Now, I'm Really Finished!

Today has been a lovely way to finish the academic year. The whole college attended a farewell chapel service (where Michael Morrow's new CD was launched, by the way - see http://www.morrowmusic.com). We all then enjoyed a BBQ lunch on the lawn (and what a glorious day for it!) before a competition between faculty and students.

Then later in the afternoon, a group of first-year girls got together for a high tea celebration. This was such an encouraging time of fun and laughs, sharing with each other the highs and lows of the year and praying for each other. Some of those girls won't be returning next year, although some of them have husbands who will be continuing study. I pray that God will continue to sustain each one of them and that they will find new ways of enjoying and serving the One who sustains us.

Last One!!!

Yesterday afternoon, I completed my final exam for the year. 3 hours of Doctrine was an exhausting yet exhilirating way to finish.

I've really enjoyed Doctrine lectures this year. It has been great to think through my understanding and knowledge of God and this world.

I expect that next year's lectures will be much more challenging but, for now, here are the questions I wrote on yesterday afternoon. If you want to talk any of them through, let me know - more than happy to discuss them!

• How is it possible for human beings to 'know God'?


• 'The Trinity is an impractical doctrine of relative unimportance.' Discuss.


• '... of infinite power, wisdom and goodness.' Consider the meaning and implications of this description of God.


• Respond to the suggestion that 'penal substitution' is unjust.


• Why must Christian believers take seriously the bodily resurrection of Jesus?

So, what's next? Well, today we have our final chapel service for the year, lunch together as a college and a high tea for the first year girls this afternoon. I'll spend a few days in Shellharbour early next week before coming back to college for much of the holidays.

I'm looking forward to reading for the sake of enjoyment (even re-reading some of my textbooks, just because I can), enjoying time to watch some movies, doing some scrapbooking, catching up with people, attending a silly number of weddings, doing Christmas shopping and even cleaning up my room and getting into Greek summer assignments!

In the meantime, I will be preparing to finish up at Shellharbour City, starting at Panania in January, attending CMS Summer School and assisting at Next Generation (previously known as Katoomba Youth Leadership Conference). As much as I first thought the holidays would be difficult to fill, now I'm pleased there at least seems enough time to fit things in.

Well, off to prepare to face today and all its celebrations!

Mission Foundations Exam

Well, here's a first - I walked out of the exam smiling!

Mission Foundations is a subject that looked at the biblical theology of mission before looking specifically at how people have engaged in mission since biblical times. It has been a fascinating subject, one that I've felt I could sink my teeth into.

The questions I wrote on were:

• In what ways did Paul's conversion launch him on a path of world mission?
• What is the message of the book of Revelation for world mission?
• What relationship does action for social justice bear to proclamation of the gospel?

All that's left now is the 3-hour Doctrine exam tomorrow afternoon - it's a BIG ONE!!!! Wow, are we nearly done?

Philosophy exam

For better or worse, I have finished my Philosophy exam. I have to admit that I've really struggled with Philosophy - the ideas seem so enormous and, quite frankly, weird or even useless. So, although I've done some hard work on it (maybe not as consistently as I should have?), I went into the exam feeling as though I really wasn't sure about any of it. On top of that, I'd had my first bad night's sleep in the last couple of weeks (praise God that I've had such great sleep over the last few weeks) - I've been awake since 3.43am!!!

This exam was different to the others in that we had some idea of what the questions would be before we went in. In some ways, this seemed to increase the pressure of feeling like we'd really need to know what we're on about for this one. Additionally, I think everybody was a bit surprised that not all of the questions seemed to particularly resemble the ones we'd been told. At the very least, they tended to be narrower in scope, meaning you had to understand a particular part of the question you'd prepared for.

The questions I answered (or attempted to answer at least) were:

• How successful is Plato's ideal republic when it comes to formalising the relationship between the One and the Many?
• To what extent did Augustine's challenge to the skeptics enable him to make judgements about the Truth?
• How successful is Kant's categorical imperative when it comes to making moral decisions?

Whether it was the tiredness, the anxiety I was trying to keep under control about Philosophy, or that I still really don't get it, I left the exam about 15 minutes early because I had simply run out of things to say about Augustine and Kant. To my surprise, especially given I was in tears over Plato on Saturday night, I felt able to answer that question quite well.

Well, no time to dwell on it too much - still have 2 more exams in the next 3 days. Better get to it!

Church History exam

At least today's exam didn't seem as bad as the New Testament one. We needed to do 3 essays and there were 3 questions that I felt really comfortable with - couldn't hope for better really!

This year's Church History course focused on the early church, from the time of the apostles up to the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The lectures have actually been really interesting - I just wish I'd had more time to really absorb some of the detail

For those who may be interested, the questions I answered were:

• Evaluate the claim that Constantine's Christian faith was little more than a political expediency.
• What advances did the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed make?
• Discuss the legacy for the Christian church of Augustine of Hippo (355-430).

Now, to start looking at Philosophy - my real nemesis if there is one amongst my subjects. I don't get it!!! Please pray.

New Testament exam

Our New Testament exam was this afternoon and it felt much more difficult than the Old Testament exam on Monday.

Throughout the year, we have been studying Mark's gospel, Paul's letter to the Ephesians and Peter's first epistle.

Part of my problem in the exam was that I seemed to draw a mental blank on almost all of what I had learned about 1 Peter! I couldn't remember the structure I had memorised and, in a panic, seemed to then forget everything else about the book!!

Anyhow, see what you think of the questions I attempted:

• How does Mark's structure assist the telling of his story?
• 'Your faith has saved you.' What is the relationship between faith and salvation in Mark's Gospel?
• 'Four Gospels. One Jesus.' Explain the advantages and disadvantages for Gospels study, of having four Gospels.
• How does the Christology of 1 Peter serve to motivate readers towards doing good?
• In what ways does Christ change human relationships, according to Ephesians?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Now onto study for the Church History exam on Friday!

Free Money for New Lives

Check out the following sites on this joint initiative between Moore College, Anglicare and Women's Forum Australia. Please consider if you can help in any way.

http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/sydneystories/free_money_to_free_the_unborn/

http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/socialissues/080_free_money_for_new_lives/

http://www.freemoneyfornewlives.com.au/

Old Testament exam

Just to let people know that I survived my Old Testament exam this morning.



The following are the questions I answered - feel free to ask me about them sometime.

• What is the purpose of the book of Deuteronomy?


• What made David's reign different to Saul's?


• Why does the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament contain so little reference to the particulars of Israel's history?


• 'The book of Daniel is about wisdom.' Discuss.


• A Christian, troubled by the marginal notes in his Bible, poses the following question. Provide an answer: 'If we are not certain about every word of the Old Testament, how can we be certain about any of them?'

Five essays in three hours - my head and my hand hurts! Oh well, time to move onto preparing for the New Testament exam on Wednesday.

One Year Down - Well, Almost!

It's hard to believe that I have already finished lectures for the year! Where has my first year at college gone? Although it still seems daunting to think of another 3 to go, if they all go this quickly, then it will fly by.

Presuming I pass all my exams (maybe that's a big presumption at the moment :-)), the year will be completely over in less than 3 weeks. In the meantime, however, I still have 6 more exams to face, with 24 essays to write in them! 24 essays!! That's still a lot of information I need to absorb during the next couple of weeks.

Please pray that I will be diligent in my studies, that I will be able to keep in perspective the fact that lots of others have done this before me and survived (and that my salvation and worth as a person do not depend on my results at college) and that all the students will be supportive of and gracious to each other during this stressful time.

Most of all, please pray that I will be excited by what I'm learning, that it will not be a merely academic exercise and that God will be working in my life as I learn and understand more about him.

PS for details of my exam timetable, see my post dated 23 September.