Sisters

Sisters

Friday, March 1, 2013

Treasure Trove

New Suit!
 (Now he looks like a preacher!)


One of the subjects that I am taking this Semester is Biblical Hermeneutics, which is a fancy name for interpretation. For this subject we are writing two papers. One paper will be on an Old Testament passage, and the other on a New Testament passage.

The difference with these papers is that we are writing them in stages. Our Professor describes it as an apprenticeship. It's not something that the Seminary has done before, so it is experimental in some ways. The aim is to produce an in-depth 'deluxe' exegesis paper. I'm already really enjoying the process.

So far we have chosen our passages and provided justification as to why we think this pericope (segment of text) is a complete unit. This involves reading the books through, making notes, and deciding on a passage. We then look at various commentaries to get a feel for the background of the book, and look at exegetical commentaries to help us in justifying our choice.

One thing that it has immediately made me more aware of is the treasure trove that is in God's Word. There is so so much more than meets the eye when you start looking more in depth at a passage. Thankfully my language skills are coming along and so I am beginning to appreciate more and more what lies under our English translations. The word plays that occur in Hebrew are lots of fun. You also get a better appreciation when reading the NT as to how the authors use the Greek language.

I have chosen Judges 3:12-20 for my OT passage, and I am looking at Philippians 2:12-18 for my NT passage. I hope to be able to share some thoughts with you as I go along.

I am due to take my first Chapel on March 27th. Hopefully I can provide you with an audio copy. I am also due to preach my first sermon in the US for preaching class on April the 16th, although this may be earlier.

We have handed in our preferences for our Summer Internships. There are some exciting possibilities. I can't share any details at present, but will let you know once we know.

As part of the process of getting ready for being able to preach in the URC I need to take a licensure exam with the Consistory that I am under here. Below is a link to a PDF that has the URC Church Order, with a section on licensure exams, for those interested. (It's Appendix Two)


Blessings,

Albert

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