How My Visit to Princeton Went
Hey ya'll,
So Anneli and I visited Princeton Theological Seminary on Thursday. We decided to come home a little early because of the storm, so we got in Saturday evening. Overall, I can say that Princeton remains my top choice. They were incredibly hospitable to pay for our housing and meals during the weekend. It's amazing that they do this for anyone who wants to come visit, since most schools only do it for those who've been admitted already, if at all. Once we arrived (it was a four hour trip, so about half a tank of gas as the Geo Prizm flies), we checked in and immediately went to lunch. Afterwards we sat in on Professor George Hunsinger's class on The Holy Spirit in the Reformed Doctrines. This class was looking at the Holy Spirit as working both within the human mind (intellect) and the human heart (piety) in the work of John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion (considered to be the first "systematic theology" work as we know it in modern times). Hunsinger was pleasing to watch, as he reminded Anneli and I of her father Dan Terry in many ways. A student noticed how in explicating Scripture in two different places, Calvin seemd to be making circular arguments. Hunsinger pushed back, defending Calvin's "biblicism" to the death of logic, suggesting that this student might have some kind of "foundationalist" motivations for wanting Scripture to be logically consistent (and indirectly Calvin as well). Hunsinger said that Calvin is devoted to explicating Scripture that he's not concerned with making it fit into a tight, neat logical framework. Of course, all this stuff was said a lot more elaborately than I'm making it sound. Overally, I thought this was an interesting point - one that doesn't surprise me coming from Hunsinger. I was curious if the "circularity-critique" might constitute a misreading of Calvin by the reader, but not having read the Institutes.
Sorry about the tangent there. Anyways, the visit consisted of many seminars w/ 3rd-year M.Div students as our hosts. One of the highlights was when VIctor Alloyo, director of admissions, gave a talk on "Vocation." There were about 40 people visiting, and we all went around the room stating our names, our home locations, and any question we have about the seminary. Many people asked about the spiritual component of seminary in light of the high academic reputation that Princeton has. Others asked how they can pay for such a place. Victor was delicate but firm. He stated at the beginning of his talk that this seminary's mission statement is clear that it equips its student for MINISTRY, in order to serve the Church of Jesus Christ. He was unapologetic about it. He said, "If you want strict academics, there are other places to go."
So Anneli and I visited Princeton Theological Seminary on Thursday. We decided to come home a little early because of the storm, so we got in Saturday evening. Overall, I can say that Princeton remains my top choice. They were incredibly hospitable to pay for our housing and meals during the weekend. It's amazing that they do this for anyone who wants to come visit, since most schools only do it for those who've been admitted already, if at all. Once we arrived (it was a four hour trip, so about half a tank of gas as the Geo Prizm flies), we checked in and immediately went to lunch. Afterwards we sat in on Professor George Hunsinger's class on The Holy Spirit in the Reformed Doctrines. This class was looking at the Holy Spirit as working both within the human mind (intellect) and the human heart (piety) in the work of John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion (considered to be the first "systematic theology" work as we know it in modern times). Hunsinger was pleasing to watch, as he reminded Anneli and I of her father Dan Terry in many ways. A student noticed how in explicating Scripture in two different places, Calvin seemd to be making circular arguments. Hunsinger pushed back, defending Calvin's "biblicism" to the death of logic, suggesting that this student might have some kind of "foundationalist" motivations for wanting Scripture to be logically consistent (and indirectly Calvin as well). Hunsinger said that Calvin is devoted to explicating Scripture that he's not concerned with making it fit into a tight, neat logical framework. Of course, all this stuff was said a lot more elaborately than I'm making it sound. Overally, I thought this was an interesting point - one that doesn't surprise me coming from Hunsinger. I was curious if the "circularity-critique" might constitute a misreading of Calvin by the reader, but not having read the Institutes.
Sorry about the tangent there. Anyways, the visit consisted of many seminars w/ 3rd-year M.Div students as our hosts. One of the highlights was when VIctor Alloyo, director of admissions, gave a talk on "Vocation." There were about 40 people visiting, and we all went around the room stating our names, our home locations, and any question we have about the seminary. Many people asked about the spiritual component of seminary in light of the high academic reputation that Princeton has. Others asked how they can pay for such a place. Victor was delicate but firm. He stated at the beginning of his talk that this seminary's mission statement is clear that it equips its student for MINISTRY, in order to serve the Church of Jesus Christ. He was unapologetic about it. He said, "If you want strict academics, there are other places to go."
posted by Chris TerryNelson at 2:18 PM
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