Post-Genesis

So...my first day of official divinity school classes came and went. My life didn't magically change and I'm still pretty much the same guy, except now I can sing the Hebrew alphabet better than most 2-year-olds in Israel. Life here can only be called atypical. Actually it could probably be called many things, but this is only a blog and I don't want anyone to take me too seriously:)

My first class was Hebrew, followed by a exhausting lecture on early Church History. Our Hebrew teacher was so nice I almost forgot how deadly the language would eventually prove. Church History ran at a quick pace and I've never typed so fast in my life. We learned some fascinating things:

--> Example: Contrary to popular thought, the Roman Empire actually lacked any type of cohesive action against the Christians. In addition, much of the persecution aimed at Christians seemed to arise out of misunderstanding and rumor-mongering. What we know as the Lord's Supper, where we eat the body and consume the blood of our Savior, understandably began to sound a little too much like cannibalism to the Romans. Also, these private Suppers were also called Love Feasts, so it came as little surprise that the Romans suspected these Christians guilty of mass orgies. We read a couple of primary documents by a Roman historian named Tacitus and a Governor named Pliny the Younger. Both of these writings convey a sense of confusion in dealing with the Christians. As a result, our teacher concluded to us that the Roman government only demonstrated widespread persecution of Christians at certain moments in history, and not spanning the three hundred years from Christ to Constantine (the Emperor who legalize Christianity). All in all...it was a cool class.

I've been having a few difficulties with the readings, however. Some of the authors seem to write with a very humanistic approach, which basically means they leave little room for God in the equation. For example, one book I'm reading treats the Jewish faith and the Old Testament as if their development came about through the actions of radical, crazy prophets. At first glance this sounds OK, but not when you hint that these prophets really weren't acting on God's behalf and were doing all this at their own whim. There is so much arrogance in some modern scholarship. I've read things that needed citations, but never received them. Some scholars just make claims, but then don't back them up. I don't care who you are; that's just lazy.

Sorry to end on a sour note, but everything truly is great here in Durham. My wife is doing well; she takes her CPA on Thursday (the 28th) and starts work on Sept. 10th. You can imagine our angst. I'll start work in the div school library next week.
I've already got a good routine with my carpool buddy. We get up early, come to morning prayer, then go work out, then come back and hit the books. It's nice to get the day going early.

Anyway, sorry to bother you with some of the extraneous details. It helps for me to write them all down. I hope all of you have a fruitful week.

Shalom(little Hebrew to mix things up:),
Brad