Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Mail Call - 8

11 Sept., 2018

Adam Baumann
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fall Quarter, 2018-2019


4-7 Sept. 2018

4th: First day of class, and of the 173 academic year.  At least that's what we were told at the opening service.  And class picture.  Which meant being outside, in 90ยบ heat, in a full suit.  Oh well.

The day started with Gospels I, which for myself was a bit of a review.  Having a background in theology, that shouldn't be a surprise.  We basically had a brief primer on exegetical theology.  And found out that there are two exegetical papers due.

Afternoon was Dogmatics I.  Again, it was a bit of a primer, this time on the nature of theology.  This will be a more technical class, being systematics.  And there's a paper on a theological topic, ranging from the interesting to the controversial.

5th: Church History I was very full.  Like "almost the entire First Year class" full.  We're going to need a different room.  Oh well.  It will be a fun class (at least in my opinion).  And it is early Church, starting with the last word of Acts, more or less.  So not just the dates and places and names, but the mindset of the people who lived the events that founded the Church.  This is family lineage we're learning.

Liturgics I, though, might be the most hands-on class this quarter.  And that might make it the most scary.  Chanting and prayers, for one, and knowing that this is training specifically so that I can stand up in front of a congregation and be "under the microscope" to a degree.

6th: Thursdays in Gospels I is the "breakout" sessions, with each small group's instructor.  In some ways it is lab, in some ways it is observation.  We read the text and discussed it, fairly thoroughly.

7th: First Greek readings, and proof that its a small world.  My instructor attended Seward back in the day, though he did (somewhat jokingly) admit that he didn't like me as much since I didn't take Hebrew.  But it was a good discussion, connecting Mark 7 with various portions of Isaiah.

That evening there was a "meet-n-greet" with my mentor and the other mentees.  All in all, a pretty good experience.

First week is finished, now on to finish an exegetical paper (due on the 13th), a worksheet on the next pericope, and a rubric on prayer.

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