Semester #2 in Review

I’ve had to keep my head pretty low this semester, and thus I haven’t been able to say much about my studies as I’ve been going.  That is unfortunate, as I think it’s always better when it’s fresher, and, of course, much gets left behind when looking in retrospect.  I thought what I might do is simply to review the 7 papers that I wrote, in brief fashion.  One or two of these I may come back to on the blog in the future.

In my program, I have 27 units of “regular” coursework (plus 5 units of self-study that will take about one year, besides exams and dissertation).  As 6 units is the standard “full-time” load, that works out to 4 semesters if you can manage 9 units for one of those.  This past semester was my attempt to defy academic gravity.  I took a seminar in the Latter Prophets (Isaiah-Malachi, minus Lamentations and Daniel), a seminar in the Pauline Epistles (excluding Hebrews), and a course in Hermeneutics.  The course sizes were 4, 6, and 18 students respectively.  (The last was so bloated because one of the two professors will be on sabbatical and the course will not be offered next year.)  Every course had weekly reading and preparation.  In addition, I had seven papers.  I ‘ll describe them below in the order in which they were completed.

Argument of Isaiah: An “argument” of a biblical book essentially traces the flow and logic of the writer’s thought, in order to see the coherence of his thought and understand all of the parts in the context of the whole (for more, see here).  I wrote two other arguments this semester (see below), and these will give me a jump-start as I have to write 66 of them for the aforementioned 5 units of self-study.  I chose Isaiah because I thought it would help me for the “Servant in Isaiah” paper below.  I also ended up writing on Isaiah 7:14 (below), so this paper really served to just “get my feet wet.”  After writing the two following papers, I’d probably make some significant changes to this one (if forced to).  One helpful part of this study: understanding better the relationship of the two parts of Isaiah and how the prophet could be living in 700 B.C. but speaking to an audience in exile in Babylon.

Exegetical Discussion of Romans 7:7-25: This required significant research but, thankfully, not a paper to turn in.  Rather we had to be ready for questions and discussion.  I profited greatly from this study, and I wrote about it here already.

Hermeneutics philosophy paper: The assigned subject was “How Do We Know that We Have the Author’s Intended Meaning?: Response to Objections to My View.”  It was the worst paper I’ve written since third grade.  I think the philosophical part of my brain is damaged.  I am pretty certain about one thing: what the author intended is what matters.  What you want the Bible to say is irrelevant.

The Use of Isaiah 7:14 in Matthew 1:23: I had a brief time in which to research and write this paper, and I started off pounding my head against my desk, just trying to “break through.”  Once I did, everything seemed to fall into place.  My conclusion: Jesus is Immanuel.  I know that sounds pretty basic, but nearly everyone else in class disagreed.

The Servant in Isaiah:  Little did I know when I signed up for this topic last summer what the Lord had in store for me.  It worked out so perfectly that I could study 7:14 (in its context of chapters 6-12), and then study the Servant (in its context of chapters 40-55).  The upshot is that I feel that I now really understand a very important part of what Isaiah was communicating.  My intention is to write a series of blog posts about Isaiah in the coming weeks.

Argument of Joel: I spent much less time on this paper, but enjoyed putting the pieces together in this short book.  I believe that Joel recounts a recent locust plague in order to prepare the people for a much more devastating day of judgment in the future.  The demand: repent.  The promise: God will pour out his Spirit upon Israel and judge Israel’s enemies.  The timing: it is all still to come.

Argument of Galatians: I thought I understood this book before I wrote this paper, but I learned so much in my study.  Two books I would recommend to you: 1) John R. W. Stott, The Message of Galatians.  This is a very readable survey of the book.  You could read a short section a day and finish in less than a month.  On the other hand, I read it straight through in 3 hours and that certainly makes it easier to see the overall flow of thought.  2) Ben Witherington, Grace in Galatia.  I found myself agreeing with much of what this book says, though I disagree with the author in many things elsewhere.

Concluding thoughts: I would just encourage you to study the Bible more.  There is so much more that you have not seen before, and it is worth the investment.  I cannot adequately describe the rich joy that has permeated my soul in the course of the above studies.  Our God is pretty smart and amazingly gracious.