It's been too long - sorry for the delay. Half of the term, and, for that matter, half of the academic year has passed by already. I guess time flies when you're studying applied theology! At any rate, here's a bit of what I have been up to:
I have been working on an essay about Christian conversion. The texts I am most closely working with are A Charismatic Theology: Initiation in the Spirit (1978) by Heribert Muhlen, and Christian Conversion (1920) by Arthur Guttery. Muhlen, who passed away in 2006, was a German Roman Catholic priest and systematic theologian who sought to inspire a greater emphasis on the Holy Spirit in Catholicism, while Guttery was a Primitive Methodist minister in the early 20th century. My aim is to recover the importance of Christian conversion as a necessity and also to unpack the practical implications of such a view. Therefore, my research question is: Why is conversion so important to Christianity and how can/should this importance impact a Christian's daily life?
Here's an interesting quote from Muhlen:
"[T]he question arises first of all: how do you come to be a Christian? In the countries where Christianity is indigenous, more than 95 percent of the inhabitants are Christians, mostly because they were first baptized as children and then given Christian education and instruction. What happened in your case? Probably you were baptized as a small child and then given a Christian education in the family and in school. You learnt certain dogmas, practiced hymns and prayers, received sacraments. But, in addition to infant-baptism and education, did you take that decisive first step of a real personal conversion to God in the power of Christ which changes your life, the personal decision for Christ?"
“Conversion is more than a luxury, it is the primary necessity of our race. It is more than a cry; it is a conquest...We must have conversions or we perish, because the world has no use for us apart from conversion. Revival is the only antidote of death."
Some thought-provoking stuff, huh?!
In other news, things are going well with my a cappella group, The Oxford Commas. We have a few gigs coming up at the end of the term. We're singing some Simon and Garfunkel, David Bowie, and Stevie Wonder. I am still involved with a few churches in the city, and I have been singing with my college chapel choir. It's really quite a nice routine I've settled into. I very much hope you are also enjoying this swiftly passing new year. As always, please comment if you are curious about anything in particular, and I will make sure to write about it. Otherwise, I'll probably write more about Christian conversion because that's what's going through my head for most of the day!
I'll close with England's most popular word - Cheers!
Tim
