New Study Days
We are excited to have the new Doctrine Study Day running at London Seminary on the 17th March, repeated on 31st. The title is ‘Preaching the God-Man: Defending and Delighting in the Incarnation’. Neil Martin, our Tutor in Biblical Studies, will set out some of the exegetical foundations for a high Christology that have been argued in some of the best of recent NT scholarship. I will connect that through to a Chalcedonian Christology, looking at how we move from the NT to the classical categories of person and natures, and will then explore issues such as Christ’s two minds and wills, his temptations, and his prayer in Gethsemane, drawing on some of the excellent recent Christological work done especially in analytic theology. It sounds technical, but the aim is to bolster our confidence in the truth and coherence of classical Christology, to help us to honour the Lord Jesus by speaking truthfully of him, and to have our hearts warmed by pondering the wonder of the God-man. You can book to join one of the days here, or watch out for the dates for regional groups that will come later.
We are also really pleased that our technology is now up to offering live immersive online access to the days. We trialled this with a Hebrew Study Day and John Kerr writes below about his experience. The online option will be available to those out of reach of embodied attendance. So if you are not near London do join our next Greek Study Day on Galatians 2 online on 10th March. You can find out more and book here. The new doctrine day will also be made available for a an online-only special which will be accessible to anyone out of reach of the regional groups, including those overseas.
Here is John’s report on the online Hebrew day:
‘On 21st January I had the privilege of being a “Guinea pig” as a virtual attendee at a Hebrew Study Day at the Pastors’ Academy. Like no doubt many former seminarians, I left my time at London with the best of intentions to maintain the use of both Hebrew and Greek. Having spent so much time and effort on the languages, what a waste it would be to let them go. However, in the constantly busy and unpredictable nature of pastoral ministry, keeping up the languages is far easier said than done. How can pastors make most profitable use of the languages, instead of letting them get squeezed out by other competing influences on their time?
I have the great blessing of living near another pastor who has the desire to make effective use of biblical languages. David and I meet up a number of times in the year over lunch to compare translations that we each prepare from chosen portions of Old and New Testaments. If you can find someone like this to meet with, then do it! My study is enormously enriched by David’s input and influence, but we often reflect on the value we would gain from having an expert with us. Together we had attended a Hebrew study day in London about 18 months ago. The input was great, but the journey to and from made it a very long day and had a very significant impact on the rest of the week.
So when the opportunity came to sit in on a course virtually I knew that I couldn’t refuse! From the comfort of our homes in Cheltenham and Gloucester respectively, David and I “dialled in” to join the study day on Isaiah 40. We had previously been emailed David Green’s comprehensive notes on the text, so I had them before me along with a couple of different translations and some paper for taking notes. The video-conferencing tool was very user-friendly and I could clearly see and hear all those participating, as well as be seen and heard by them. There was negligible delay in sound so it really did feel like I was part of the group, with ample opportunity to ask questions and be involved in the discussion through the day. I finished the study day shortly after 3pm, greatly edified by the whole passage, with a clear focus on how I might preach a short series through it, and with no journey home!
Should further language study days be available for online participation, I would be very keen to join again. The day was devotionally rich, theologically stretching and pastorally helpful. I would highly recommend them to all seeking to maintain their use of biblical languages.’
