Let me begin with the story of two Rhodes Scholars. One is named William Jefferson Clinton. He went to Georgetown University on scholarship, Oxford on the Rhodes Scholarship, and Yale Law School. He served as the 40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas and before that was Arkansas’ Attorney General. In 1992, Clinton became President of the United States and in 1996 the first Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to be elected to a second term.
One of the most treasured items that gets hauled out of storage in our household each Christmas season is the crêche, or Nativity scene. Ours is a simple affair. It is composed of wooden folk-art figures made, as I recall, in Costa Rica. We see gentle Mary, kneeling in wonder before the child she has just delivered, and faithful Joseph, holding a lamp. A shepherd has just wandered in, accompanied by two of his sheep. There is also a random cow milling about; it is after all a stable.
On the second Sunday of Advent we anticipate and celebrate the promise that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, has come to bring peace into the world. In the face of so much hubris, greed, polarization, division, and war around the globe, the promise of peace might seem a distant and elusive dream. The suffering of so many people in too many places awakens deep sorrow (and at times anger) in our hearts: Come Lord Jesus.
“And behold [David], you are caught in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed!” (from II Samuel 16:8)[1]
“…‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart…’” (from Acts 13:22)
It is often emphasized how radical the apostle Paul was in proclaiming that, through faith in Christ, Gentiles can enter into the people of God without first becoming Jewish and taking on obedience to the Mosaic Law: “those who believe are the children of Abraham” (Gal 3:7). What is less often noticed is that Paul is here simultaneously at his most traditional. It simply never occurs to him to say that descent from Abraham is unnecessary. It is only those who are part of Abraham’s family who can receive salvation.
Seventeen years ago, I embarked on a life-altering journey. I departed from my homeland, leaving behind my family and friends in South Korea, where I was born, raised, and spent the most significant portion of my life. This move was in response to Christ’s call to ordained ministry in the pastoral care of those in suffering and pain. My destination was New York, where I undertook an MDiv programme.
We surveyed the faculty members at Wycliffe College for recommendations of books and resources that new theological students (or those considering further theological study) ought to read, and here is a list of them by category!
1. Mark S. Gignilliat, Reading Scripture Canonically (Baker Academic, 2019). "It's meant to be a basic introduction by a veteran teacher . . ." (Professor Chris Seitz)
My name is Grace, and I am in my third year of the MDiv program. During my undergraduate years, I was involved in campus ministry and that was when I became interested in theological studies and enrolled at Wycliffe College. After two years of working with a ministry that seemed unfruitful – and a mismatch for me – I felt discouraged. As I looked for summer internship placement opportunities to fulfill my program requirement, I was hoping to be placed in a ministry context where the gospel worked powerfully in people’s lives.
I just returned from a trip to England visiting towns northeast of London – where my mother’s relatives lived in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries – searching for churches where they had worshiped before their immigration to the New World. Some of the churches were in small villages, while others had to be ferreted out by driving down miles of narrow hedged roads and past fields of spring hay and intense yellow rapeseed before spotting a bell tower through a cluster of trees.
Outside my office window there is a stunning tree. Burnt-red, tall and thick, deep blue sky behind it, and on either side trees still bright green. A plane, a silver arrow, flies across the face of the half-moon clearly visible in the sky, and it is all so beautiful I can almost ignore Robarts Library hulking behind.
