The Fourth Heaven

"The Fourth Heaven" is a reference to the Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri. In "Paradiso" (Cantos X-XIV), the Fourth Heaven is the sphere of the Theologians and Fathers of the Church. I would not presume to place myself on the same level as those greats, but I am interested in philosophy and theology; so the reference fits. I started this blog back in 2005 and it has basically served as a repository for my thoughts and musings on a wide variety of topics.

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Location: Riverside, California, United States

I am currently a graduate student in philosophy, doing research on theories of moral motivation and moral reasons. I'm also interested in topics in the philosophy of science--especially theories of explanation--and would like to become better acquainted with the writings of Kierkegaard, Husserl, and Heidegger. I am currently a member of the Free Methodist Church, have a broadly Evangelical Christian background, and am learning to better appreciate that tradition and heritage. I have a growing interest in historical and systematic theology (especially the doctrine of the Trinity and soteriology) and church history. I'm always thrilled when I get the chance to teach or preach. I like drawing, painting, and calligraphy. I really enjoy Victorian novels and I think "Middlemarch" is my favorite. I'm working on relearning how to be a really thoughtful and perceptive reader. I enjoy hiking and weight training, the "Marx Brothers", and "Pinky and the Brain".

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Oxford 11: Emerged

Praise be!

I have emerged—emerged from the black pit, from the valley of the shadow, from the dark night; I have emerged. Ha ha! Praise be! Oh light! Oh day! Oh heavens! Oh inimitable, inexorable, incomprehensible grace—outpouring of the divine munificence enthroned in glory.

Praise be!
_____

Greetings one and all. A few have commented to me about my having neglected over the last couple weeks to post any updates. For this, I apologize. This has been an unusually paper-heavy time. I am alarmed by how much time I’ve been spending in library and over books. I pulled one full all-nighter. (I was hoping to avoid that this semester, but oh well.) But all is now well.

I just got back from the last meeting of my secondary tutorial on Leibnizian philosophy. I was very concerned, going into that last meeting, about the quality of my final paper, but my tutor, Kurt Ballstadt, was very positive and our conversation was as engaging as ever.

There’s still plenty to be done. My next paper for my primary tutorial on Integrating Philosophy and Theology—due Monday—will cover Søren Kierkegaard; Karl Barth and Emil Brunner; and with Ludwig Feuerbach and the movement of German Idealism. The paper that I turned in at the beginning of this week covered Blaise Pascal, John Locke, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant. There’s so much material involved, but I’m loving every minute of it.

Earlier today I attended the seventh lecture in a series on the philosophy of Locke and Berkeley by Dr. Anita Avramides (the only lecture series that I’ve consistently attended all term); those continue to be delightful.

On Thursday, most of the APU OSAP students will be getting together for Thanksgiving dinner.

Things are beginning, ever-so-slowly to wind down. But there’s still plenty to do.

There is much, much, much to be said and dealing with this backlog will present some interesting challenges. Updates about recent events, philosophical and theological musings, upcoming activities, random thoughts—I’m going to differentiate and structure the kinds of contents by posting several different entries. Unlike my friend and former roommate, Josh, I have no compunction about posting multiple blog entries in a single day. (That reference was just a random shout-out to him. Yeah, Josh!)

It is good to be communicating with you all again. Thank you to all who have written or sent a message or e-mail.

Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving!
_____

There is nothing so pure
As the laughter that springs,
Unsolicited,
From the sight of the leaves
Dancing in the chill
Wind of a brisk
Autumn day
As you step out your door.

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