Grad school starts in eight days. After moving two months ago and being gone three out of the last four weeks I am ready. I have been feeling like a small child waiting for summer for quite a while, and so caught up in my feelings was I that I had yet to remember that, actually, I am just a little bit scared. I am pursuing a Masters in Theology and Ministry (Art emphasis), with only the four required Bible/Theology courses from undergrad (and Hermeneutics from high school) as academic preparation. I feel just a bit out of my element. Yesterday I posted on Facebook for help in deciding which Bible translation to purchase. 15 comments were made before the day was a out.
Gender “neutrality” and “inclusivity” was a rather significant issue for many friends. Translations were recommended both because they were inclusive and not inclusive. I was struck at how each view believed something different about the two issues. Social conservative Christians generally lament gender neutrality which manifests in inclusive language, often because they feel it is a capitulation to liberal/feminist cultural values of political correctness. For some, the idea of a slippery slope is worrisome, if the genders are neutered in language, then soon enough we’ll have women preaching over men, open homosexuality etc. etc. For others, the desire is to preserve the inherent differences and experiences of maleness and femaleness. For myself, inclusivity is never a bad thing if it is already in the text, but neutering “the man” or “the woman” into “the person” seems both unnecessary and possibly deceitful. When we give up the specific for the general or the story for the extrapolation, I am always a bit wary. It seems to me that there has been a very good attempt to more closely translate the intent of the text in recent years (i.e. using humankind instead of mankind when the text intends so), acknowledging that many communal words were translated male because the original text has gendered nouns (unlike English). Especially in the Genesis narratives, the specifics of Ancient Hebrew become incredibly important and un-nuanced translation can have lasting implications in our daily working theologies. This is the chief reason I want to take Hebrew while here, and why I am rather disappointed that I am not currently enrolled in a languages class.
The tone of this blog will be slightly more academic, I hope, though I tend to write colloquially, so we will see what happens. I have been a rather inconsistent blogger in my life and for the sake of consistency the goal will be to do a summary of sorts of the material covered/new ideas each week. My focus of study will concern the interaction of art making and understanding the heart of God and it is primarily that journey that I hope to share with you all. Although, depending on the classes, the topics may change slightly from quarter to quarter—you have been warned.
Comments are welcomed and will be moderated.
Other Duties As Assigned 