Seminary really begins

 The first four weeks of the fall term have flown by.  Even though I have read a lot for the classes, there wasn't much else to do for the classes.  Unfortunately that is about to change.  Between now and November 15th, I have four six to ten page papers to write.   What makes these papers different than anything I written so far, is that these papers are academic papers rather than reflection papers.  For those of you that aren't familiar, a reflection paper is one in which the author reflects upon a subject.  I have written reflection papers on Exodus 2: The Birth of Moses; The Stripping of the Altars in 17th & 18th century England; and the relevance of Church History on my future tract of studies so far this term.  An academic paper on the other hand can be broken down into one of three categories: analytical, expository or argumentative.  All of the papers I am about to write are analytical papers, which means that I will look at an issue or an idea and evaluate it for the reader.  These papers require research, source materials, lots of citations.  I have decided on the topics for three of them but have not been able to decide upon thesis statements.  The topic for my Old Testament paper is the different manner in which God speaks to Sarah and Hagar in the book of Genesis, for Church History, I am writing about the Nicene Creed and the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, and for Greek I am writing on Matthew 7: 1-14.  The fourth paper, I haven't even thought about yet since I am more concerned about getting the first three out of the way.

Today, I spent the entire afternoon in the library researching the book of Genesis and specifically God's revelation to Hagar and Sarah.  I found a whole bunch of great materials.  Unfortunately, the majority of them were either in German or Latin.  No one told me I should have brushed up on my foreign language before coming here. Afterwards I starting looking for materials on the 3rd and 4th centuries when the Council of Nicea took place.  The information I found is fascinating.  The background material leading to up to the Council of Nicea is really amazing.  (okay, once again, I realize I'm a geek)

I'm done working for today.  Now off for some mexican food and a relaxing night.  Tomorrow begins  early with a 7:30 a.m. church service at Presidio park in downtown San Francisco, so we are leaving at 6:45 to get there in time.  Hopefully I'll the weather will cooperate and i will get some pictures.