Hob's SemBlog

Notes, comments, thoughts on my studies at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
so my friends/family/supporters/whoever can keep tabs on my progress, and nag me to keep on top of things.

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Next Term...

Taking Hermeneutics and Greek I. Think I'll be doing both classes via video confernce, which'll really help me stay on top of things.

H. C. jotted this down on 2:40 PM. (( 2:40 PM 0 comments

End of Term Wrap-Up

hit me yesterday that I hadn't really descirbed the end of the semester events...

1. Finished my paper--I wasn't entirely satisfied with it, and during the writing frequently wished I'd tackled something a bit more narrow. For example a critique of Hodge's views/presentations on the office of RE (by the end of it, I couldn't believe I was reading the same man who's Systematic and Commentaries are so valuable). When my wife finished reading it she said it was the dullest thing I'd ever written. She's probably right ('tho she never read any of my English Lit or Literary Theory papers, so....). The title pretty much sums it up, The Nineteenth-Century Eldership Controversy: A Review of the Major Positions as Expressed by Thornwell, Hodge and Witherow yawn

2. The Debate. It went well, major props to my pal, Liam, who inspired me the night before for a much more interesting way to present my review of 1 Cor. 11. The other side threw one argument that threw my partner and I (don't think anyone--including the judge and the professor had heard it before). So we couldn't come up with much against it. I thought we more than answered the rest of their arguments--the judge disagreed. I also thought that they didn't touch the bulk of my argument--it was never commented on by the judge. So, we lost on points, but were told we did a good job.

3. History final, here it is: "...provide me a thorough essay of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Presbyterian History. You should concentrate on Scotland and the United States. In your concluding section, show how these centuries prepared the soil for 20th century events in the United States and what major lessons we should take with us into the twenty first century. The essay should be in good English grammar and syntax. Watch for spelling mistakes. It should flow fluidly and with the greatest chronological precision possible. Stream of consciousness will not do. You have two (2) hours to complete." I knocked out almost a full 7 pages in 1 hr 58 min. Wasn't my best, but I can't imagine doing better ('cept with a couple of dates now that I've seen his comments)

H. C. jotted this down on 2:27 PM. (( 2:27 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

History Grades

Well I just received my first ever grade from GPTS. It drives my wife crazy that I haven't received the others yet, but it doesn't bother me--I figure as long as I'm not on academic probation, I'll get my degree--and they'll surely let me know if I'm on probation.

Still, it was nice to get some feedback on my final and my paper in Presbyterian History. I lost some points on the paper due to grammar. I can't believe some of my gaffes--started a sentence with "And," dangled a preposition and used 3 contractions. Truly a shameful presentation on my part. I also was dinged for my refusal to use the comma before "and". I'm convinced that it's purely a matter of taste--and I don't like it. Don't know why, it's like button-down collars. Just not something I like to wear. But I'm going to have to remember in the future to suck it up and use 'em.

Overall, I'm not happy with my grade, but the professor noted he didn't have a couple of my assignments, and if I had submitted them to just re-send them with the original dates. Thankfully, I'm paranoid about this stuff--so I have the original emails, along with his replies to them. So that grade should be going up, which will make me nice and happy.

H. C. jotted this down on 4:54 PM. (( 4:54 PM 0 comments

The SemGuy

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The SemClasses (Fall '06)

(( Reformation Church History
(( Beginning Greek
(( Hebrew

The SemClasses (Spring '06)

(( Medieval Church History
(( Beginning Hebrew

The SemClasses (Winter '06)

(( Introduction to Homiletics
(( Baptism

The SemClasses (Fall '05)

(( Introduction to Hermeneutics
(( Beginning Greek

The SemClasses (Spring '05)