The Quest Continues

And so a new semester begins. For those of you keeping score, this is the fourth and (prayerfully) final semester of this arduous process. At the end of this semester, I will have completed 10 classes, 30 credits (added to the 30 credits I transferred in from my master's) of painstaking, difficult work. It is open to much debate on whether this completion was successful or not, but as I am often reminded, simply the completion itself should be cause for celebration. So do I receive my degree at the end of this semester? you may ask. A fair question, but unfortunately quite wide of the mark - which is, they say, the original definition of hamartia, the Greek word for sin (shame on you). Actually, after I complete this semester of classes, I then will have four or five months to prepare for a series of exams (some call them boards because they are in fact quite boring), which I will sit for at the end of October. Assuming that I pass this rather significant hurdle, again a lofty assumption, I will then, for the first time, have garnered the right to be called a PhD candidate. Right now, apparently, I am nothing but a peon, the derivation of which should be quite self explanatory. And let me assure you friends, the pee, as it were, is most definitely poised to fall this semester!

I am taking three classes this semester. The first is a history/philosophy class on the mysterious 6th century figure Dionysius the Areopagite. He wrote a corpus of writings dealing with the naming of God, the hierarchies of heaven, and the mystical union of God. He gave himself the name of Dionysius, after St. Paul's convert from his sermon on the Acropolis in Athens in Acts 17. It is a thorough going pseudonym, some might say fraud, as he references several apostolic events in his works, including a remembrance that he had of the world going dark when Jesus was crucified. He even addressed one of his letters to the Apostle John on Patmos. The pseudonym is why the letters received such universal acceptance and authority as it was accepted as truth by virtually everyone until the middle 19th century when it, along with much of what we used to hold dear, came into question. Though we know these works were not written by the real Dionysius - he now goes by Pseudo-Dionysius - he still is quite an important figure in the history of Christianity for the influence of his writings. As he is thought to have melded quite successfully the traditions of Christianity and Neoplatonism, he is of interest both for Christians and philosophers. The class is, thus, team taught by Father Alexander Golitzin - the resident Orthodox monk - and Dr. John Jones, philosopher extraordinaire. Should be quite engaging.

My second class is a class on hermeneutics, which is, simply put, the study of how one reads the Scriptures. It is taught by Dr. D. Stephen Long, a Methodist who recently joined the staff of Marquette. As my readers know, I too am a Methodist and for the first year of my studies felt like a man without a home in some respects as there was no one of my tradition with whom I interacted on a regular basis. It is good to be in Dr. Longs presence, under his tutelage as the old saying goes, and for such an important topic.

And my third class is a history class on Late Medieval Augustinianism. That is, I gather, how the Medievals, from Lombard to Aquinas to the dawn of the Reformation, used and interpreted Augustine. The great Father and Doctor of the Church had such a corpus and made several shifts in his thinking throughout his career that the problem of an Augustinian consensus was pressing in the middle ages. In short, everyone claimed him as an authority but no one agreed on what he was saying. This became particularly acute in the Reformation as both the Reformers and the Catholics were claiming to be the rightful inheritors of Augustine. This class is taught by Dr. Marcus Wriedt, a German scholar who teaches at Marquette periodically. I have heard amazing things about him so the excitement to take him mitigates against the fear of the fact that our primary text book is only in Latin.

So there we have it - the finish line of the class portion of this process is in sight (though in reality it is probably not even the halfway point). Still it is something, and I am grateful to God that I have made it this far, only with His help. I pray that for all my learning I do not miss him. One of the quotes I have sitting on my desk is from the great medieval scholar Hugh of Saint Victor: "Knowledge that is stained by a shameless life is not worthy of praise, and for this reason the person who seeks after knowledge must be very much on his guard not to neglect discipline."

Such is the path that I am on. Thank you for those of you who have journeyed on it with me. Through your prayers I continue.