Final Duke Semester Reflections

Here it is, a summary of what I learned this semester...

In no particular order...

1. The Church often fails in how we talk about the Holy Spirit. We either ignore the Spirit completely or overemphasize the Spirit--all in a way that does not accurately convey who we say we believe in the Holy Trinity. This has PROFOUND implications in theology and practice. In the words of Dr. Turner, it is all about learning about who the person of the Holy Spirit is!

2. There are some major problems with substitutionary atonement. If we are not talking about what we are saved for then we lose the mission of God. The mission is not "saving" but getting involved in why and how God is saving. God is saving more than human souls--God is redeeming the world for a purpose. Yet again, understanding this has HUGE implications for ministry. This is huge for evangelism, how we explain salvation, how we ignore sanctification, etc. It also ties in very closely with a diminished view of the Creator God, the Resurrection of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit.

3. Protestantism has some problems. These limitations are most present in #1 and 2. We make things all about the cross, all about Jesus, all about Scripture. There is nothing wrong with these things, as they are critical yet not the full story and therefore not the full Gospel.

4. Hitting children in NO way fits into what we as the Church believe about God, humanity and how people learn. And it is WAY more theological than we would EVER want to imagine.

5. There is a Church that exists in the prison. And unlike my previous thoughts before taking a class in Prison Ministry, it isn't just because prisons are filled with those who are innocent or political/religious prisoners. If we want to really know what redemption means, then we desperately need to hear from these Brothers and Sisters.

6. This semester Sam Wells wanted to give us the gift of knowing how to dismantle arguments. And therefore I learned that you can argue about something until you are blue in the face both thinking you are right unless you learn how to explain the perspective in which you or another person is coming from. In the words of Dr. Jennings, it means getting closer rather than moving apart.

7. There is great beauty in redeeming birth and death from insitutions. Both are a windows into what it means for us to be creatures who were made by and for God.

8. The nation-state is an Enlightenment concept and therefore there are some real problems with it. We would be wise to not see it as providence, but to see it as an imperfect tool to help us to get closer to the type of people and world God would want us to be.

9. I need to learn more about the theology of beauty and the body.

10. The beauty of the Church is that we are supposed to provide the gift of alternatives to the rest of the world. We are freed for new ideas and are being sanctified by the Creative force of the Holy Spirit.