Fall 2008 Classes

This semester I am taking four classes:

1. Hebrew

This is both fascinating and tedious. I love learning a language that is completely foreign and ancient. It is giving me a greater appreciation of the complexities, similarities, and miraculousness of language in general. The very fact that we can communicate with such expressive language reveals there is something special about humans.

But, as I said, it is tedious. Much memorization and rules can distract from the wonders of verbal and written communication. As my professor says, when God confused the languages in Genesis 11, He did a very good job.



2. Introduction to Preaching

We are learning the basics of sermon construction and delivery. This by far is the most confusing class to me. Coming from engineering, I enjoy the structures that follow from the natural laws of the world. With preaching there are structures, but many are style preferences. Wading through what is preference and what is rule is difficult for me. I am thankful for the class as it pushes me to think in new ways.



3. Old Testament Studies I

This is the first of three survey classes that gives a broad overview of each book of the Bible. I love this class. My homework is to read each book of the Bible three times. This semester we are covering half of the Old Testament - from Genesis to Chronicles. This class is showing me riches in the Bible I have never seen before.



4. Hermeneutics

How can people read the same book and come to such different conclusions? This class discusses the historical-grammatical method of interpreting the Bible. Basically that means that when the Bible was written, the writers who were inspired by God literally meant what they/He wrote. When Genesis says that after the flood God promises to never destroy the whole earth with a flood again - it means exactly that: there was a worldwide flood in the time of Noah, and God will never destroy the whole earth with a flood again. While this may stretch our faith, I have appreciated this class as it pushes me to take God at His Word. I sort of think of it with what Horton says when Dr. Seuss wrote, "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's word is one hundred percent." I think Horton would have a historical-grammatical hermeneutic.