100th Post

It's been over a month since my last post (the 99th one, I discovered as I looked at my blog dashboard this morning). So this makes 100.

Some happenings:

1. We're awaiting the arrival of our daughter, Julianne Lynnette, any day now. Sam was born on the birthday of a family member. Today is the birthday of Carrie's maternal grandmother. Sunday is my aunt's birthday, so at this point we're hoping for one of those (Carrie would prefer today...we'll see). She's 36 weeks and 3 days today, which is exactly how far along she was with Sam when he came. Anyhow, my world is about to be rocked again as she nears her arrival...but I am VERY EXCITED!! Oh, and Liz coined a nickname for her on Carrie's facebook: "Little J"...we like it and may use it from time to time, along with Julie. :)

2. Prior to a month ago, I hadn't cracked a book by N.T. Wright in several years (since The Challenge of Jesus in a class in seminary). I purchased Surprised by Hope (SBH) during my stay in the UK and received Justification through the mail about a week ago.

I'm halfway through SBH and have been refreshed with his reminder of the importance of the belief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus and in the future resurrection of everyone. It has served as a reminder that (among other things) "getting to heaven when you die" is not the ultimate hope of Christians...the ultimate hope is in the new heaven and the new earth, portrayed in the closing chapters of Revelation, where the new heaven comes down and is married to the new earth...not Christians being taken away to some other place in the sky. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created; and you shall renew the face of the earth (Psalm 104.30).

As I often do, I begin another book before finishing the one I'm reading. I'm primarily interested in Wright's Justification because he addresses issues of atonement and imputed righteousness (pertinent topics to my doctoral thesis) in his response to Piper's criticism of his portrayal of the notion of justification in previous works. I haven't gotten far into it yet, but will reflect on here if/when I find things pertinent that I need to get down in print.

3. My research topic is being narrowed as I have discovered that trying to cover the thoughts on Christ's atonement in 4 theologians is an impossible feat for a doctoral thesis limited to 80,000 words or less. With that in view and the fact that no one has done extensive treatment on John Wesley's use of the atonement since a dissertation in 1965, I'm going to focus my treatment there. Such a focused treatment is due especially given the renewed interest throughout theological scholarship on the issue of atonement as debates ensue over which models and/or theories may or may not be appropriate for use in proclaiming the good news in today's setting.

For research, the last month has not been as productive as we have been getting prepared for Julianne's arrival, but I am excited about weeding out the breadth of trying to cover the other three theologians (John Miley, Albert Knudson, and Larry Shelton) and going more in depth on how the saving significance of Christ's death plays into the sermons, controversies, and other thoughts in John Wesley's context.

That's about all for now...stay tuned to facebook for updates on #1. :)

Pax!