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Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you

That was a favorite expression of my favorite high school teacher--Mr. Rooney. He even vowed that on his tombstone he would have written, "The bear ate me."

Last week I got back the grade on my first paper, which was for Early and Medieval Church History. The topic was the Arian and Nestorian controversies in the early church and how they were resolved through the first four ecumenical councils. On the one hand, it was my first academic paper in 17 years, so I harbored some anxiety; on the other hand, I felt that I had a good grasp of the topic, and so I was quietly confident that I would do well. I received an A. I have to admit, I took it as confirmation that I had a handle on this whole seminary thing. John 1, Bear 0.

What a difference a week makes. I felt less confident on my first paper for my Old Testament class. The topic was Rahab the prostitute from Joshua 2: Was she a woman of faith, a traitor to her people, or a pragmatist out for her own survival? I chose the first option, and in addition to citing Joshua 2, looked at other places in the Old and New Testament to support my position. Big mistake. The professor wanted me to stay within the confines of Joshua 2 and develop an in-depth interpretation there alone. Fortunately, my OT class does not issue letter grades for papers, just Excellent, Satisfactory, and Rewrite. I have until December 7 (a day which I hope will not live in infamy on my behalf) to rewrite. Bear 1, John 1.

Comments

  1. KLIMOctober 27, 2010 at 11:01 PM

    Lions (theology papers), Tigers (missiology with guder!) and Bears, oh my! how wonderful seminary is :)

    ReplyDelete

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