Albert's Weekly Update 14/9/12

Albert in his office

It's been a good week. I feel like I am now getting into the swing of things. Being organised certainly helps.

We have been experimenting getting up early in the morning, and it is working well. I can get in a good few hours before breakfast starts, and Hanneke has also been going swimming as well. So the alarm has been going off at 4:30 am. It's amazing how quickly you get used to it.

I now have a full complement of courses. New Testament History started this week, and the course material looks interesting. We had an introductory lecture, and next week we are beginning to look at the idea of the Canon of Scripture. Once we have done that, we are headed into the uncharted world (for me) of textual criticism.

We have begun Homiletics as well. For this subject we have 3 main books to read:

1. Biblical Preaching by Haddon W. Robinson
2. Preaching the Bible as Christian Scripture by Graeme Goldsworthy
3. Between 2 worlds by John Stott.

All 3 books look really interesting, hopefully I'll get the opportunity to share some of my thoughts after reading these over the next couple of weeks.

Had my first Hebrew test this week. I managed a good pass, which is an answer to prayer. I'm enjoying the challenge of getting to grips with a subject that is quite foreign to me (no pun intended!). The Lord blessed my preparation, and I am beginning to learn how to balance my time between the various subjects, so I was pleased that my preparations had gone well. Our Professor also provided us with a Study Sheet, that greatly assisted my preparations.

I have handed in my first paper this afternoon. Three book reviews on Catechetics. When I get them back I'll post them here on the Blog, if they pass muster.

New Testament Greek is a step up from first year Greek. I have spent the afternoon struggling through Syntax Diagramming. Thankfully I have the use of Bible Works 9, which has Diagramming Software built in.  If I can get my head around the technology, and once I get the hang of things, I will try and post  some copies here as well, for those interested of course!

On the subject of Bible Works, a huge thank you to the wonderful people who donated a copy to me. It will be an invaluable tool that used wisely and prudently, will greatly assist me in my language study. You know who you are, thank you, you are a huge blessing!

Theological Foundations included a discussion on Theological Encyclopedias, and the differing views of Abraham Kuyper and B.B. Warfield on Apologetics. There is an exam question in there for sure!

In Apologetics we are continuing to go through some foundational material. I am enjoying taking part in Rev Strange's lectures.

In Ancient Church History this week we had an interesting discussion on the use of Allegory. I'll save that for another time.

Well, that's it from me, time for bed. Thank you for your prayers, they are most appreciated. We continue to keep you all in our prayers also.

Blessings