Hello world, Glory be to God! May He open, bless, and speak to every reader who stumbles upon this blog!
For my very first post on this newly created blog, I have decided to share with you a personal reflection essay I wrote at the end of my very first semester as a George W. Truett Theological Seminary student at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. There is a lot more to my story, such as how I ended up pursuing a life of ministry at Baylor, yet not so long before I had been pursuing a growing career in fashion. That my dear reader is a whole testimony that requires a separate post which by the grace of God I will write soon.
For now, let's see how the first semester as a seminary student particularly in that class mentioned in this essay, impacted my spiritual growth. Keep in mind also that at this point in time, I am now in my second year of Seminary school......
Personal Reflection Essay, written for my Intro to Christian Scriptures class
It is so wonderful to finally realize that I am at the end of my very first semester of Seminary school. In general, it has been such a wonderful experience to meet and be a part of such a diverse and brilliant group of students as well as professors. How time has flown by, and how anxious, excited, uncertain I was at the beginning of the semester not knowing what to expect but just knowing that I was yielding to the Lord’s calling in my life for a life of ministry. My very first stop on this unknown journey of pursuing a life of ministry was at Truett as a seminary student, enrolled in Intro to Christian scriptures, among my other classes. I am very grateful for this class and the impact that it has had on my approach to Biblical exegesis thus far. Before seminary school, I had read the Bible several times but decided to read it again from the beginning to the end so that I was quite acquainted with most of the narrative beforehand. However, I believe the way I understood it, and my hermeneutical approach towards scripture was more speculative and literal than theoretical. I did not apply any forms of textual or form criticism methods introduced to us in this class. I also did not think much about the historical context, the traditions, the origins, reception, or the literature aspect of any of the material I was reading.
I was also that person who would take verses out of context and make their meaning suitable to my situation. I am still that person, but I now have so much more understanding and clarity in terms of the contextual meaning of those verses that I love very much or that comfort me. For example, one of my favorite verses in the Bible is, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 NKJ) This is a verse that unfortunately is taken out of context by many Christians including me to mean that believers can do anything in Christ. Yes, we can but if we are not careful and the verse is taken literally it could imply that I can wake up today without any formal training and go fly a plane because I am in Christ. With textual criticism approach, we can see that this verse was said by the Apostle Paul in the letter that he addressed to the Philippians in context to the gift of offering they had given him. Despite his gratitude, he was emphasizing that he had learned to be content with however much or little that he had because of his hope in the Lord. I believe that I am now able to appreciate and understand this verse more because of all the analytical tools that Intro to Scriptures has equipped me with.
I have however always upheld the Bible to be a sacred book full of wisdom and truth, and that truly by the power of the Holy Spirit there is so much revelation that one can find as they read it with an open heart equipped with the right biblical exergies. I feel like I am experiencing this gift of revelation in understanding the Bible through the Holy Spirit working in both my spirit as well as through the understanding that I have been able to acquire from all the material and lectures that I have been exposed to in this class. At times I have felt challenged mentally though in my notion of certain ideologies or beliefs engraved in me by both my own personal spiritual and cultural background. I do believe that as Christians no matter how much our quest is to pursue knowledge and understanding we should still be careful not to dissect the Bible or even the subject of God and Jesus Christ in such a way that lacks the reverence and veneration that they deserve. So, my spirit remains very guarded to some things that I might not necessarily agree with despite the scholastic depth that might be behind them.
I do however believe that one learns most when they are out of their comfort zone. So, I have really appreciated the exchanges with other students in discussion boards in my other classes about different approaches to understanding scripture or even prayer methods. One of the most important things that I also learned in Intro to Scriptures was understanding the canonization of the Bible and all the facets that contributed to the final canon that we have in the modern-day as our Bible. The fluidity of the cannon in the beginning and how it all finally came to being closed, the final books are chosen, as well as the legitimacy and sources of those books all intrigues me so much. What we take for granted such as personal copy Bibles, and copies in different languages was at one point not even possible. Learning and appreciating the significance of people like Jerome, the fourth-century Church Father who translated the Old and New Testament into Latin. As well as learning about Irenaeus and his assertion of the four gospels as cannon before anyone else. These are some of the men of faith who shaped and contributed to the development of the scriptures that I have had the liberty to learn about from this class. I have also really appreciated how much we have learned not only about the Christians of specifically the first and second century during the church in its infant stages but also learning about the Greco-Roman culture and the Jewish culture. As well as how they both impacted the development of Christianity and the development of the Bible. Christianity did not develop in a vacuum but was greatly influenced by the zeitgeist of the different eras it evolved through. Something that continues to happen even in this modern era.
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