New Coursework for Epiphany Term


I will be registering this week for my next class at Nashotah for January. It is entitled "Reading Romans: Exploring Paul's Theological Vision," and will be taught by Dr. Garwood Anderson, the professor I had this past summer for the course on "The New Perspective." Excellent teacher. Since Romans represents such a foundational book for Lutherans, it seemed more than appropriate to sign up for this course. I suspect that out of this course will come my thesis topic, which may be inspired by whatever major paper I pursue. At the moment my interest is centered on exploring Romans 13, and maybe a broader exploration of the "kingdom of the left" in the New Testament, with a focus in the Pauline corpus or even incorporating material from the Gospels for the thesis. We'll see.

This summer I am excited for the possibility of a course offering which will explore "The History and Function of the Church Year." The scheduled professor is the Lutheran theologian Dr. Phillip H. Pfatteicher, who is a noted expert in liturgics. He is an emeritus professor of English from East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania and is the author of several books on the liturgy. Recently he retired as associate pastor of First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania.

It will be nice to space out my course work this year, taking one at a time instead of having so much writing on my shoulders in the Fall just when things are warming up again in the parish after the summer break. It will also allow me a bit of a breather to take in a Higher Things gathering with my son in Illinois in the early part of July.

Hopefully, I can still finish this degree by the end of 2012. After the two courses in 2011, I will have but one left to take, plus my thesis. After that? Who knows.....a D.Min degree...Ph.D....retirement.....?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Historical Roots of the Warham Guild Hood

Image
In doing just a little checking on the internet, it's interesting to see how the Warham Guild hood, which I have as part of my STM degree attire, is actually a throwback to the Medieval hood. One article notes "the work of the Warham Guild in its imaginative renderings of medieval hoods" (reference is from here ). Again, here is my hood: The Medieval hood, which was originally a very practical outer garment to cover a person's head and shoulders, protecting both from the elements, bears striking resemblance to this revived form: This hood was also a part of the garb of monks in that era. The Medieval hood, in some cases, also had what is known as a "liripipe," a long tail hanging from the back of a hood. You can see the modern stylized version of this on my own hood. From an article on "Academic hood development" we read that "By 1463 the favourite dress of doctors was the hood with round bell-shaped cape, and the lir
Read more

The Firefighter's Cross

Image
[Note: A similar article to this will be shared with my department at their next meeting. During this Lenten season when we are meditating on the significance and meaning of the Passion of our Lord and the Cross at Golgotha, it seemed like one way to offer a witness to the department that captured their interest and yet was not too heavy.] [Editorial Note: In response to a recent comment on this article I have made some changes to the original version of this article especially in regard to references to the so-called St. Florian's Cross. For any confusion the previous unreferenced information may have caused I apologize. I hope that the changes are satisfactory.] THE STORY OF THE MALTESE CROSS In many ways the familiar symbol to the right requires no explanation. It is the universal insignia of firefighting nationwide. Yet the precise origins of this symbol are less clear. The most popular explanation proposes its beginning in the far distant past of medieval Crusaders fi
Read more

KFUO-FM Sale: Editorial from Board of Directors

October 9, 2009 Letters to the Editor St. Louis Post-Dispatch 900 N. Tucker Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63101 RE: “Missouri Synod agrees to sell KFUO” - Oct. 7, 2009 Dear Editor, The ongoing news coverage of the sale of KFUO-FM has been disappointing in its lack of completeness. There is significantly more to the story than has been reported. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s (LCMS) Board of Directors is elected by convention delegates and is responsible—on behalf of the 2.4 million members of the church—for conscientiously evaluating the assets of the church to determine how best to use those assets to further the proclamation, mission, and ministry associated with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Synod’s board has been open about its intentions regarding the disposition of its FM station. Since as early as February 2008, this item has been on the board meeting agenda. Board minutes are made public by posting on the LCMS Web site and summaries are reported in the board’s insert “Board
Read more