reference to God. Funny, in coming to Princeton, I am actually becoming more conservative. Hmm.

I've taken this snippet from the Library of Christian Classics/Ford Lewis Battles edition, because it is a far better translation than the 19th century text I have quoted in recent posts:

"Let the Christian man, then, conform his prayers to this rule in order that they may be in common and embrace all who are his brothers in Christ, not only those whom he at present sees and recognizes as such but all men who dwell on earth. For what God has determined concerning them is beyond our knowledge except that it is no less godly than humane to wish and hope the best for them. Yet we ought to be drawn with a special affection to those, above others, of the household of faith, whom the apostle has particularly commended to us in everything [Gal.6.10]. To sum up, all prayers ought to be such as to look to that community which our Lord has established in his Kingdom and his household." Institutes III.XX.38

I hope you will agree this is an interesting and encouraging thought for the day.

Prayer 2

But since no man is worthy to come forward in his own name, and appear in the presence of God, our heavenly Father, to relieve us at once from fear and shame, with which all must feel oppressed, has given us his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, to be our Advocate and Mediator, that under his guidance we may approach securely, confiding that with him for our Intercessor nothing which we ask in his name will be denied to us, as there is nothing which the Father can deny to him (1 Tim. 2:5; 1 John 2:1). To this it is necessary to refer all that we have previously taught concerning faith; because, as the promise gives us Christ as our Mediator, so, unless our hope of obtaining what we ask is founded on him, it deprives us of the privilege of prayer.

For it is impossible to think of the dread majesty of God without being filled with alarm; and hence the sense of our own unworthiness must keep us far away, until Christ interpose, and convert a throne of dreadful glory into a throne of grace, as the Apostle teaches that thus we can “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need,” (Heb. 4:16). And as a rule has been laid down as to prayer, as a promise has been given that those who pray will be heard, so we are specially enjoined to pray in the name of Christ, the promise being that we shall obtain what we ask in his name. “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name,” says our Saviour, “that will I do; that the Father may be glorified in the Son;” “Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full,” (John 14:13; 16:24).

Hence it is incontrovertibly clear that those who pray to God in any other name than that of Christ contumaciously falsify his orders, and regard his will as nothing, while they have no promise that they shall obtain. For, as Paul says “All the promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen;” (2 Cor. 1:20), that is, are confirmed and fulfilled in him.

John Calvin
Institutes III:XX.17

Prayer 1

To prayer, then, are we indebted for penetrating to those riches which are treasured up for us with our heavenly Father. For there is a kind of intercourse between God and men, by which, having entered the upper sanctuary, they appear before Him and appeal to his promises, that when necessity requires they may learn by experiences that what they believed merely on the authority of his word was not in vain. Accordingly, we see that nothing is set before us as an object of expectation from the Lord which we are not enjoined to ask of Him in prayer, so true it is that prayer digs up those treasures which the Gospel of our Lord discovers to the eye of faith.

The necessity and utility of this exercise of prayer no words can sufficiently express. Assuredly it is not without cause our heavenly Father declares that our only safety is in calling upon his name, since by it we invoke the presence of his providence to watch over our interests, of his power to sustain us when weak and almost fainting, of his goodness to receive us into favour, though miserably loaded with sin; in fine, call upon him to manifest himself to us in all his perfections. Hence, admirable peace and tranquillity are given to our consciences; for the straits by which we were pressed being laid before the Lord, we rest fully satisfied with the assurance that none of our evils are unknown to him, and that he is both able and willing to make the best provision for us.

John Calvin

Institutes III:XX.2

Things I didn't know: Nos 2 & 3

Albert Einstein could play the violin.

My current toothbrush is a revolution in toothbrush technology.

Basketball

One of my favourite sports at school was basketball. This semester I'm getting the chance to play and watch. Tonight I'm going with Katy to watch the Spurs play the New Jersey Nets. And I'm on the roster for the Global Trotters, a international team valiantly trying to compete in the PTS Basketball B League. In our first game we lost 35-12. We were playing the second weakest team. Hmm... I hate losing, but I'm learning to live with it.

In other Shed news, I'm slowly working through my list of papers, essays, and reviews that I need to write in the next two to three months. Here's a link to one of those reviews. This week my aim is to complete a short paper on Jonathan Edwards and the incarnation - thesis will be that Edwards was close to being a heretic, but present day Calvinists and Puritans can just about get away with giving him the benefit of the doubt. Phew! At one stage I thought I'd have to choose between Edwards on the one hand, and Owen, Calvin, Aquinas, Augustine, et al, on the other.

One exciting project is a short series of adult Sunday School classes I will teach at Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church. Theme will be the Lord's Prayer: our God, our Need, and our Hope.

All this in my daily routine. Most days I just get up, get showered, get dressed, eat breakfast, check email, maybe go to class, try to read and write for PTS work, have dinner, watch TV or DVD, then go to bed. Jenny, how do you make your daily blogs so interesting?

Things I didn't know: No 1

Matt Busby, perhaps the greatest football (soccer) manager in the history of the British game, played for Liverpool FC!

I did know that Busby was Scottish, one of the famous trio of Scottish football managing superstars who escaped from mining backgrounds through the beautiful game. Check out Jock Stein and Bill Shankly for the other two members of that select club.

There are other great Scottish football managers. Kenny Dalglish, Alex Ferguson, and Walter Smith would make my list of the top six.

Country Roads

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong,
West Virginia, Mountain Momma,
Take me home, country roads.

People here don't believe me when I describe the West of Scotland's love of American country western music.

Denver, Diamond, et al.

Thing is, here, in Princeton at least, they don't dance on tables to Cracklin' Rosie and Sweet Caroline. And I've never heard the supped up version of Country Roads.

Oh, how I miss the Scottish country/western banter...

Jonathan Edwards: Reformed Herotic

No, not that Jonathan Edwards. He won Olympic medals and stuff, and I'm not sure he's Reformed anyway. So, his blog post would just be Jonathan Edwards: Hero.

Yes, I'm writing about this Jonathan Edwards, to which this website is devoted.

Lots of people who study Christian theology love Jonathan Edwards. Lots of Christians hear lots of preachers talking about Edwards as a model preacher, or a model spiritual influence, or whatever.

Here are my questions about all this.

First, can we really take his theological system, or his view of the world, as our own in the 21st century? So far, in light of the reading I've done in the last day or so, my answer would have to be negative, with some qualifications. Edwards, in his philosophy, in his scientific writings, and in his doctrine of creation, is seriously at odds with both modern science and philosophy, and a basic Christian or biblical doctrine of creation. It appears that he was an idealist, and that he believed that God essentially re-created the world all the time in one continuous action of upholding and sustaining the world. Edwards wrote against Newton's mechanical views of the universe, and against deism in general. His idealism, rightly or wrongly, has been compared to the idealism of people like George Berkeley and William Blake. Can it find a place in a credible Christian theology today?

Second, what are the implications of this idealism for Edwards and his understanding of Jesus Christ? Did the humanity of Jesus Christ matter all that much to Edwards? He understood that the incarnation was based on a Spirit Logos model of christology. This will be the theme of a short paper I have to write this semester. John Owen also applied this model of incarnation when he needed it. But, is this a meaningful model of incarnation, or is it just 'the man Jesus was very very full of the Holy Spirit' incarnation? Moreover, if Edwards was such a huge influence in American intellectual development, is his legacy altogether good? Is his legacy responsible for the dualism that affects the evangelical church in the US in so many ways?

Finally, can we separate the theology of Edwards from his spirituality? Edwards is a model for the Christ centred devotional life, and the Spirit filled life of Christian service in preaching and teaching. I think spiritual revival is an important aspect of the Christian life. In fact, to some extent, spiritual revival is the Christian life. Here, I think, Edwards was an important influence for good. But how, then, do his theological quirks matter? Was his style of ministry 'affected' by them? I hope to explore all these things over the next two months.

Shed Swing

I've had a look at the syllabuses for two of my classes this semester. Having done so, I'm dropping a course on the devotional lives of a few great saints. Its syllabus was just too complicated. This means I'll probably take the course on Jonathan Edwards with Sang Hyun Lee after all. I'm hoping that the grade for that course will simply be based on one final paper.

So, any ideas for my paper on Edwards? I could continue my quest for a Reformed philosophy of history by looking at Edwards on history. I suspect this would be quite difficult. Unlike Shedd and Warfield the writings of Edwards are vast. Too vast to select one or two key texts and feel confident that they are representative.

Perhaps a paper on Edwards as pastor - I think I'd be very critical of him in this regard, though. And, how do you actually assess that question anyhow? On top of the fact that I find Edwards difficult to read, I think there is a difference between a history of the life and work of Edwards, and an appreciation of his theology. I find it strange that people often write about Edwards with reference to his sermons and writings - as if those were the measure of his life and work as a pastor. A recent article I read suggested the Edwards failed as a pastor. Even though the article was based on slightly dated research, I think the author (Donald Capps, a prominent pastoral theology professor) was touching on something. Some of the decisions that Edwards made in his pastoral ministry were misguided, if not bizarre. His ecclesiology was also peculiar.

Again, please suggest themes, questions, or topics for my paper. It might be a good exercise for me to write something that I've been asked to research.

Snow

Two questions

Questions I've been thinking about:

Were the apostles baptised?

Do sheep drink from moving water?

Gettysburg

Devil's Den, location of some of the fighting on July 2.

Looking north from Little Round Top. Union forces managed to hold their flank by defending this position on July 2.


Lutheran Theological Seminary.

You might be able to view the site of Pickett's Charge, the final Southern assault on July 3rd. A disaster for Lee and the South.

January

Spent first half day of January in Lancaster, Penn. Part of that included recovering from seeing The King in concert.

Handed in three papers, two of these were based on reading Shedd. You will find these papers posted soon over at Shed on Shedd.

Met Ben Myers in a coffee shop in Princeton.

Visited Gettysburg. Watched the movie on DVD too. Thought some more about issues around the Civil War.

Was in NYC two or three times.

Started thinking about post Princeton plans. I'd love to stay in the US, but I can't see it happening. However, I've been invited back to speak in October 2007 at a Kirkin' O' the Tartans.

Burns in Central Park

O, enviable, early days,

When dancing thoughtless pleasure's maze,

To care, to guilt unknown!

How ill exchang'd for riper times,

To feel the follies, or the crimes,

Of others, or my own!

Ye tiny elves that guiltless sport,

Like linnets in the bush,

Ye little know the ills ye court,

When manhood is your wish!

The losses, the crosses,

That active man engage;

The fears all, the tears all,

Of dim declining age!

Folks, I'm taking a blog holiday. i to the hills will return in February.

Benediction

Friends, we are not our own. We belong to our families. As part of this church we belong to one another. We have obligations and commitments beside these two.

But above them all, God in Christ has claimed us for life and service in this world and the next. Jesus Christ is fulfilling the kingdom promises of God!

So lift your hearts to receive his benediction – may his love, his grace, and the fellowship of his Spirit be with you all now and forever, Amen.

Princeton Art

Amaryllis

Priest

Not sure I've got what it takes. Fascinating site all the same.

HT: Gadget Vicar

Sid Waddell

I'm going to miss the Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship this year. When I was younger, before the PDC/BDO split, I used to watch every January, even when I was in hospital in 1994.

One attraction was Sid Waddell, a legend in TV sports commentary. As his official website puts it, Sid IS Darts.

Here are some Sid quotes (if you don't know of Sid, read them with a Geordie accent in mind):

"He's got a heart as big as Moby Dick!"

"Bristow reasons ... Bristow quickens ... Aaahhhhh, Bristow."

"Jocky Wilson ... what an athlete."

Jocky Wilson - all the psychology of a claymore.

"When Alexander of Macedonia was 33 he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer - Bristow is only 27"

"This lad has more checkouts than Tescos."

"Eat your heart out Harold Pinter, we've got drama with a capital D in Essex."

"That was like throwing three pickled onions into a thimble!"

"He's about as predictable as a wasp on speed."

Unbreakable

Bruce Willis. How come he always ends up in really really cool movies? What's his last clanger? I can't think of one.

Just finished watching Unbreakable. I'm real dull, I didn't see the twist before it was revealed. Same as I didn't foresee the twist in The Sixth Sense.

Changes

Occasionally I change the links published on I to the hills.

Mark Driscoll et al got dropped a while back for being too manly. I can't live up to all that male ego driven stuff.

Riddleblog was just becoming too negative. I don't remember reading a positive post about anyone outside of a peculiarly narrow set.

Behold, good news! CG has taken Riddleblog's place in my blogging world. Hail to the university teacher of English Lit!

Princeton Shed's Post Christmas Message

I hope all the readers of I to the hills... had a great Christmas.

This was my first Christmas away from family. The only thing I missed was a turkey Christmas dinner. Beef and ham were on offer at the Christmas dinner I was invited to by Muriel Burrows. As you can read Muriel has a rather interesting life story. Conversation around the dinner table was interesting. There were four nationalities represented in a dinner party of eight. James Fowler was present too, he's a member at Witherspoon and a final year MDiv student at the PTS.

As well as two Christmas Eve services at Witherspoon Street church, I also attended a late night Christmas Eve service at Westerly Road Church. This was one of my best church experiences so far in the US. The church building felt like a typical independent evangelical, or open brethern, hall in the UK, so I didn't feel out of place. But the service contained the most interesting collection of readings I've ever heard in such a church. As well as the usual New Testament readings, there were readings from Anselm's Proslogion, Christmas by Augustine, (get this!) Charnock's Existence and Attributes of God, C.S. Lewis's 'The Grand Miracle', and Herbert's Love (III).

I think the service worked, although the Charnock reading was a little too ambitious. But, there was no sermon. I attended the service with my friend, Benjamin. Benjamin is a young RC scholar preparing for ministry in the RC church while completing his PhD. He and I have enjoyed several meals together over the Christmas period. Benjamin felt there was no explanation of the readings during the service.

I thought this was an interesting observation. How much do we rely upon the 'givenness' of the Christmas story? I could appreciate the readings because I knew the territory, I knew the language of Westerly Road's tradition. Benjamin's understanding of the church and of the gospel is really quite different. His persistent comment was that he couldn't understand how the readings were related to each other. For him, they didn't represent a coherent tradition of interpreting the incarnation. For Benjamin, there was no proclamation of the meaning of Christmas in the service.

Over the next few days I need to: write a sermon based on Luke 4:14-30; re-read Sandeen's The Roots of Fundamentalism (PTS library has recalled it); finish some draft papers on W.G.T. Shedd. I travel to Lancaster, PA, on the 31st Dec and return the next day to begin work on another paper and on notes for a Sunday School class I'm about to start teaching for 5 to 7 year olds. 5 to 7 year olds - help!!

No beard

I shaved my beard off Monday morning. Now that it's gone some people are suggesting that it suited me.

Before this, folks tended to react against it: for example, this fantastical comment "...the foulest thing I've seen all day."

To be fair that quote came my way a day or so after Burt Reynolds Day. I was wearing a moustache Fu Mancho style.

The beard may return in 2007.

Trident

Respect to Malcolm Chisholm. No matter how much I try, I just don't understand the political world. But Chisholm's actions remind me of Robin Cook's stand against the Iraq War

(I'd recommend Cook's diaries of that whole period running up to the war - one of the finest political journals I've read. And, I'm slowly reading Bob Woodward's State of Denial - the impression given is that the US government was all over the place in preparation for the war.)

Over the last year I've had to rethink my understanding of the rights and wrongs of war. I'm more or less a pacifist now - my hesitancy remains because of the WWII question (national self defence is difficult to argue against). And, I think that states do have justifiable powers of force to maintain law, justice, and good order within their borders.

Still, I do not believe the UK has any reason to retain nuclear weapons. We should never have developed them. They are just wrong.

Though the nations rage from age to age,
we remember who holds us fast:
God's mercy must deliver us
from the conqueror's crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forebears heard
is the promise which holds us bound
till the spear and rod can be crushed by God
who is turing the world around.

From, Canticle of Turning by Rory Cooney

Caretaker

This is the last week of semester. Today I'll sit in on the last lecture of James Moorhead's 19thC American church history class. Dr Moorhead is also supervising my thesis/dissertation on premillennialism and the Presbyterian Review (the editors didn't like premillennialism, but they disliked each other even more... :-)

I've got rough drafts for two of my three papers due in January. Christmas week will be relatively quiet, so I'll be able to get a substantial amount of work done. Not least I'll need to write a sermon for 31st December, to be preached at Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church. The text will be Luke 4:14-30.

On Sunday, I travelled to NYC to meet Johnny and Judith Keefe. We attended one of the evening services at Redeemer Presbyterian Church, but the main thing was simply catching up and sharing stories about life in the US. Oh, and we had a drink in the coolest bar ever, a few stories up, overlooking Central Park. The skyline of upper East Side is breath taking for an Ayrshire country bumpkin. New York is just soooo cool.

Over Christmas and New Year I will have real responsbility. Jenny wants me to look after her amaryllis. I think the deal is I get to use her car in return during the holiday. I passed her driving test, but shifting gear with your right hand is just wrong.

Lots of students house sit for rich Princeton people. This afternoon a couple of us are going to watch a DVD in a very big house. Very nice!

Up the Status Quo?

Here, here and here.

I'm not sure what to make of these results. My previous blogs on this issue illustrate how history makes fools of us all. The outcome appears to be a victory for Forward Together. Many of my leaders, colleagues and friends support Forward Together. Its basis of faith is something I could sign.

But I'm still concerned. The majority of presbyteries voting against the report in question is not a surprise. But the totals for individual votes cast suggest a 2 to 1 majority.

This worries me. I don't believe that there is a 2 to 1 majority of evangelical Christians in the total number of presbytery members. And, I don't care for a 'conservative moral message' as much as I long for a radical gospel message to influence church practice. The problem with the Church of Scotland is that for the last 100 years it has held on to a 'conservative moral message' with one hand, while holding a liberal anaemic gospel in the other.

What remains is the status quo, which, the report argued, was liberty of conscience for ministers. Hmm...

Amazing

Isn't technology amazing! I'm about to watch High Fidelity on my lap top computer. What a great film, based on a pretty good novel.

On the train back from NYC last night we pondered on the teleportation question. What is taking them so long to bring us teleportation technology? It must be a conspiracy to safeguard the current transport infrastructure, with its economic powers and vested interests. Teleportation would kill all that off in one sweep, and it would save the planet from ecological disaster.

Who are they, anyway? All I know is that they are not us, and I'm not one of them.

Helm on Warfield

Here's an interesting article - interesting for me, at least, because I read a lot of Warfield's stuff for a dissertation this year. Interesting, too, because I'm thinking about all this stuff again having indulged myself in the big KB for a couple of months.

Here are some general thoughts:

Why do current Reformed thinkers insist on defining Christ's humanity in terms of our own humanity? I think we need to start defining humanity in terms of divinity, while retaining the creature/creator distinction. So, most talk of divine impassibility seems silly to me, if, as I suspect, the definitions of human and divine nature are skewed from the outset by extra-biblical concepts.

Helm refers to a lecture by Carl Trueman, and he mentions John Murray's criticism of Warfield. I think this criticism is fascinating. It fascinated me when I came across it, because I'd always assumed that Warfield and Murray were singing from the same psalm book. I believe that Warfield tried to do as much justice as he could to Philippians 2 within a strict confessional christology (Chalcedon). I'm not sure Murray really understood Philippians 2, hence his criticism of Warfield. Warfield's exegesis of John 3:16 also pushes the edges of his Reformed orthodoxy - Warfield was an eschatological universalist - he believed that God really did love the world - the world is, however, defined eschatologically.

If I have a problem with the Chalcedon formula, can I reformulate my christology without denying the Christian faith? It strikes me that Chalcedon is actually a problem for faithful Bible readers - they've got to read the Bible with a Chalcedonian lens, otherwise they are anathema.

Finally, Shedd has some interesting ideas on divine impassibility. While claiming to retain the doctrine of impassibility, he writes about the 'inward suffering' of God in the work of atonement. Shedd also puts some emphasis on the unity of God at this point, something that I rarely read much about in contemporary (evangelical) discussion.

One of my current professors, Bruce McCormack, is really forcing me to think about all this kind of stuff. His class on the atonement is probably my first proper course in dogmatics. His articles in Justification in Perspective, and, The Glory of the Atonement, are really useful - but, then again, I've heard him teach these ideas in class - that makes a huge difference to your understanding as you read them from the page.

Back to NYC

Four things on the agenda today:

I'm about to register for spring semester classes. It's been a tricky choice, mostly because there is so much to choose from, and Th.M. studs can do whatever they want (I hope). Registration for classes is online and provisional, so if I change my mind over the first week or two, switching classes is possible.

My overall experience here first term means my choice is totally different to what I'd planned in September. (I'd anticipated choosing classes for the whole year in October.)

I will now not be taking the Jonathan Edwards class. One reason for this is simple - I find Edwards difficult reading. I know he's the bees knees, and all that, I just struggle with him, more than I struggle with Owen and some of the Puritans. I've also decided to drop the idea of Scottish Philosophical Tradition - too niche, and too close to home.

I've realised that I'm on track to be a pastor/minister, and the day looms when that's what I'll be about - so...

Here are my choices: The Devotional Lives of Great Saints of the Church; Pastor as Person; and, The Minister and Mental Illness. All these themes are important in themselves, regardless of the quality of the teaching. And, I will have 3 days a week off! 3 days to work on my thesis, do occasional things at Witherspoon church, and explore parts of the East coast.

So, no theology in my second semester of a Th.M. Controversial!

Today, I'm also giving a short presentation (5 mins) on the state of the church in Scotland. I'll try not to be too pessimistic... Later in the day I head to NYC to hear Damien Rice in concert.

Between times I'm working on my paper on Shedd and the atonement. Shedd, with his traducianism, believed that Christ's human nature existed in an unindividualised form all the way back to Adam and Eve. I might reflect on what, if anything, this means for the atonement - I doubt Shedd takes it anywhere, because he argued that the Holy Spirit effectively justified and sanctified Christ as an Old Testament believer in the moment of his (human) conception.

Taxing stuff for a no brain-er like me to think about - these days, I'm glad if I remember the basics of grace. Why do we forget so easily?

...for the time is near.

I've just started reading through Revelation in my daily Bible study. This might tie in with a paper I plan to write in the next two or three weeks. The paper is for a class called The Reign of God. Stacy Johnson is the professor. SJ is a seriously smart operator, a man with a legal training before his entry to things theological and ecclesiastical. He was a member of the PC(USA)'s high profile Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church, known as PUP.

The class had a great reading schedule: Augustine City of God; Wright Jesus and the Victory of God; Rauschenbusch A Theology of the Social Gospel; Moltmann The Coming of God. We also enjoyed an hour with Pete Rollins, founding member of the Ikon community in Belfast.

A common theme in that mixed bag of reading is God's presence in history. Class discussion was wonderfully broad, our foibles were displayed as we shared our frustrations with the world. America in Iraq and the post 9/11 thing hung over every word that was spoken.

In my paper I hope to argue and reflect on the need for an apocalyptic and eschatological understanding of God's reign. Defining my terms, especially 'apocalyptic', will be tricky. I am amazed by the attempts of liberal Christian theologians to retain the kingdom or reign of God as a motif in their work. They appear to do this while shunning the texts that feed their hopes and ideas. 'See, I am making all things new', Rev 20:5. Everyone loves this verse - but few love its context.

DC

Spent the day in DC with Jenny. It was fascinating to see so many famous sites. First stop was the Lincoln Memorial. It's mighty impressive. I thought about the final scene from Planet of the Apes (2001) Then I read the inscription above Lincoln: 'In this temple... the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever.' Temple? Enshrined? The more I see and learn about the US the more intriguing it becomes. I now understand why the conspiracy theories about the founding of the nation seem plausible. I'm also more confused about the relationship between Christians and the state here... but that's another blog post for another day.

As usual, check out my bebo page for pictures of the day - and, check out 'Burt Reynolds Day 2006 at PTS' too

The war memorials (Vietnam, Korea, WWII) are very sad.

The Washington Memorial is very tall.

Saw the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights at the National Archives building. Bought the posters, and they are now hanging on my wall in Alex Hall.

Spent 45 mins in the National Gallery, but was strangely unmoved by the stuff I saw. Bought an Andy Warhol print. It's hanging on my wall now too: 'I think everybody should like everybody' Not sure if the founding fathers would have bought into that or not. The cashier complimented me on my glasses. This is becoming a regular occurence. What is it about Americans and fashion? Can't they see I'm an uncool dude?

How to blog at seminary

All the faculty members at PTS are really great. They're sound, orthodox, liberal, progressive, radical, thoughtful, kind and professional. They get on with each other really well. In fact, there are no problems at all. I like all the students too. They're all really kind to foreigners. They are good, moral, upstanding people - even when they are drunk, disorderly and high on pot!

In case of confusion, here is the context of my slightly outrageous and exaggerated remarks above.

It reads like a sad time for WTS. But, in Presbyterian history, these kind of situations tend to come around again sooner or later. The problem, in part, is that seminaries are dangerous. They are a bad idea. I've said this in a PTS precept, and I'm not afraid to publish that view publicly. The effective disconnect between seminary and church compounds the whole discussion. And, the discussions in these posts (here and here) illustrate the ambiguous role of seminaries within 'the academy'.

It's ironic that the WTS website is currently advertising its latest inaugural address - Seminary: A Place to Prepare Pastors? Without doubt I think pastors should be trained and prepared in churches. IMHO seminaries are becoming just another grad school option for bright students. You will understand that I do not question the integrity or ability of people who run or teach at seminaries. And, I continue to be amazed at the talents and qualifications of my fellow students.

But even though I'm having a great time here I'm really not sure about the idea of a seminary. PTS really is a great place. But do seminaries really have a purpose or a future?

UN NYC 007

Went to NYC today to visit the UN Headquarters. It was a great visit indeed. Check out some photos by going to my Bebo page, linked in the My world section opposite.

Ended up going here for lunch:

This is what I had to eat: The place was linked to a famous movie.

And the picture below reminds me of another famous movie:

Of course, the picture is the chamber of the UN Security Council. Every time I see the chamber on TV, I think: Bond, James Bond. Being in the chamber really felt like being on the set of an old Bond film.

But there is a new Bond film! I went to see it this evening. With three gorgeous females. Here are my marks out of 10 for various aspects of the film:

Opening credit sequence/Casino Royale theme music: 5/10

First action sequence, chasing the bomber: 8.5/10

Airport sequence: 9/10

Daniel Craig: 9/10

Gadgets: 7.5/10

Cardiac arrest scene: Just too silly to rate. Would Bond fall for such a simple ruse in the first place? Even if he did, and even if you could do a self defib thing (with a little help from your beautiful side kick), how do you then go on to win a game of cards? I'd need a nap first - then I'd go back to the card game.

Baddie: 6/10

Females: 10/10

Overall: 9/10

I thought it was a great film. Lots of action, lots of nice unexpected bits, touchy feely stuff too, but a hard Bond under it all.

Conversation after the film was different from my usual 'new Bond' experience. Usually, I'd engage mates about where the film ranks in the overall Bond list, etc. This time, the conversation turned on blond hair, blue eyes, and well defined muscles.