Reflections by Horizons Fellow Sophia Van Horn ('21)
St. Martha is stalking me and I’m not too upset about it.
Over the past two months, she has made her presence known and has showed me that she is not going to leave my side for a while. One week in September, I got caught up in all of the “doing” and “serving”. I had a particularly long day in the kitchen, cooking meals for my best friend Cora’s birthday. She deserves only the best, so the day called for a big breakfast and her dinner of choice—spaghetti and meatballs. I’ll spare you the details, but imagine 80 handmade meatballs, two Dutch ovens of sauce which simmer for 3 hours. It seemed like enough food to feed an army. I felt like Martha. I was rushing between class and the kitchen, wanting to serve only the best for Cora. I was so carried away with the tasks of the homemaking that I neglected to sit down with her, to be with her. Does this sound familiar?
If you read the gospel passage Luke 10:38-42, you can see some stark differences between sisters Mary and Martha. They are on two sides of a spectrum, Mary is the contemplative sister and Martha is the active sister. Jesus is visiting the women and Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, gazing into eyes of Christ, completely enamored by his presence. Martha, on the other hand, sees a need to serve. She wants to pretty up the house, make Jesus the best meal, and cater to His every need. She so famously says, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me!” And what does Christ do? He rebukes her. He tells her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
This seems like a slap in the face to Martha, who has tried to do it all. She has tried to please Christ, but all he is calling her to do is to sit and rest with Him. Perhaps we too fall into that trap. Perhaps we see everything that should get done and put it upon ourselves to complete the tasks right then and there. Christ calls us to slow down.
For all the Martha-like people who are reading this, have hope! We cannot all be like Mary and that is a good thing. We should rejoice in our Martha-ness. By our service, we leave space for Mary to adore Christ. We do the things to give an opportunity to Marys to be Marys. Notice, also how Martha was “burdened”. Christ calls us all to give our heavy burdens to him, to take on his yoke. Matthew 11:30 reads, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Our burdens can unite us closer to Christ, who has compassion for us and our sufferings.
Still not convinced? Turn to John 11:17-37. Lazarus has just died, and the sisters are mourning. Mary has locked herself in the house, but where is Martha? She is running through the streets to find Christ. She does not even know if he has entered into the city walls and yet, she is running to Him. Martha runs to the feet of Christ and perhaps we can too. Let’s run to Him, and let us gaze into His eyes.
Check out all the times I can recall the story of Mary and Martha coming up in my life:
1. I called Father Joseph-Anthony Kress, O.P. who is the chaplain to Catholic Hoos to have him preach to me about my Martha-ness. He spoke truth into my heart.
2. I went to daily Mass and noticed a lack of ushers, so I asked Fr. Joseph-Anthony if I should help. He said, “I’m going to let you sit and be a Mary for a hot second.”
3. The Gospel passage the following Tuesday was the story of Mary and Martha.
4. I was in discipleship with some of my girls, and Meaghan said that the Gospel from Tuesday really hit her. See above, it was Mary and Martha. So, we talked about Mary and Martha.
5. One of the girls in my Bible study brought up how she has felt like a Martha.
6. One of our FOCUS missionaries led some of the ladies in an Ignatian Meditation on Mary and Martha.
7. I took a brief retreat and the room I stayed in was called the St. Martha Room.
Reflections by Horizons Fellow Walter Sharon '21
If this current moment has primed us for anything, perhaps it is reflection. The past seven months have certainly taken more than they have given, but one small offering has been the unavoidable chance (or impetus) to think deeply, critically, and maybe even exhaustingly about our social and existential realities. As students in our last year of undergraduate education, add to this cocktail of philosophizing a healthy dosage of vocational angst, or the simple but repetitive panic caused by wondering what comes next in a world that struggles to understand its present.
I have found that there are two fundamental ways to think about vocation, and they are unsurprisingly quite dissimilar. On the one hand, you can discuss your job aspirations with anyone ranging from your therapist to your Uber driver, although these conversations only break the surface of an existential kiddie pool by comparing notes with little vulnerability and little consequence. At the other end of the spectrum lies an olympic-sized swimming pool of purpose-questioning and long-term consternation, a deep abyss into which we all know we must dive yet do our darndest to avoid. This polarization of approach, of course, renders intentional introspection a practice in measured investment: how deeply do we want to think and at what cost? What is the best way to swim through this metaphor?
There is something to be said about striking a balance between reflecting too much or too little, and unfortunately I do not know what that something is. However, for the sake of this ignorance and a quiet break from the deafening circulation of our own thoughts, with gratitude I remember that a lot of other people have thought about vocation before us. As Horizons Fellows, we get the chance to engage with a wide swath of individual philosophies on life, faith, and vocation, presenting a respite and a lesson on where to begin to approach a moment such as this. We read Patrick Reyes’s belief in the importance of life as the most fundamental calling; we approached Kate Harris’s hopeful connection between Christ’s incarnation and the reality of vocational flexibility; we listened to Kate Bowler’s testimony to the fallibility of prosperity gospel and the resilience of a faith rooted in the unknowable.
What, then, is our calling for the present? Is it to give up and give in to our ongoing apocalypse, or rather to wrestle in our current mud pile? Reverend Bill Haley and Patrick Reyes both remind us of the significant truth that our vocation is far simpler and deeper than we might expect, for it is not an attachment of ourselves to a certain understanding of what’s next but rather a full investment in and awareness of the glory of our present. What if our calling is to live now? What if it is to love today? What if purpose is not about what is next, but simply what is?
It is difficult if not outright futile to predict the next few months and years for those of us approaching our final months as students, but despite the benevolent pressures from career fairs and loved ones alike, our plans are not fully our own. If this is one of the few revelations worth keeping from this ordeal understood as 2020, then let the reminder of our sanctified present and a faith in the rest be most present in our ordained, ordinary walk.
image: original painting by Walter Sharon of the Blue Ridge mountains.
Interview with Goodwin Prize winner, Abraham Wu
A $1,000 prize has been awarded to Abraham Wu (Regent College, Vancouver) for the essay, “In Loving Memory: Applying a Theological Anthropology of Trinitarian Personhood to the Problem of Memory Loss.”
Abstract: How should we understand the implications that memory loss has for human personhood? If memory is wholly constitutive for personhood, then human personhood seems imperiled for those suffering from diseases such as dementia. This paper will argue that while memory is indeed constitutive of personhood, it is not wholly constitutive. Instead, this paper will put forward a theological anthropology that seeks to humbly understand human personhood by viewing the human reality from the perspective of an understanding of God. This paper starts from the imago Dei and imago trinitatis in order to understand human beings as "persons-in-relation." This means that one is not merely self-constructed by memory but is also constituted by their relationships with others and—ultimately—in relationship to the God who does not forget (Is. 49:15).
What inspired you to pursue an advanced degree in theology?
To be perfectly honest, it came about as a surprise! While I have always been interested in theology—in thinking, describing, and living in relation to the God who is “above all, through all, and in all” (Eph. 4:6)—I have not always felt called to formally study it.
I originally studied economics and political science and worked in consulting before answering a call to pastoral ministry, which led me to Regent College in Vancouver, Canada. It was during my studies at Regent that I began to see how expansive and interconnected theological study is, and how faith and study go hand-in-hand for fostering joyful faithfulness to Christ and forming Christlikeness. Studying theology has been such a gift that has formed me to know God’s love and participate in it. I have yet to tire of seeking to know God and His world—and I expect that will never change.
What do you hope to do with your degree?
I currently help oversee spiritual formation at a local church and one of my favorite tasks has been writing and teaching an Old Testament and New Testament overview course. In many ways, what I hope to eventually do with my degree is simply more of what I do now: to pastor, teach, and write for the well-being of God’s people and God’s world.
Where do you see connections between your personal faith, your intellectual work and the other aspects of your life?
It is hard not to see connections when thinking about God, “from whom, through whom, and for whom” are all things (Rom. 11:36). This leads me to see my life, intellectual work, and faith as being deeply interrelated since the source, means, and goal of all these things is God. Moreover, I think this also means that faithful and rigorous intellectual work involves one’s life and asks about how one inhabits God’s world—we cannot divorce faith, life, and work. Indeed, the more we are “in relation” to God via participation in Christ and in relation to others, the more we are truly ourselves. For example, this paper arose from pastoral concerns about dementia and disability, and aspects of my life (i.e. both my wife’s family and mine have family members who suffered from dementia). So, this paper was an attempt to “do theology” while integrating my faith and life, with each aspect informing and enhancing the other.
How would you summarize your paper for someone without a theological background?
Essentially, the paper is about what it means to be a person and how personhood can be clarified in the face of a crisis like memory loss. We may think about memory as basically being wholly constitutive of a person. So, if a person lost their memory, we might risk thinking that this person had “lost their minds” or “lost themselves” and is “gone”. If this were true, it would be very troubling considering that approximately 50 million people, worldwide, suffer from dementia. I argue that the aforementioned account of personhood is problematic since it basically sees persons as self-engendered and self-enclosed beings. Rather, a Christian vision of personhood must be theologically re-described with reference to the triune God—in whose image humanity is made (Gen. 1:26-27).
For example, in Augustine of Hippo’s account of the Trinity and the mind in On the Trinity, he argues that a person can possess faculties like memory, but not be wholly constituted by them—since memory, along with intellect and will, are analogies of the Trinity. This Augustinian account relates to the belief that humans bear God’s triune image—suggesting that a theological account of memory should lead to a consideration of what it means for human beings to bear God’s image. Something significant about being made in God’s image is that God’s being is relational—the divine persons are constituted and distinguished in relation to one another. Therefore, as image-bearers of the Trinity, we can understand human beings as also being fundamentally relational; we are analogously constituted and distinguished in relation—ultimately to God and then, penultimately, to others.
The significance of this vision of relatedness, which humans participate in through Christ, is that it re-defines personhood as not being contingent on one’s faculties, but as being anchored in relationship to God and others. This means that even if one loses their memory, their personhood is not destroyed since it is held by God and those they are in relation to.
For example, I am a husband and a son because of my relationships with my wife and parents. Even if I forgot this, my relationships (and my personhood) are still not destroyed as my wife and parents (and others) would still know me. This can allow for the possibility of those suffering from dementia to be “re-membered” by the loving relationships surrounding them. Moreover, it means that those suffering from dementia are ultimately remembered and sustained by God, who does not forget those whom He loves (Is. 49:15).
How might this award make a difference in your life?
I am very grateful for this award; it is an incredible honor and encouragement that has helped me discern what I might do after this degree. This award also helps our family with practical, financial matters and less practical ones (e.g. buying more books).
How do you spend your time when you are not studying?
When I am not studying, I enjoy reading, listening to podcasts, spending time with friends and family, cycling, and playing basketball. As I already mentioned, I also help oversee spiritual formation at our local church and it is a joy for me to walk alongside our congregation as we grow in becoming more like Christ.
Any other comments?
First, my fondest thanks and gratitude goes to my wife, Fiona, and our family—for their love, patience, support, and for teaching me what relating well to God and others looks like. I am also extremely grateful for the faculty, staff, and students at Regent College, which is an incredible, formative community where I learned how faith and rigorous academics can be integrated to foster a joyful commitment to Christ, His church, and His world. Again, my gratitude and thanks go to the entire Theological Horizons team for administering and awarding this prize, and to Mr. & Mrs. Frank Garrett Louthan III for generously funding this prize. Finally, I want to share my gratitude for my church, Tenth Church, with whom I worship, serve, and hope.
Interview with Goodwin Prize winner, Rachael Griggs
Congrats to Rachael K. Griggs (University of Dayton) for the essay, “Becoming Pro-Mysterion: Embracing a Future of Mercy for All in Romans 11.”
Abstract: This essay presents an exegesis of Paul’s allegory of the olive tree (Romans 11) within the framework of present-day tragedies caused by antisemitism. While Paul exhorts gentile believers to express humility regarding their newfound position within God’s family, supersessionism has placed the Jewish and Christian faiths in a dichotomous relationship. Greek word studies and models of religious pluralism in this essay demonstrate that supersessionism is a poisonous root from which antisemitism grows. Paul’s revelation of God’s cosmic plan of salvation asks Jesus’s followers—in any era—to become pro-mysterion: to embrace in faith God’s redemptive plan for all.
What inspired you to pursue an advanced degree in theology? After working for nearly two decades in the government and private sectors, I decided to pursue a life-long dream of returning to school full time. I realized that I needed to devote my energies to working within my strengths and strive for those things that bring me joy.
What do you hope to do with your degree? I wish to continue writing on theological topics. I know my degree will compliment my writing-- add credibility and accuracy to it. I also hope to continue into a PhD program in the same subject.
Where do you see connections between your personal faith, your intellectual work and the other aspects of your life? The paper I submitted for the prize has personal implications for me, because I grew up with a Jewish stepfather, grandparents, and siblings. The more I learn, the better equipped I am to provide life-giving responses to those in my inner circle who have questions and concerns about religion.
How would you summarize your paper for someone without a theological background? Essentially, there's a biblical defense to support that the Christian faith has not replaced Judaism. That idea of replacement can ultimately lead to antisemitism if left unchecked. There's no room for boasting, as St. Paul teaches. The Jews remain God's chosen people, and Christians can learn how to trust in God's plan of salvation for all, even if the fullness of that plan has yet to be revealed.
How might this award make a difference in your life? The prize is like finding a secure foothold in a high cliff I'm trying to climb. With this award, I'm able to lift myself even closer to the top!
How do you spend your time when you are not studying? I am usually outdoors, even when it's cold. I like to stay active, so I'm out running or bicycling or playing frisbee-golf. I really enjoy serving as lector for my church and visiting my extended family when I can get away.
Any other comments? I am simply grateful for the prize, the support of my professors, and to the whole religious studies department at the University of Dayton.
To learn more about the Goodwin Prize in Theological Writing, click here.
Interview with Goodwin Prize winner, Jimmy Myers
Congrats to Jimmy Myers (Duke Divinity School) for his essay, "Give Gifts to the Evildoer: A Rereading of Matthew 5:38-42."
Abstract: What does Jesus teach his followers to practice in Matthew 5:38–42? That is the question that this paper answers, seeking to provide the church a more faithful way of reading, living, and imagining Jesus’s command than has been done in the past. I contend that our collective imaginations as a Christian tradition have been constrained by readings of this passage that have failed to discern its unity and positive character, a character which gives birth to a repeated pattern of gift-giving in response to evildoing that the church––who lives in the “present evil age” (Gal. 1:4) yet follows a God who gives grace to evildoers (us)––has the opportunity to embody in order to bring about something positive, active, and beautiful into God’s creation––loving it, with God, into a new creation.
What inspired you to pursue an advanced degree in theology?
The inspirations for my pursuit of an advanced degree in theology were many, but they all revolve around one particular kind of inspiration: people. I suppose my parents are first of all to blame. Early on they formed my imagination through scripture, song, prayer, and dance while living in a missional context in Yaounde, Cameroon where my parents served with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Hearing from God, singing to and about God, praying to God, and enjoying God's good, bodily gifts––and all this in a vibrant cultural and ecclesial setting––saturated my existence and co-opted my imagination in an inexpungible way. Perhaps it was only inevitable that later I discovered a longing to explore these dimensions through rigorous intellectual investigation. A second, later group that inspired me were theological guides who had already trudged the path that led to doctoral work in theology, guides like my brother-in-law Wes vander Lugt, who at a particularly formative time in my life pursued a degree in theology and the arts at St. Andrews which gave me a glimpse at the joy––even if laborious joy––involved in advanced study; guides like Kelly Kapic, who I met and studied with at my undergraduate institution and who first trained me into a mode of theological thinking; and guides like Stanley Hauerwas and––though dead––Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who matured and fine-tuned the training I had already received, putting pressure on me to think in a more ecclesiocentric and christological way. It wasn't until I came to Duke for an MTS to study with the many excellent professors here, however, that I discovered the theological trajectory I needed to take was the one that led me to prolonged engagement with scripture. So I'm very glad to be back at Duke doing a doctorate in the New Testament, and I'm especially glad to be doing it in the ThD program, which has a distinctive ecclesial, christological, and intellectually interdisciplinary focus, a focus which is well-fitted both with my past formation from the people I've mentioned (as well as ones I didn't) and my future hope to serve the academy and the church as a scholar of the New Testament.
What do you hope to do with your degree?
I hope to teach and write as a professional New Testament scholar in an academic (collegiate, university, or seminary) setting. It has become a cliche today to say that the job market in biblical studies/theology is horrid, but it is a cliche that nonetheless seems to be true. This truth can sometimes cause great anxiety among graduate students, for understandable reasons. Of course, the contingencies of the present are always subject to change in the future; we don't know what will happen and so we must not resign ourselves to despair. But in any case, the desire I have to read, write on, and form people's imaginations with the grain of scripture is not motivated by the prospect of a job. Whether there is a professional position at the end of the process or not does not decide for me whether to pursue what I take to be a vocational calling. The pursuit of the vocation is out of my control, and I can only make sense of it by saying, it is what God made me to do. I'm a student of scripture and theology and will be until I die: hier stehe ich; ich kann nicht anders. The wonderful thing is that that vocational calling to read, write on, and form people's imaginations with the grain of scripture is pertinent to more than just an academic setting. It can gladly find a home in publishing, secondary education, and ecclesial settings. In fact, in the future (as in the present) I plan to help lead the church in whatever way I can, whether formally or informally, and I'm currently en route to ordination in the Presbyterian denomination ECO. Which is all just to say: I hope to put my degree to use to serve the people of God and I'm sure I will irrespective of whatever future field I'm planted in.
Where do you see connections between your personal faith, your intellectual work and the other aspects of your life?
The way I see it, to be a Christian is to be initiated into a comprehensive way of speaking and living in the world, to embark on a total life-practice patterned on the pattern of Jesus's life, death and resurrection. Critical biblical scholarship and theological investigation of the sort I'm involved in are thus generated by that life and positioned to serve that life to be shaped more truthfully into the shape of Jesus's life. Faith, study, and life are united for me. I cannot think outside of the tradition of life that Christianity is any more than I can participate in the Christian tradition of life without thinking. To put it differently, I take Wittgenstein's aphorism, "Words are deeds," to be right on the money and reversible: the life of a Christian is an embodied word and the words of a Christian are the life encoded into language. That highly integrated vision of thought and life obviously imagines a mutually edifying relation between faith and intellectual work: I think in order to help the church live more faithfully, and I live among the church in order to think more truthfully. To put it less epigrammatically, I see my work as a scholar to help the church to continuously reform its teaching and practice into conformity with the polyphonous scriptural witness about Jesus. The church can all too easily and lazily assume that it already knows what scripture says because it has in hand a comprehensive theology and polity that synthesizes all of its parts and smooths out all of its difficulties. And to be clear I think theology is absolutely critical in the life of the church. But it is a theology relentlessly anchoring itself in scripture and what harmonizes with the total grain of scripture that is needed. The task I see before me is to begin at the beginning each new day in order for the church to encounter the scriptural mercies of God every morning. This, I trust, will lead the church not farther away from its richly textured, traditioned orthodoxy, but further up and farther into it.
How would you summarize your paper for someone without a theological background?
In this way: Jesus calls his disciples to give gifts to evildoers in Matthew 5:38-42. He doesn't call them to respond to evildoing with passive inaction. He doesn't call them to respond to evildoing with aggressive counteraction. Jesus calls them to give gifts: when slapped, to offer another cheek; when stripped, to release another piece of clothing; when compelled one mile, to go a second mile; when asked, to give abundant gifts. Thus Jesus wants his followers to become a people who overcome evildoing with gooddoing, just as Jesus himself overcomes evil action with the hospitable gift of his life on the cross.
How might this award make a difference in your life?
It is, of course, quite a gift to receive a cash prize as part of the award. My wife and I are expecting our second child in February, so we are grateful for any extra boost that will make birth more manageable. But the significance of this award for my life and vocation goes far beyond the cash prize. Receiving first place in this competition is important corroboration that the practice I'm engaged in is the right one to continue pursuing. Many of us graduate students travel a tortuous path that is full of despair-filled wanderings – am I really qualified for this? Am I a goat in sheep's clothing? Will people "discover" what I know about myself, my deep incompetencies and weaknesses, and kick me out of the vocation as a result? Those are obviously rather melodramatic musings, but they are real for many people, and when you couple all that with the lack of job prospects at the end of it all, the graduate pilgrimage can seem a rather hopeless affair. The Goodwin Prize serves as a gift from God that offers encouragement to carry on and endure in this situation, trusting that this is only the beginning of a longer pilgrimage, that maturation takes time. There is, of course, a danger in participating in competitions like the Goodwin Prize: if one is not careful, one can easily be distracted by the external goods of awards and prizes and honors and thus lose sight of the internal goods of the practice of theology. But the Goodwin Prize is a helpful corrective to this posture, for it values goods that are internal to the practice and awards the excellent pursuit of those goods: goods like creative theological thinking, excellence in scholarship, engagement with the Christian tradition, and commitment to the well-being of the church. It is too bad that there aren't more competitions out there like the Goodwin Prize, because I know that there were many fine essays that weren't awarded prizes that nevertheless pursued those internal goods with excellence and passion. I applaud Theological Horizons for creating and maintaining this opportunity, and for awarding a large number of prizes, and I hope that more Christian organizations invest in encouraging Christian scholars toward the excellent pursuit of the goods internal to the practice of theology. In a word, then, I'm surprised and honored to have received this award, and grateful for the encouragement it signifies to carry on in the theological vocation and pursue its goods.
How do you spend your time when you are not studying?
When I'm not studying I'm enjoying the gift of life with my wife Mary Lynn and daughter Lila, with friends and church, and neighbors. That means a whole host of activities: gardening in our front yard boxes, kindling fires in our backyard pit in the cool of the evening, going on hikes and runs at the Eno River State Park which is just adjacent to us, singing and playing guitar in our home, arguing about literature and theology and philosophy and scripture long into the night over beer and spirits, worshipping and sharing childcare with our church community, playing basketball with our neighbors, and sharing breakfast with homeless friends in the church neighborhood. I take great joy in my studies, but it is only one part of a much larger life that God has given us to enjoy in the wonderful place that Durham, North Carolina is.
Any other comments?
The only other comment I have is one of thanks: thanks to the Board of Theological Horizons, to the Executive Director Karen Marsh, to the blind judges who read the papers, to the Associate Director Christen Yates, and all the rest at Theological Horizons who make the Goodwin competition possible. I hope this opportunity continues and develops in the years to come.
To learn more about the Goodwin Prize in Theological Writing, click here.
Nathan Walton "MLK and the Witness of the Black Freedom Church"
Nathan Walton of Abundant Life Ministries Talks with UVA Students About MLK’s Formation and Relevance
How did Martin Luther King, Jr. become Martin Luther King, Jr.? How should we understand him in terms of history and today’s conversations around social justice?
Nathan Walton, executive director of Abundant Life Ministries, explored these questions and more during a Zoom discussion, on Sept. 16, with University of Virginia students.
Video and audio of Walton’s talk, “Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Witness of the Black Freedom Church,” are now available on The Project on Lived Theology’s website.
During his talk, Walton placed King within the history of the black church and showed how the church shaped King’s theological outlook and social engagement. Walton then examined how King was a byproduct of the black church and other social traditions. According to Walton, “King was often asking the big-picture question, ‘What do the specific claims and events from the Bible mean for the world? And what do they mean specifically for us?’”
The talk was followed by a question-and-answer session, during which Walton and the students exchanged ideas about King, the Civil Rights and Black Lives Matter movements, ownership of narratives, the concept of American exceptionalism and the importance of self-awareness and intellectual rigor.
Walton’s discussion was part of “The Civil Rights Movement in Theological and Religious Perspective,” a UVA undergraduate seminar taught by Charles Marsh, director of The Project on Lived Theology and a professor of religious studies at UVA.
Nathan Walton has served as executive director of Abundant Life Ministries since April 2018. He holds an MDiv from Duke Divinity School, and both a BA and a PhD in religious studies from UVA. His interests include community development, theology and parish ministry. In addition to his role with Abundant Life, Nathan serves as Community Life Pastor at Charlottesville Vineyard Church.
This event was hosted by our partner, The Project on Lived Theology at the University of Virginia - a research initiative, whose mission is to study the social consequences of theological ideas for the sake of a more just and compassionate world.
For more event details and up-to-date event listings please click here to visit the PLT Events page. We also post updates online using #PLTevents. To get these and other news updates, please like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @LivedTheology. To sign up for the Lived Theology monthly newsletter, click here.
Announcing the 2020 Goodwin Prizes for Excellence in Theological Writing
The board of directors of Theological Horizons is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Goodwin Prizes. The Louise and Richard Goodwin Writing Prize for Excellence in Theological Writing initiative was founded in 2001 to encourage upcoming scholars in the theological field.
Awards recognize graduate students whose essays demonstrate creative theological thinking, excellence in scholarship, faithful witness to the Christian tradition, and engagement with the community of faith.
A $2,500 prize has been awarded to Jimmy Myers (Duke Divinity School) for the essay, "Give Gifts to the Evildoer: A Rereading of Matthew 5:38-42."
A $1,000 prize has been awarded to Abraham Wu (Regent College, Vancouver) for the essay, “In Loving Memory: Applying a Theological Anthropology of Trinitarian Personhood to the Problem of Memory Loss.”
A $500 prize has been awarded to Rachael K. Griggs (University of Dayton) for the essay, “Becoming Pro-Mysterion: Embracing a Future of Mercy for All in Romans 11.”
A $500 prize has been awarded to Timothy Shriver (University of Virginia) for the essay, “Fannie Lou Hamer: Smiling at Satan’s Rage.”
We are deeply encouraged to see young scholars of such promise and commitment and we offer our warm congratulations to all who participated in this year’s competition.
To read essay abstracts, see past winners and learn more, visit the Goodwin Writing Prizes page.
Faith & the election virtual series
We’re partnering with our friends over at Coracle (a ministry centered around Spiritual Formation for Kingdom Action) to help bring thoughtful and diverse speakers together around issues relating to our upcoming national election.
See below for their virtual offerings:
Thursday, September 17 from 12:30-1:30 PM (ET)
Digital Soundings Seminar: “The Moral Burden of Voting”
Feat. Michael Wear, Chief Strategist for the AND CampaignLEARN MORE & REGISTER
Wednesday, September 30 from 5:30-6:30 PM (ET)
Questions that Matter: “What Are Your Spiritual Anchors During This Political Storm?”
LEARN MORE & REGISTER
Thursday, October 1, 15, and 29 from 12:00-1:00 PM (ET)
Compassion (&) Conviction Reading Group: Facilitated by Drew Masterson
LEARN MORE & REGISTER
Thursday, October 8 from 12:30-1:30 PM (ET)
Digital Soundings Seminar: “Immigration, the Bible, and the Election”
Feat. Sami DiPasquale of Abara FrontiersLEARN MORE & REGISTER
Tuesday, October 13 from 5:30-6:30 PM (ET)
Questions that Matter: “How Can a Christian Think About the 2020 Election?”
LEARN MORE & REGISTER
Thursday, October 22 from 12:30-1:30 PM (ET)
Soundings Seminar: “A Christian, Conservative Perspective on the Election”
LEARN MORE & REGISTER
Tuesday, November 3 from 8:30-9:00 AM (ET)
Space for God: “Praying for the Election” w/ Bill Haley
LEARN MORE & REGISTER
Thursday, November 19 from 7:00-8:30 PM (ET)
Soundings Seminar: “Protestants, Catholics & Race in America”
feat. Fr. Christopher Pollard of St. John the Beloved Catholic Church
LEARN MORE & REGISTER
Tuesday, November 24 from 5:30-6:30 PM (ET)
Questions that Matter: “How Are You Going to Follow Jesus in America Now?”
LEARN MORE & REGISTER
Meet Theological Horizons @ UVa: your video intro!
Welcome new students, families & friends! Here's your video introduction to the people & purposes of Theological Horizons at the University of Virginia. We support Christians and seekers by providing a welcoming community for engaging faith, thought and life. You'll meet current students, alumni & staff -- and get a peek into all that waits for you at the University of Virginia and beyond (with new safe social distancing practices in place)!
Check out theologicalhorizons.org/vintage
Help Us Welcome the Class of 2024!
Do you know of any first years coming to UVA this fall? We want to help welcome them to the University!
Here at Theological Horizons we are already looking to the start of classes in August, and even in the midst of necessary changes to University life in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic we have been busy thinking of new and exciting ways to continue to welcome new students to grounds, and into the Theological Horizons family.
Help us spread the word about Theological Horizons to this very special class of incoming first years by sending the names of your friends and family members to us HERE!
Even though we know life in Charlottesville will look different this fall - we cannot wait to be together again in this special place - and welcome new friends into the Theological Horizons family!
Articles, audio & video: So much good stuff in one place!
Perkins Fellows out on the town in Richmond!
Are you a student who's curious about other undergrads' experiences at college?
A parent seeking advice or encouragement?
A curious person who'd like to dive deeper into spiritual readings or fascinating lectures?
We're certain to have something for you! Scan our collection of resources to see what captures your interest...
Our archive of blog articles is right here.
Listen to audio conversations and talks is here.
Watch one of our videos over here.
God-sized Dreams: Advice for College Students
Nathan Swedberg graduated in 2012 with a B.A. and an M.A. from UVa’s Batten School of Leadership School and Policy. He then was part of the World Race, a discipleship and missionary program by Adventures in Missions. For one year he and his team travelled to 11 countries and four continents, serving a number of different ministries—and serving the physical and spiritual needs of the people they meet. (Read Nathan’s blog!)We emailed Nathan to ask him share advice to you incoming college students. Here’s what he sent us:
Sorry about the delay!!! Just got out of Swaziland with no internet access...
Hmmm a few thoughts as I get internet quickly:
College is an amazing time to approach "identity." What are you going to identify yourself with? Who are you going to identify yourself with? What hard choices are you going to make? It's not something that's supposed to feel condemning, and you don't want to live under excessive pressure, but the decisions you make during your college years (and then on during your twenties) will have huge ramifications for your life. But that should come as no surprise-- habits you form today will determine what you're doing tomorrow, the character you form, and the destiny you walk into.
Having said that, college is a great time to make mistakes-- don't avoid them. I did too much of that. Take classes you wouldn't normally think to take. Hang out with many diverse groups. Become friends with people you wouldn't gravitate to first. Live adventurously. Do enough preparation to allow yourself sweet spontaneity.
Know that you will have an amazing time at this great institution, but life doesn't end there, and in fact there is much more "living the dream" to be had afterwards. Let UVa be a launching pad. Let God god-size your dreams.
Vintage Saints & Sinners Podcast: Bonus Episode
Season 1 of the Vintage Saints and Sinners Podcast ends with a bang of a bonus episode!
Author Carey Wallace joins host Karen Wright Marsh to talk about her fabulous new book, Stories of the Saints: Bold and Inspiring Tales of Adventure, Grace and Courage.
They slew dragons, led armies, and talked with animals. From martyrs and healers to scholars and shepherds, Carey Wallace tells the riveting stories of seventy best-loved saints in her children’s book that appeals to all ages, with splendid illustrations that bring saints both familiar and obscure to life. Karen and Carey explore the difference between fairy tales, myths and hagiography, talk about what kids truly want in a story, and trade favorite tales. Take a sneak listen below..then listen to the entire episode.
Celebrating Our Fourth Year Fellows!
Our Horizons & Perkins Fellows journey together over the course of a year exploring themes around vocational discernment by walking alongside community mentors. Through these Fellows Programs, we seek to help shape the next generation to love God and love our neighbor amidst a broken and divided world.
Want to hear more from our graduating Perkins and Horizons Fellows?
Click on their image to read their blog entries on the Theological Horizons Blog!
We are so proud of all of these amazing students, and we are so grateful to have known them during their time as undergraduates at the University of Virginia!
Billy Graham with Bob Marsh | Virtual Vintage: Summer Stories
He was known the world over as a compelling evangelist, called “America’s Pastor.” What does the life and work of Billy Graham look like from today’s vantage point? Watch the video or listen to the audio of our Virtual Vintage gathering as we hear from Special Guest Dr. Bob Marsh. Then explore all of our Virtual Vintage gatherings!
Triumph in defeat. Gain in loss. Love in hate. A Prayer from Howard Thurman
Our little lives, our big problems—these we place upon Your altar!
The quietness in Your temple of silence again and again rebuffs us:
For some there is no discipline to hold them steady in the waiting,
And the minds reject the noiseless invasion of Your spirit.
For some there is no will to offer what is central in the thoughts—
The confusion is so manifest, there is no starting place to take hold.
For some the evils of the world tear down all concentrations
And scatter the focus of the high resolves.
We do not know how to do what we know to do.
We do not know how to be what we know to be.
Our little lives, our big problems—these we place upon Your altar!
Pour out upon us whatever our spirits need of shock, of life, of release
That we may find strength for these days—
Courage and hope for tomorrow.
In confidence we rest in Your sustaining grace
Which makes possible triumph in defeat, gain in loss, and love in hate.
We rejoice this day to say:
Our little lives, our big problems—these we place upon Your altar!
Howard Washington Thurman (1899–1981), American preacher, philosopher, thought-leader, played a leading role in many social justice movements and organizations of the twentieth century. He was one of the principal architects of the modern, nonviolent civil rights movement and a key mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"This morning my oldest son asked me why folks were protesting": by Dean Shaka Sydnor
Shaka J. Sydnor, Assistant Dean of Students, University of Virginia
This morning my oldest son asked me why folks were protesting. I told him that the police killed another Black man and people were protesting police brutality against Black people and that protesting is a way for people to feel like their voices are heard. We talked about how throughout history White people have often discredited Black narratives on this. Then he asked me why people wouldn’t believe black people when they tell them their stories.
I thought about the time Corey Fraction and I were pulled over and harassed by the police. One officer circled the car and another questioned us for 45 minutes. They told us the car was registered to someone in Germany, repeatedly asked us where the drugs and guns were (bazookas to be exact). They kept us there looking for something and egging us on hoping that we would act out or give them a reason. We did not.
I thought about the time I was spotlighted and “pulled over” for running across the street at UAH and unfortunately got Adam Foss looped in and sat on the curb for 20 min while the officers tried to belittle us.
I thought about the time Alex Mohammed, Twon Dosa, Corey Fraction and I got pulled over in Pittsburgh and the officer kept asking Mo if he was a terrorist and kept trying to piss Twon off by mocking his ID photo.
Most importantly though I thought about the time when I was pulled over late one night in my hometown when I was moving back from college one summer. An officer pulled me over on a side street downtown around 11:30 at night, I had all my stuff from school in the back of my car. He asked me where I was from, why I was out so late and why I had so much stuff in the car. I told him I was coming back from college and he asked to see my college ID. Then he used his flashlight to look at every item in the back of my car and made me explain what every item was and the reason it was in my car. He never gave me a reason why he pulled me over but we all know. I was raised in a family of law enforcement officers and they knew enough to raise me to know that a lot of police will try to exert their power/authority over Black bodies.
I told my son that I don’t know why white folks don’t believe us when we tell them about our lived experiences. I didn’t tell him that I’ve told these same stories and people have told me to my face that “it couldn’t have happened like that” or “Black people are so dramatic” or “well you probably did something to get pulled over”. Instead I told him “Baby boy the folks protesting today, and even the folks rioting, are doing it in order to make it so that hopefully you’ll grow up in a world that’s just a little bit better and where folks will believe you.”
To my Black brothers and sisters, it pains me that we’re here again, but we’re resilient and will find a way to persevere as we always do.
To my white friends and family. If you are moved to action in this particular moment in time I welcome you to the conversation. But recognize you’ve got a lot of catching up to do. Ask questions to learn, not to be affirmed or vindicated. Wrestle with the parts that make you uncomfortable.
But most importantly learn to listen to and believe Black people. And please don’t do it for me. I’m hip to the game. Do it for these three boys who deserve to grow up in a world where their words are trusted and a world where it is evident that their lives matter.
-SJS
This reflection was originally posted on Shaka Sydnor’s Facebook Page. We thank Dean Sydnor for generously allowing us to share it here!
"Praying all the way to the bank" by Philip Yancey
Philip Yancey is an award-winning writer who addresses tough questions and explores central issues of the Christian faith. Watch his Theological Horizons Capps Lecture at the University of Virginia, “Two Themes That Haunt Me: Suffering & Grace” at vimeo.com/123200164.
As the statistics on illness and death due to COVID-19 keep rising, the economic statistics keep falling. In March the stock market lost more than $11 trillion in value, and has been yo-yoing ever since. While the more fortunate are mourning their dwindling retirement plans, the truly desperate have joined the 36 million Americans applying for unemployment benefits. How will they pay the rent or feed their families?
While watching the news one day, I flashed back to another time of financial crisis, the Great Recession of 2008. I had just written a book on prayer, and got an unexpected call from a New York journalist. “Any advice on how a person should pray during a time like this?” he asked. “Does prayer do any good in a financial crash?”
In the course of the conversation we came up with a three-stage approach to prayer.
The first stage is simple, an instinctive cry for “Help!” For someone who faces a job cut or health crisis, prayer offers a way to give voice to fear and anxiety. I’ve learned to resist the tendency to edit my prayers so that they’ll sound sophisticated and mature. I believe God wants us to come exactly as we are, no matter how childlike we may feel. A God aware of every sparrow that falls surely knows the impact of scary financial times on frail human beings.
For someone who faces a job cut or health crisis, prayer offers a way to give voice to fear and anxiety.
Indeed, prayer provides the best possible place to take our fears. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you,” wrote the apostle Peter. As a template for prayers in crisis times, I look at Jesus’ night of prayer in Gethsemane. He threw himself on the ground three times, sweat falling from his body like drops of blood, and felt “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” During that time of anguish, however, his prayer changed from “Take this cup from me…” to “…may your will be done.” In the trial scenes that followed, Jesus was the calmest character present. His season of prayer had relieved him of anxiety, reaffirmed his trust in a loving Father, and emboldened him to face the horror that awaited him.
If I pray with the aim of listening as well as talking, I can enter into a second stage, that of meditation and reflection. Okay, my life savings has virtually disappeared. What can I learn from this seeming catastrophe? In the midst of the crisis, a Sunday School song ran through my mind:
The wise man built his house upon the rock …
And the wise man’s house stood firm.
The foolish man built his house upon the sand …
Oh, the rains came down and the floods came up …
A time of crisis presents a good opportunity to identify the foundation on which I construct my life. If I place my ultimate trust in financial security, or in the government’s ability to solve my problems, I will surely watch the basement flood and the walls crumble. As the song says, “And the foolish man’s house went splat!”
A friend from Chicago, Bill Leslie, used to say that the Bible asks three main questions about money:
How did you get it? (Legally and justly, or exploitatively?);
What are you doing with it? (Indulging in needless luxuries, or helping the needy?);
What is it doing to you?
Some of Jesus’ most trenchant parables and sayings go straight to the heart of that last question.
A financial crisis forces us to examine how money affects us. Am I stuck with debts I accumulated by buying goods that were more luxuries than necessities? Do I want to cling to the money I have when I know of people around me in dire need? Jesus taught us to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” and we know that heaven will include no homeless, destitute, or starving people.
As the stock market dove to uncharted depths, I couldn’t help thinking of private colleges, mission agencies, and other nonprofits, which depend heavily on the largesse of donors. The IRS has dramatically loosened the rules that limit charitable deductions for 2020, hoping to encourage more giving – am I giving serious attention to the urgent appeals that fill my mailbox this year?
Which leads me to the third and most difficult stage of prayer in crisis times: I need God’s help in taking my eyes off my own problems in order to look with compassion on the truly desperate. In the Beatitudes, Jesus described a kind of upside-down kingdom that elevates the poor, those who mourn, the justice-makers and peace-makers, and those who show mercy.
The novel coronavirus has temporarily accomplished that societal reversal. In airports, janitors who clean the banisters and wipe the seats of airplanes are now as crucial to safety as the pilots who fly the jets. Each night, people in major cities honk horns, howl, or shout their appreciation for the health care workers who keep us alive.
We’ve learned we can get along without the sports industry that pays top athletes $10 million per year to chase a ball; meanwhile, harried parents of young children have new appreciation for the teachers who earn less than 1 percent of that amount. Last month Time magazine put some of the real heroes on their cover: cafeteria workers who serve up food to needy children. They could just as easily have profiled hospital orderlies or paramedics.
The question is, will we use this crisis time to re-evaluate what kind of society we want, or will we return as soon as possible to a society that idolizes the wealthiest, the most coordinated, the smartest, the most beautiful, and the most entertaining? A just, compassionate society builds on a more solid foundation.
The Sermon on the Mount, which begins with the Beatitudes, ends with Jesus’ analogy of the house on the rock: “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”
In the days of a collapsing Roman empire, Christians stood out because they cared for the poor, because they stayed behind to nurse plague victims rather than flee afflicted villages, and because platoons of wet nurses would gather up the babies abandoned along the roadside by Romans in their most cruel form of birth control.
What a testimony it would be if Christians resolved to increase their giving in 2020 in order to build houses for the poor, combat other deadly diseases, and proclaim kingdom values to a celebrity-driven culture.
Such a response defies all logic and common sense. Unless, of course, we take seriously the moral of Jesus’ simple tale about building houses on a sure foundation.
Reprinted from the National Christian Foundation’s newsletter, 5/23/20
Cafe Nights for students & young alumni! Every Wednesday at 8pm
Cafe Nights was created to provide a space, specifically for students and young alumni, to come together once a week and engage in conversation and community together while learning from a speaker. Envision the atmosphere you may find at your favorite coffee shop or local hangout (grit coffee or the tea bazaar in our beloved Charlottesville perhaps?) - we want to capture that energy to bring people together even as we are still physically distant.
Specifically Cafe Nights will take place on Wednesday nights from 8-9 pm - we will come together to share a drink (if you want!) and engage in a short but meaningful conversation together. Each week we'll have a special guest speaker who does interesting and impactful work in the world. We will also have a fun “show and tell” where we hear from a student and friend once a week.
So Cafe Nights will be social, conversational, summery, fun.
Join us any Wednesday at 8pm at our Zoom space - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89439384716
Let the Doubters Doubt: A Reflection on Wrestling with God and Walking away Wounded and Blessed | Sarah Woodard '20
First, a confession: whatever book I’m currently reading inevitably has a great influence on what I write, and that will certainly hold true for this post. Right now I’m in the middle of Rachel Held Evans’ Inspired, a book about the late author’s wrestling with Biblical doubt, imagining, difficult experiences in the church, and ultimately, about loving and being loved by God in the midst of it. As it turns out, this book came at a good time for me.
Last week, I turned in my last collegiate papers and exams, and this Saturday, I will attend virtual graduation and officially garner my new title as graduate and alumnus. Honestly, I’m not sure how to feel, especially about the virtual part. While I’m still processing these emotions, one emotion that keeps coming back to me—and that I’ve heard echoed by my friends and fellow class of 2020 graduates—is gratitude. Despite the disappointment of watching our highly anticipated graduation ceremony on our little screens and spread out all over the state, country, and even world, the word I have heard from the most people to describe their UVA experience since quarantine began is grateful. That is not to say that the gratitude we feel eliminates the sadness, anxiety, and uncertainty we feel. We hold our thankfulness and our sorrow at once.
So in the spirit of the collective gratitude that I believe helps sustain us in the grief, I want to add my own piece. Reading Inspired has reminded me of an unexpected source of gratitude: today, I am grateful for these last four years of what will surely be a lifetime of spiritual wrestling. I am grateful for the spiritual doubt, questions, and uncertainties that I acquired during my time at UVA. Mainly, I am grateful for the university—its classmates, students, and assigned readings—that introduced me to issues that made me doubt, and to the communities who welcomed me in my doubt and helped me process it without pretending to have all the answers. Spiritual growth is not possible without struggle and inquiry, so I am grateful to the communities that poked and prodded at my faith and unknowingly tested it in the fire. I am also grateful to the communities who watered and revived my faith when it began to dry out. Sometimes these communities were one in the same.
My classroom experiences went hand in hand with those in religious organizations. Questions that arose in the classrooms, conversations, and books I was reading for school—questions like, “Why has so much of the injustice and violence in our world been carried out in God’s name?” “Why am I just now learning about this particular moment of racial strife in America?” “What do I, as a follower of Christ, think about [insert political issue]?— were questions I was often able to wrestle with in religious organizations like Theological Horizons where I could consider them in light of God’s Word and other believers past and present.
Or, vice versa. Often, Christian organizations and friends raised new questions without attempting to answer them. Sometimes, I found my answers, or the beginnings to them, in so-called “secular” books or classes. The lines between the “secular” and “spiritual” are not so rigid as I once thought. That is one of lessons I’m thankful I learned here.
This question raising and doubting is sacred work. It is also human work. To doubt, to struggle, to ask questions about the world around us – this is how we better understand each other and God, broaden our horizons, and develop empathy. This work is not only what makes us essentially human, but also what makes us fundamentally humane. Journalist and civil rights activist Eugene Patterson said, “We don’t become more spiritual by becoming less human.” What I learned in my classrooms helped me cultivate and develop my humanity in a way that made me dive deeper spiritually.
In the last four years at UVA, I’ve asked and doubted, and I’ll doubt and ask some more. It is risky to ask questions. I can’t expect to wrestle with God and walk away unscathed. Jacob certainly didn’t; he limped the rest of his life from the wounds he acquired in his fight with God. I may just lose my faith if I keep pressing to understand why certain Biblical stories make God seem just fine with the Israelites annihilating entire indigenous tribes in Canaan, for example. But I will certainly lose my faith, even if quietly and without fanfare, if I silence and ignore my qualms and questions.
Evans argues that the “hardest part of religious doubt” is not feeling isolated from God but from your community. What a revelation, and one that has given me overwhelming cause for gratitude.
Thank you to the mentors, friends, and communities that gave me the freedom, encouragement, and courage to doubt my faith. Thank you for not isolating me when I asked, “but why?” when I demanded more, when I insisted, like doubting Thomas, on touching Jesus’ hands for the nail marks, for pressing my hand to His side to feel the wound left by the soldier who pierced him.
They could have isolated me—told me my doubts were dangerous—but they welcomed my doubting self with grace and humility instead. The graceful spirit of these people and organizations watered my soul when it thirsted and showed me the light when I was enveloped in darkness. They helped me to grow. Because of this posture of openness, because of the communities and individuals who allowed me to brashly and unabashedly spit my questions in God’s face, I have come out of college exclaiming, like the father of the boy Jesus healed of an impure spirit, “I do believe; help me with my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).
Like Sarah, I have laughed at God when he told me the improbable, and then fallen to my knees in awe when he saw it through (Genesis 18). When I was in the wilderness, I have asked God, like King David, “Why have you forgotten me?”; I have been able to “pour out my soul” and “praise” Him even as my bones shake in agony within me, “saying to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’” (Psalm 42).
And I want to continue to do so. In the words of Evans, “I’m still wrestling, and like Jacob, I will wrestle until I am blessed. God hasn’t let go of me yet.” And neither has my community let go of me yet.