Intro to NT Week Two

This week I started engaging in the academic material. I had started some minor aspects but now I could start fully.

The first task was to make notes on the general themes of Matthew having read through the whole text with the para text (chapters, verses, subheadings) removed.

Although I've read through Matthew before, it was never in so few sittings and doing so gave me a new appreciation for the text. I could see themes and details that had passed me by before. It's incredible how some of the subheadings can hide themes and trends across the book. While I had previously tried to notice trends and pay attention to events that happened before and after a section of text, reading the whole book certainly helps to notice trends not just immediately preceding a text but also long before and after.

Writing a précis

The second challenge is to write a precis on the transfiguration in Matthew. Reading the whole text has certainly helped prepare for the task but there are many aspects to write a detailed précis.

I honestly wonder if people who preach each week can really go through such a detailed process for each sermon (especially from traditions where they may be giving multiple sermons a week). Perhaps, like teaching, when you have taught on a topic before, you have resources and notes to draw upon.

Then again, in my book on exegesis, it also mentions using resources such as commentaries and how they can be useful but it is good to be able to do this whole process from scratch so you have those skills.

Beware of the NIV

One of the notes that surprised me but perhaps should have, is that the NIV isn't the best translation for exegesis. The reasoning presented was that it is a more functional translation and has an evangelical slant in its decisions. The aspect that surprised me more was that the TNIV was considered a better option. Then again, the TNIV is newer so you would hope that should be the case.    

Logos base packages

I decided to buy the Logos Anglican bronze base package. Partially because I am, in many ways, an Anglican at heart (despite their issue) but also because the sets of commentaries and resources were ones which I had heard good things about. I'm sure the general bronze base pack has other good commentaries but I went for the ones I knew and trusted.

Easter

Like most of the world, this years Christmas was very different to our usual ones. Instead of our planned trip to the UK, we stayed in Poland with my in-laws. We went over to their farm and enjoyed some open space and a small Easter egg hunt. With our church's service streamed the internet we had some sort of church community.

Interesting reads

• I found this article by John Dyer fascinating on different theologies of communion and how they fit with online services.
• Blessing Mpofu wrote about the process of Blogging. The big takeaway, it's okay not to cover everything, you can cover a unique aspect.
• Tim Challies wrote about missing the ordinary things the most during this lock down.