Reflections on Reading and Studying This Fall

Reading hasn't always been a part of my life. Actually, I never read a book until my first year of college. No one in my family reads, and all my friends growing up were jocks like me who didn't want to squander the summer sunshine sitting inside with my head in some book which I knew would be boring me to sleep. Thankfully, the Lord instilled in my heart and mind a love for learning and yes, reading. I feel like I have a ton of catching up to do as I talk with many other brothers who have had a lifelong training and theological education. There are so many areas of my learning that I feel totally inadequate to speak about, but I am slowly catching on (hopefully). Last week, I received all my syllabi and began planning out the semester (what and when to read books, mapping out deadlines, structuring my week, etc.). As usual, some classes demand more reading than others. This year, from what I understand, there is a reading limit for professors which peaks at 1200 pages per class. My guess this might be due to a few classes from last semester (such as Schreiner's NT theology which had 2000+ pages and Wright's English Puritanism which had 12 textbooks plus a reader which article entries, some which were entire Puritan paperbacks xeroxed!). Anyway, it looks like I will be spending about 20-25 hours a week reading if everything goes according to schedule. I am a really slow reader, so I might need a little more time than the average student. :) Anyway, because I have planned on doing this and at the request of William Turner, below is my class schedule. Also, because I am lazy and don't feel like putting all the bib details of each book, I took a picture of my shelf of class textbooks. Of course, there are some there that I added from my personal library to include for supplemental reading as well as a few for additional study. If you click on the picture, it should enlarge so you can read the binding. My classes this fall are: 1. Personal Evangelism with Dr. Beougher 2. Christianity in a Postmodern and Pluralistic Society with Dr. Wellum 3. Greek Syntax and Exegesis with Dr. Pennington 4. Introduction to Biblical Counseling with Dr. Scott My book reads for this fall: And, as a bonus, I thought I'd share another pic from a shelf comprised of some of my research for the "omnibenevolence" of God. I will continue to read and post in the future as I have time. So here it is (click on image): Finally, I have chosen to study and address the position of universalism and hell for personal research. I have my reasons, which I plan on sharing in the near future. My personal research during seminary has been as follows: Fall 2004: Anti-intellectualism and Open Theism Spring 2005: Exclusivism and Theology Proper Fall 2005: Inclusivism and Emerging Church movement Spring 2006: Providence and Religious Pluralism Fall 2006: Universalism and Hell So that is where I am in a nutshell. As I am nearing completion of my bibliography work on religious pluralism, I will post it soon. I hope it will be helpful for many who are interested in responding to pluralism in our times. It will be my largest bibliography work to date, currently having 450+ entries. If you are a student of a college or seminary, I would be interested in your classes. If not and you are currently reading/studying, please share what book(s) you are/plan on reading.