My First Day of School
It’s impossible to sleep the night before a long-anticipated experience. That’s probably why I fell directly asleep last night, the last night before the academic term officially begins here at Oxford. If you were to ask me back in high school if I ever would have dreamed of this honor, I would have laughed at you and gone back to asking Thomas if he had his Physics lab reports finished yet. I guess the feeling of studying in Western civilization's most prestigious university has not yet hit me, hence the great night’s sleep. I awoke around 7:00, showered, and then prepared myself a decent breakfast and immediately got back to reading the Chronicles of Narnia (I’m now through The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, my favorite thus far).
My first lecture was entitled God, Christ and Salvation. I walked to the Examination Schools where the lecture was to be held and made sure to get there a little early, just in case I couldn’t find the assigned room. I was the first one in the lecture room and that gave me the opportunity of watching every other student come in, sizing them up and seeing what British youths were made of. Surprisingly, they didn’t look too much different from us Americans.
When the professor came in, I was immediately reminded of your typical absent-minded professor. He had dark puffy hair and glasses and seemed to wander in the room in a frantic manner, hurriedly setting up his notes, pouring a glass of water, and preparing his…Power Point!?! If there was one thing I was hoping to leave behind in the States, it was some of the American professors’ abuse of technology in using Power Point to direct classes. However, the lecture turned out fairly well. The topic was 20th century topics in Christianity, and the first one dealt with was Christology and the question of who is Jesus and why can’t we stop thinking about Him?
The lectures (unless otherwise specified) are one hour long, and usually there is little to no time for questions. I had an hour to spare before the next lecture I wanted to try out, so I headed to the Philosophy Faculty Library on Merton St. (the oldest street in Oxford, still paved with cobblestones) and pressed on in my Lewis readings. The next lecture was in a massive hall in the same building as my prior class. The lecture is a twice-a-week series on General Philosophy and is basically what all the undergrads at Oxford go to to learn Philosophy. It could be compared with a 101 course in America. At least 350 students were in the hall, which was quite an experience in and of itself coming from a small college where lectures don’t exceed 50 students. Despite the simplicity of the material (or perhaps not so simple), the lecture was interesting, I learned a few things, and the professor was enthusiastic, funny, and a good communicator. We explored the question of knowledge in philosophical studies, and I walked away having picked up a few more philosophers’ names which I can add to my arsenal of name-dropping.
Those being the only two lectures I was really interested in today, I headed back home to continue reading. But the feeling of my first day of school in one of history’s greatest universities has left me feeling a bit awkward. I certainly don’t feel as if I’ve accomplished as much as the students here. I don’t feel I know as much, nor do I think I will know that much more by the end of term. But it’s an exciting feeling being here, knowing that you sit among some of the supposed best and brightest. I am officially a student at the University of Oxford.
My productivity today got me through The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which, as I said, has been my favorite Narnia book so far. I really think that taking a tutorial on C.S. Lewis was one of my best decisions in life. I am continually amazed by Lewis’ ability to write effectively and capture the minds of children, young people, and adults alike. I often find myself getting a bit choked up at the parts describing Aslan, but it is truly amazing how brilliantly Lewis is able to capture theological concepts in such simple terms. His social commentary is also very much applicable to today’s culture and often brings out a laugh or two. I found that Lewis’ first sentence in the Dawn Treader was perhaps one of my more favorite opening lines of literature: “There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.” As the English would exclaim, “brilliant!”
I also began my reading for my Philosophical Theology tutorial and began with a piece by Robert M. Adams entitled The Virtue of Faith. If you don’t recognize his name, never fear, I didn’t either before I read the selection. The basic thrust of his argument was a favoring of Kierkegaard’s opinion that faith must entail some sort of risk, or be objectively improbable, or require some sort of leap into the arms of the Savior after, it seems, weighing the pros and cons and rationally observing the evidence. We passionately throw ourselves, by an exertion of the will, into God’s hands and that is the virtue of faith. It seems to me that that view of faith is a bit shaky. Afterall, can we truly believe something if we only think it is probable that that something is true. My own faith is founded on the unshakeable belief that Jesus Christ is the true Son of God, that He died, rose again, and ascended into heaven. That is not something that is probably true, it is true. Also, the virtue of my faith does not rest in whether or not it is characterized by a passionate intensity. Obviously, there should be a zeal, a hunger for Christ, but the size or quality of our faith is not what makes it virtuous. It is the object of our faith, Christ Jesus, which is of the utmost significance. However, I’m only a quarter of the way down the reading list and I’m sure that other philosophies and ideas concerning the nature of faith will present themselves soon enough.
But enough philosophy! I’ll end this blog with something much more interesting:
But between them and the foot of the sky there was something so white on the green grass that even with their eagles’ eyes they could hardly look at it. They came on and saw that is a Lamb.
“Come and have breakfast,” said the Lamb in its sweet milky voice.
Then they notices for the first time that there was a fire lit on the grass and fish roasting on it. They sat down and ate the fish, hungry now for the first time for many days. And it was the most delicious food they had ever tasted.
“Please, Lamb,” said Lucy, “is this the way to Aslan’s country?”
“Not for you,” said the Lamb. “For you the door into Aslan’s country is from your own world.”
“What!” said Edmund. “Is there a way into Aslan’s country from our world too?”
“There is a way into my country from all worlds,” said the Lamb; but as he spoke his snowy white flushed into tawny gold and his size changed and he was Aslan himself, towering above them and scattering light form his mane.
“Oh, Aslan,” said Lucy. “Will you tell us how to get into your country from our world?”
“I shall be telling you all the time,” said Aslan. “But I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river. But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder.”
~The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Lewis)
My first lecture was entitled God, Christ and Salvation. I walked to the Examination Schools where the lecture was to be held and made sure to get there a little early, just in case I couldn’t find the assigned room. I was the first one in the lecture room and that gave me the opportunity of watching every other student come in, sizing them up and seeing what British youths were made of. Surprisingly, they didn’t look too much different from us Americans.
When the professor came in, I was immediately reminded of your typical absent-minded professor. He had dark puffy hair and glasses and seemed to wander in the room in a frantic manner, hurriedly setting up his notes, pouring a glass of water, and preparing his…Power Point!?! If there was one thing I was hoping to leave behind in the States, it was some of the American professors’ abuse of technology in using Power Point to direct classes. However, the lecture turned out fairly well. The topic was 20th century topics in Christianity, and the first one dealt with was Christology and the question of who is Jesus and why can’t we stop thinking about Him?
The lectures (unless otherwise specified) are one hour long, and usually there is little to no time for questions. I had an hour to spare before the next lecture I wanted to try out, so I headed to the Philosophy Faculty Library on Merton St. (the oldest street in Oxford, still paved with cobblestones) and pressed on in my Lewis readings. The next lecture was in a massive hall in the same building as my prior class. The lecture is a twice-a-week series on General Philosophy and is basically what all the undergrads at Oxford go to to learn Philosophy. It could be compared with a 101 course in America. At least 350 students were in the hall, which was quite an experience in and of itself coming from a small college where lectures don’t exceed 50 students. Despite the simplicity of the material (or perhaps not so simple), the lecture was interesting, I learned a few things, and the professor was enthusiastic, funny, and a good communicator. We explored the question of knowledge in philosophical studies, and I walked away having picked up a few more philosophers’ names which I can add to my arsenal of name-dropping.
Those being the only two lectures I was really interested in today, I headed back home to continue reading. But the feeling of my first day of school in one of history’s greatest universities has left me feeling a bit awkward. I certainly don’t feel as if I’ve accomplished as much as the students here. I don’t feel I know as much, nor do I think I will know that much more by the end of term. But it’s an exciting feeling being here, knowing that you sit among some of the supposed best and brightest. I am officially a student at the University of Oxford.
My productivity today got me through The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which, as I said, has been my favorite Narnia book so far. I really think that taking a tutorial on C.S. Lewis was one of my best decisions in life. I am continually amazed by Lewis’ ability to write effectively and capture the minds of children, young people, and adults alike. I often find myself getting a bit choked up at the parts describing Aslan, but it is truly amazing how brilliantly Lewis is able to capture theological concepts in such simple terms. His social commentary is also very much applicable to today’s culture and often brings out a laugh or two. I found that Lewis’ first sentence in the Dawn Treader was perhaps one of my more favorite opening lines of literature: “There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.” As the English would exclaim, “brilliant!”
I also began my reading for my Philosophical Theology tutorial and began with a piece by Robert M. Adams entitled The Virtue of Faith. If you don’t recognize his name, never fear, I didn’t either before I read the selection. The basic thrust of his argument was a favoring of Kierkegaard’s opinion that faith must entail some sort of risk, or be objectively improbable, or require some sort of leap into the arms of the Savior after, it seems, weighing the pros and cons and rationally observing the evidence. We passionately throw ourselves, by an exertion of the will, into God’s hands and that is the virtue of faith. It seems to me that that view of faith is a bit shaky. Afterall, can we truly believe something if we only think it is probable that that something is true. My own faith is founded on the unshakeable belief that Jesus Christ is the true Son of God, that He died, rose again, and ascended into heaven. That is not something that is probably true, it is true. Also, the virtue of my faith does not rest in whether or not it is characterized by a passionate intensity. Obviously, there should be a zeal, a hunger for Christ, but the size or quality of our faith is not what makes it virtuous. It is the object of our faith, Christ Jesus, which is of the utmost significance. However, I’m only a quarter of the way down the reading list and I’m sure that other philosophies and ideas concerning the nature of faith will present themselves soon enough.
But enough philosophy! I’ll end this blog with something much more interesting:
But between them and the foot of the sky there was something so white on the green grass that even with their eagles’ eyes they could hardly look at it. They came on and saw that is a Lamb.
“Come and have breakfast,” said the Lamb in its sweet milky voice.
Then they notices for the first time that there was a fire lit on the grass and fish roasting on it. They sat down and ate the fish, hungry now for the first time for many days. And it was the most delicious food they had ever tasted.
“Please, Lamb,” said Lucy, “is this the way to Aslan’s country?”
“Not for you,” said the Lamb. “For you the door into Aslan’s country is from your own world.”
“What!” said Edmund. “Is there a way into Aslan’s country from our world too?”
“There is a way into my country from all worlds,” said the Lamb; but as he spoke his snowy white flushed into tawny gold and his size changed and he was Aslan himself, towering above them and scattering light form his mane.
“Oh, Aslan,” said Lucy. “Will you tell us how to get into your country from our world?”
“I shall be telling you all the time,” said Aslan. “But I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river. But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder.”
~The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Lewis)
1 Comments:
Eric, God is gracious and He knows that you deserve to be where you are because it will equip you to do His will. Praise the Lord and give Him thanks for He is good and His love endures forever.
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