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Love these girls!
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It really is impossible to say what the future will bring. And I’m the last person to recognise that; I spend way too much of my time dreaming up exactly what my future will look like. But today, as I woke up and realised it’s the first day of school, and I’m in Oxford, England, I was reminded that dang, God has sweeter plans for us than we can even imagine. A year – or even 4 months – ago I would never have dreamed of waking up for the first school day of 2012 being at Oxford. But here I am, backpack on and ready to go!
After a brief and very cold run this morning to wake me up, I set off to attend my first Oxford lectures: one on applied Christian ethics (also the topic of my secondary tutorial), and another on 20th century Christology. I found my way to the examination schools (lectures building….) with the directional help of some friendly Oxford students on High Street, and made it to both lectures on time. The lecturers were great, and the topics were fascinating. The lecture rooms were unnecessarily cold, but perhaps that’s the British way of keeping everyone in class awake and encouraging us all to drink more tea when we’re done, both of which I did. Not that I need an excuse to drink tea.
The Oxford system is completely different from the US system; we attend lectures (of our choosing), and then take 2 tutorials. Tutorials are one-on-one courses taught by scholars in a certain field, mine being theology. This term I am taking Christian Moral Reasoning and Luke-Acts. Each week I'm given a lengthy reading list and expected to write a 10-page research paper for each tutorial answering a question my tutor asks. I bring a printed copy of the paper to each meeting and read it aloud to my tutor and then discuss it, no pressure!
When I asked my Luke-Acts tutor which translation of Luke-Acts I should read before my first tutorial, he told me that he'd prefer that I read it in Greek. When I admitted my lack of experience with Greek (aside from the yogurt, of course), he said that I could just read his translation if I'd like. Turns out he's translated and published the whole New Testament (and most of the OT, to be completed soon!), and his translations and commentary are available at bookstores. This fact certainly humbled me, but I feel honored to be studying under such an accomplished theologian.
Enough procrastinating - it's essay time!
The Oxford system is completely different from the US system; we attend lectures (of our choosing), and then take 2 tutorials. Tutorials are one-on-one courses taught by scholars in a certain field, mine being theology. This term I am taking Christian Moral Reasoning and Luke-Acts. Each week I'm given a lengthy reading list and expected to write a 10-page research paper for each tutorial answering a question my tutor asks. I bring a printed copy of the paper to each meeting and read it aloud to my tutor and then discuss it, no pressure!
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| found a sunny spot in Wycliffe - time to read! |
When I asked my Luke-Acts tutor which translation of Luke-Acts I should read before my first tutorial, he told me that he'd prefer that I read it in Greek. When I admitted my lack of experience with Greek (aside from the yogurt, of course), he said that I could just read his translation if I'd like. Turns out he's translated and published the whole New Testament (and most of the OT, to be completed soon!), and his translations and commentary are available at bookstores. This fact certainly humbled me, but I feel honored to be studying under such an accomplished theologian.
Enough procrastinating - it's essay time!
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