Excitment

So I went to seminary today.
I actually went...and visited Northpark Theological Seminary. Can I just tell you how amazing it was for me? It was amazing for me.
Morning started off fair enough but then panic when I thought I would be late. I was actually early and that seems to *never* happen these days when I attempt anything east of I-294, especially at 7AM.
I did however make it and with relative ease...ok, enough about the drive.
New Testament 2 class was great. A myriad of questions poured as the prof spoke.
Observations: primarily men in the class and about 7 women. Interesting and I guess makes sense given the stereotypes of this area. Also, they are all so dang interactive and nice. Almost concerned me slightly. It tweaked me. Yeh, it. My critic chimed in..."I can't do this. I'm not like them." Fleeting the critic and definitely heard.
My notes from class here:

My thoughts/questions while in New Testament Class:

Romans 1:7 Martin Luther reference.
Where can I receive the best most open reference towards scripture?
How much of this is the professor’s opinion?
Always asking ‘what are the implications?’
Why do we study these books?
Why do we so deeply look into them?
Other than traditional church reasoning for studying.
How can I get the feel for actual life/culture during the period of time I am studying?
Is the view from the teacher/scholar an accurate view?
When we study history, what do we do? Do we glorify the time, the culture, etc. Do we give ourselves a very unrealistic view of life then? Does the study of history lend itself toward what and how do I avoid it (if indeed it is an unhelpful tendency)?
Sitting in school is an attempt to bring fact/understanding. Ironically enough when studying we take on the view of the individual to what?
Help me understand the significance of Romans. How significant/how big is it?
Christianity: pro ethical/pro….not Pro Israel/Palestine….
I would need to reconcile some foundations…why Paul, who says Paul, were there others?
Joseph Fitzmeier (how legit is he?)
Would be helpful to understand population numbers as a whole.
Where was our world? Where were we in our evolution in thought as a species?

Here’s a great parallel….I come to a class. This class has its history, its background, its understanding. Each student in here comes with (supposedly) some sense of context, understanding, thoughts/energy about the teacher which configures their interpretation of this teachers speaking. This is the same with studying history…I feel that I must know these sames things about the people of the books I am studying.
Augustus believed that education and cultural literacy was the key to a moral transformation. Paul Zanker, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (Ann Harbor: University of Michigan Press, 1990)—his reference to the education of Pauls day is helpful.
I’m assuming this professor has a goal in mind for his study. I’m assuming much like me the professor does this for a meaning. This meaning is then his point and his filter. Can I by-pass their filter if I don’t agree? Can I hang with it and embrace and learn from it?
When we study Greek do we take into context the same look at it as we do English? With dialects, regions, etc. Or were they very standardized and un-bastardized?
Faith will cost you everything. It will cost you your life as you know it.

There was a tour of the library and the seminary building.
Then a meeting with the director of admissions.
I have to say, however, the highlight of my day was a conversation with Chris.
This chap is amazing. For the first time in a long time I was able to sit across the table with someone and babble about my deconstructed thoughts from the Radius days. Yeh, I KNOW! And he got it. He got it more than I know I'm sure. This dude is slightly brilliant.
We finished lunch, said adio and I proceeded to drive home. But honestly, I had some much excitement and hope. Yeh, hope!
Maybe. Just maybe, this is me.
We'll see...I meet with Ken on Sunday night after the initial mens weekend that I'm staffing via DTS. Here's to not doing this process alone. For once...I'm going to complete somthing I started and maybe, just maybe...I'll find out a little bit more about me.