I am having so much fun it should be illegal! We start each day with morning prayer, for the last six days we have been singing and chanting, it is glorious. Then I study for until lunch and go to class in the afternoon. Each class is challenging in it's own cool way.
Today we talked about Marcion and the Gnostic Gospels. Very strange belief systems that included seven layers of heavenly revelation, secret codes and amulets. The point wasn't the weirdness of the beliefs, though, the point was that the Gnostics (and others) were successfully promoting their beliefs and so the orthodox Christians had to respond. One of the first responses was to isolate 27 of the hundreds of writings that were circulating throughout the Christian communities and set them apart as Holy Scripture. We call these 27 writings the New Testament. How neat is that!
Tomorrow we'll be in Greek. I spent the last hour (9-10pm) with my friend Josh studying the conjugation of Greek verbs. I can now say the words "throwing", "leaving" and "speaking" in Greek in the first, second and third person, in both singular and plural. This is not very cool in it's own right, but if I keep taking Greek for all six terms, at some point I'll be doing small group work on Revelations or maybe Ephesians, and that is cool. To look at a bunch of squiggly symbols and see the revealed Word in the original Greek - goosebumps!
Not everything is study. Today the kids had the day off from school for Labor Day, so we went to the dining hall and had an all you can eat calorie fest. It's lucky we walk everywhere or we'd already be a much heavier family. Marti and the kids are thriving, making new friends and staying in that nice middle place where you're always busy, but seldom harried.
Anyway, I am having a blast and I am doing the work and it is going so nice. Thanks to all our loving sisters and brothers in Jacksonville and other places, your help and prayers and support are beyond anything we could have dreamed. We miss and love you all!
Blessings and peace,
Jon
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2 comments:
Jon, All of us at St. Andrews are enjoying keeping up with you through your blog. Greek must be a challenge, everyone always says " what is this ***ing GREEK?" I am still trying to master Roman numerals. I always forget which one is 50 and which one is 500 D or L? Thank goodness it is MMIX so I won't have to be around for that problem. Hey, can you email me your new Phone and email? Thanks, jk
Jon, All of us at St. Andrews are enjoying keeping up with you through your blog. Greek must be a challenge, everyone always says " what is this ***ing GREEK?" I am still trying to master Roman numerals. I always forget which one is 50 and which one is 500 D or L? Thank goodness it is MMIX so I won't have to be around for that problem. Hey, can you email me your new Phone and email? Thanks, jk
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