Finished, Yet Not Started

Earlier today I went to my last class and turned in my last paper for my Masters of Theology (Th.M.) degree.  The name really is a misnomer in some ways – I didn’t study “theology” and my major was “Old Testament.”  And I’m technically not a “graduate” until the work is graded and the grade is recorded.  Then the grade has to be transferred because I am earning the degree from The Master’s Seminary but took my final course at Dallas Theological Seminary.  But that is all out of my hands and so I am considering myself “graduated” today. 

Some of you thought I came to Dallas for a doctoral program.  Indeed, I did.  But two masters degrees was not enough and so I had to finish a third before starting the Ph.D.  The history on this in my life is a tad interesting.  The Th.M. degree is theoretically a one-year degree.  (I think most take 1.5-2 years.)  The M.Div. is considered a three-year degree.  And an M.A. is (in my program) a 2-year degree.  My first graduate degree was an M.A., which I finished in 1.5 years.  Then I went to the M.Div., which took two years.  At that pace, some had hopes for me.  Those were all promptly dashed when I took 12 years for the Th.M. degree (the “one-year” degree).  That’s not exactly the case.  12 years ago, when finishing the M.Div., I did take one class for Th.M. credit on the off chance that one day I might pursue such a degree.  I officially enrolled, by “accident” if you believe in such sort of thing and not by desire, in the fall of 2001.  When we returned to Israel a year later, I had three classes remaining.  So, yes, it took me 5.5 years to finish those three classes.  (Each was of a different ancient language.)  This morning I finished.

This semester I took “The Gospel of Matthew, plus I audited a course on the “Kingdom in the Gospel of Matthew.”  The audit was no work whatsoever, but the credit course seemed to me like a full load.  Maybe I’m just getting into the swing of things, or maybe I try too hard, or maybe I’m just unable to do such work.  But I finished, and I have a reasonable expectation of receiving a passing grade.

The course entailed: 1) writing my own translation of the whole book; 2) reading 75 minutes in commentaries per chapter; 3) writing an exegetical paper, for which I chose Matthew 21:1-11, the triumphal entry; 4) writing a theological paper, for which I chose “‘Anti-Semitism’ in the Gospel of Matthew”; 5) a communication project, for which I taught a class session, on Matthew 21.  I learned a lot, not all about things that I wanted to learn.  I can’t say that I enjoy repeated interaction with higher criticism, an approach that denies divine inspiration.  It’s not new to me, and sometimes I like to fight, but it gets old, particularly when there’s no hope of making progress because each side comes from a completely different perspective.  Generally, in the Old Testament, the later you go, the less the liberals question/deny.  By that measure, you’d think the NT would be out in the clear.  But not so.  It’s amazing how the liberals can deny absolutely anything.  Until we have the original manuscripts, they’ll deny.  And even then, there’ll be a way out.  There’s a lot more that I could say, but won’t. 

I think that tonight Kelli and I are going to watch “Cinderella Man,” which we have heard was good and Kelli gave me for my birthday.  This afternoon I started digging out of the current hole.  I have four weeks before next semester starts, and that will be more difficult academically than this one.  If you’re of a mind to pray for me, you can pray that the Lord will allow me, through focus, lack of distraction, good health, and lack of interruptions, to finish some projects that are nearly complete.  If I don’t get it now, I won’t have any significant time until June or later.  Notice that I did not ask for prayer for high motivation – that I have!  It’s just the little things that eat away the time so that the next thing you know, the window is gone.