Real Conversation
My good friend Felix and I had a lengthy theological discussion on Saturday evening. It was so lengthy and rather complex that I have two pages of notes, thoughts and points for further research that I quickly wrote down after we were finished (which I’m more than happy to share offline). At some point I plan to make some of the items into full length essays, but we’ll see if that works out. We discussed the concepts of supersessionism, dispensational theology, first century Judaism and the Jesus movement, historical epistemology and most importantly how the first century Jews viewed the actions and teachings of Jesus. We were attempting to discover how, when and if these ideas (theology, understanding) were significantly altered when pagans began converting or when the converted Gentile population outnumberd the Jewish population. It is far too much to unpack now and appears, I’m sure, as a random grab bag of concepts. Don’t worry as we develop these concepts “in the next couple of months”, to quote Felix, I’ll post the developments. I can tell you now though that it is interesting and challenging to see how little we can really know about this time period. However, with the little data we do have we intend to come up with tentative answers (conjectures to some, hypothesis to others) that deal with all of the data while offering the simplest answer. Thank you William.
The thing that is most satisfying is the experience you can enjoy when two or more individuals seriously engage in dialogue, inquiry and investigation about issues that are a bit deeper than what popular culutre has to offer. I’m not knocking pop culture as I have my share of favorite T.V. shows just like everyone else, but it is difficult to feel that your time is well spent in those sort of conversations. The sad thing is that I’ve only met a few people that enjoy the former. Yes, I know, maybe I’m looking in the wrong places. I’m definitely open to suggestions.
Jessica (Trivium Academy) on 26 Sep 2006 at 4:10 am #
Sharing rhetoric with someone is wonderful, I especially enjoy the part of the discussion where it starts to get a little heated right before settling down to a slow burn which keeps the conversation going. What I cannot stand is talking to someone who does not have a similiar grasp of the subject. (A monumental waste of time.)
You didn’t think my book list was extensive enough? LOL. I thought I would waste some of your time and comment area explaining some of my choices.
Any book by Jonathan Kirsch is a pleasure read, he is a wonderful storyteller. His creditials don’t impress me enough to take him seriously, but who knows- he might surprise me.
My current biblical study is on Genesis: I have a theory of what I believe but I need to read further to solidify it. I’m sure I will move on to other areas of contention once I satisfy my current inquiry. The Jesus and Judaism book you suggested looks promising.
Classical education, homeschool and parenting books- these are vanity reads. I want to learn more about classical education, explore other views of homeschool methods and of course read about how I can be the parent God intends me to be.
Logic books- Can’t someone just knock me in the head with the books? Maybe it will absorb in? These will require careful study and application.
Have you read anything by J.P. Moreland?
Jessica
roodee on 26 Sep 2006 at 10:31 am #
Yes, I have read and heard J.P. Moreland. I have his Philosophical Foundations text. I like it but it is best used in a classroom setting. Also, I wish he had included a list of primary source references in each chapter or topic. Another challenge with this text is that there isn’t an honest assessment of the weaknesses of certain positions he has taken. It does give you many of points with which to pursue independent research. My current focus, among others, is epistemology, but, again, more on that later.