Essay / Education

Theology Conferences Part II of II: The Vices

See Part 1 here. In my first post, I sought to paint a constructive vision of academic conferences, but that is far from all there is to say—for a conference is a vice-saturated affair, and it’s worth knowing that ahead of time. One of the

© Mdbeckwith / Wikimedia Commons

Essay / Education

Theology Conferences Part I of II: A Brief How-To Guide

See Part 2 here. If you are interested in an academic career, welcome to the world of conferences. For all their weaknesses, these are one of the main heartbeats of the academy. Over two posts, I will do my best to pass along what I

Essay / Culture

Why Read? By Eva Brann

This speech was originally given on March 3, 2016, by Professor Eva Brann of St. John’s College (Annapolis), as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series at the Torrey Honors Institute. The following is an excerpt. A link to her full speech is available on Open

Essay / Culture

Online Education: Relation-less Education

Online classes and online universities are all the rage. They boast an impressive set of virtues and opportunities. Among them: Take classes in your pajamas (or less)! Why relocate? Learn at your own pace. Keep your day job. Pay less. A lot less (but read

Essay / Education

“Learning, by Means of Important Texts, to Read” (Barth ’48)

A note here on how Karl Barth viewed his teaching in the late 1940s in Basle. Barth was deep into writing Church Dogmatics III, and as usual he was developing the voluminous text of the Dogmatics out of the four hours of lectures he was

Essay / Culture

The Un-Resume: An Exercise in Professional Humility

To some of our students, we faculty probably present a daunting picture of excellence. After all, we are professors at one of the most distinguished private Christian universities—we excel in our fields, publish scholarly works about topics they may have never even heard of, are

© Jess Man / Wikimedia Commons

Essay / Education

Reading Strategies

Our students read thousands of pages per semester—a daunting task threatening to compromise and undermine their health and well being if they are not careful. The key to doing all this reading, I would like to suggest, is setting up patterns and disciplines which will

Essay / Education

Sanctified by Grace: A Theology of Christian Life

I was surprised when they opened class in prayer. I had flown out to LA to interview for a job at Biola University, and the public display of piety took me off guard a bit. It shouldn’t have. Prayer and theological study belong together. Some

Essay / Education

Pastoral Theologians Part 2: A Practical Theology

Read Part 1 here. At the core of the Christian faith is the belief that God did not rest content with using any effective means to save us from our sin, and creation from its ruin. Rather, God made himself the means of our salvation.

Essay / Education

How to Teach a Class on the Doctrine of Scripture this January

Here’s the deal. I’ve arranged for a whole lot of experts on the doctrine of Scripture to be in one place at one time this January, presenting papers and having public conversations about it. So if you’re a  theology professor in southern California, you should

Essay / Education

Pastoral Theologians Part 1 of 2: A Living Theology

Read Part 2 here. There is great momentum toward the vocation of theologian pastor—a pastor who cares deeply about studying theology in a careful and sustained way. I hope there is similar momentum in the opposite direction, toward pastoral theologians. Lord knows we need them!

Essay / Education

Our Reading Life (Torrey Convocation 2015)

. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. –2 Timothy 3:14-15