Last week I graduated from Bethel Seminary with a Masters in
Theological Studies. It took me almost four years to complete this two-year
degree, and at times I wondered if it was worth it (mostly at 2 am before a
deadline), but I am so glad I did it.
Over the past couple months I have been processing through
all that I have learned. Here are seven of the most important books or themes.
There are more, but these seven really stood out.
The most in-depth study of spiritual formation I have ever
come across. Willard claims that the church's discipleship failures throughout
history are a result of Christians' trying to reach perfection by behaving more
perfectly. Instead, he argues that believers should allow God to transform them
internally through apprenticeship to Jesus Christ. Willard proposes that the
human self is made up of several interrelated components: spirit (heart or
will); mind (thoughts and feelings); body; social context; and soul and
delineates a general process toward transforming each.
Before studying hermeneutics we first had to wrestle with
epistemology (what can be known). Modernism claimed that truth is an objective
reality that can be proved through scientific or rational means. Postmodernism
claims there is no absolute truth, all truth is subjective to the perspective
of the knower. Between the two extremes lies critical-realism.
Critical-realism is a philosophy of perception that
maintains there exists an objectively knowable, mind-independent reality
(a.k.a. God), while acknowledging our own subjectivity as human beings.
In other words critical-realism “acknowledges the reality of the thing
known, as something other than the knower (hence "realism"), while
fully acknowledging that the only access we have to this reality lies along the
spiralling path of appropriate dialogue or conversation between the knower and
the thing known (hence "critical").” - NT Wright, The New Testament
and the People of God, p. 35
Robert Alter argues that the Hebrew Bible is a largely
cohesive literary text to be read with finely tuned literary eyes. His view
represents a radical departure from both the traditional Judeo-Christian
understanding of the Bible as sacred-history and the dominant theories of
Biblical criticism. Alter offers a "third way." While he does not
completely dismiss the historicity of the Bible, he sees it as secondary;
rather, in Alter's view, the authors of the Bible developed a form of prose
fiction in order to tell the revolutionary story of God.
- The Importance and Relevance of Torah
Traditionally Christians have divided the Torah (Jewish Law)
into three categories (civil, ceremonial and moral) with the understanding that
only the moral law was timeless. The problem is that these categories are
nowhere to be found in the text. In fact, if you study ancient Jewish culture
you realize that there are moral issues behind ceremonial and civil laws.
Torah refers to the divine standard for the conduct of the
people of God. Because the Torah was given after the election and deliverance
from Egypt (Ex 2:23) it is not about earning a relationship with God. Rather,
Torah is about living out relationship with God and provides the framework for
righteousness to occur. Therefore the principles behind the regulations of the
Torah are timeless, even if particular expressions are culturally bound and
these principles are extremely relevant to the Church.
Most churches minister to children in some way. Too often
they simply perpetuate what they have done for many years without questioning
whether or not those approaches are effective in forming the faith of children.
Spiritual formation during childhood is too important to simply perpetuate
programs and hope for the best. Adults who care about children need to
understand the inner workings of the developing child. If we do not understand
those processes, such as their physical, mental, and moral development, we will
not know when our methods are not contributing to the child’s spiritual growth.
Stonehouse provides a philosophy of education, an
understanding of human development, and a theology that are in harmony, each
area supporting the others. This book was incredibly helpful in designing our
philosophy of ministry for children at The Gateway.
The authors argue that Christian ethics are not universally
applicable and it is futile to try to change the world through politics or to
convince people to follow Christianity as a rational belief system that will
“work” for them. The way of Jesus cannot make sense to those who do not believe
that the claim “Jesus Christ is Lord” makes sense. In fact, the only way the
Christian ethic will work is in a strong community to support it.
The church is therefore a colony, an outpost, an island of
one culture in the middle of another, a place where the values of home are
reiterated and passed on to the young, a place where the distinctive language
and life-style of the resident aliens are lovingly nurtured and
reinforced.
I have a feeling that most seminarians within the past five
years would put Wright on this list. Wright is a brilliant historian,
theologian and world-renowned New Testament scholar. His Christian Origins
series (still in progress) have been “game changing” in the modern Quest for
the Historical Jesus by arguing that the current understanding of Jesus must be
connected to what is known to be true about him from the historical perspective
of first-century Judaism and Christianity. Paul: Fresh Perspective and Justification:
God's Plan and Paul's Vision provide a beautiful and more biblical perspective
on the Apostle Paul’s writings and the doctrine of justification. And his more
popular writings (Surprised by Hope, Simply Christian) give an excellent picture
of what this all means for the mission of the Church.