Sam Owen
Puritan Board Freshman
Hi there 
Just wanted to share some of 'where I am at' at the moment, and also get to hear about other member's lives. Some of what follows might repeat from my thread in the introductions section, but here goes:
I am currently recuperating from brain surgery to remove a large tumor, and may face a second operation in a few months (the surgeon wants to rescan to see if he missed any ). While in hospital I almost died at one point because of a mistake made by the staff, and some consequences that spun out from that. So when I got a bit better but found I had a lot of time on my hands in there, and my stay had been extended quite a bit, and there was not a lot I could do, I began thinking of some things I wanted to spend more time investigating/studying and reading up on when I got out.
My list - not set in stone or anything, and always subject to alteration - turned out like this:
1. I want to better understand Jesus, who He is, the role he plays in all of the Father's plans for His creation. I decided to read Matthew with the intent (yes, eisegesis here, but conscious, at least) of seeing Jesus = Faithful Israel. I am going to cast about for a good commentary to have alongside me as I do that, and any suggestions would be gratefully received.
2. I want to read Romans (and then might tackle Galatians) with the wider purpose of understanding Paul better. He wrote so much of the NT and I want to as closely as possible find myself on the same page as him as I read his words. For the Galatians bit I will get Moises Silva, I am open (as above) to any suggestions on the other, as far as commentaries go.
[I want to also do as much helpful background non-textual reading regarding both Jesus and Paul as I can, to help with these directed studies.]
3. I want to understand the Gospel more - I find it odd that if you ask 100 Christians what the Gospel is, you get so many different answers. And yet the Gospel is meant to be so vital and central.
4. I want to understand the role of Wisdom in the believer's life.
5. I want to understand the idea of virtue in the believer's life, both the nature and acquisition of it.
6. I want to study more the idea of how the Ego is situated in today's westernized Christianity, and see if I can't end up with a more Biblical view of the Ego's decentralization in everyday life that does not end up as some kind of parody of piety.
7. I want to study more about how a common mutual ministry of encouragement via faith (as Paul spoke of in Romans 1) should be an important part of Body Life as the church meets together.
Sorry if that seems like a totally random bunch of things. I would be really interested in hearing what others are reading about, thinking about, desiring to get somewhere with in terms of understanding better, etc. Especially these kinds of 'private' projects.
Blessings in Him
PS: My real name is Daniel ... I use Sam Owen online a lot as a kind of private joke. My dad is Samoan, and if you say Sam Owen really fast ... ... meh, it makes me laugh. What do I care? =D
Just wanted to share some of 'where I am at' at the moment, and also get to hear about other member's lives. Some of what follows might repeat from my thread in the introductions section, but here goes:
I am currently recuperating from brain surgery to remove a large tumor, and may face a second operation in a few months (the surgeon wants to rescan to see if he missed any
). While in hospital I almost died at one point because of a mistake made by the staff, and some consequences that spun out from that. So when I got a bit better but found I had a lot of time on my hands in there, and my stay had been extended quite a bit, and there was not a lot I could do, I began thinking of some things I wanted to spend more time investigating/studying and reading up on when I got out.My list - not set in stone or anything, and always subject to alteration - turned out like this:
1. I want to better understand Jesus, who He is, the role he plays in all of the Father's plans for His creation. I decided to read Matthew with the intent (yes, eisegesis here, but conscious, at least) of seeing Jesus = Faithful Israel. I am going to cast about for a good commentary to have alongside me as I do that, and any suggestions would be gratefully received.
2. I want to read Romans (and then might tackle Galatians) with the wider purpose of understanding Paul better. He wrote so much of the NT and I want to as closely as possible find myself on the same page as him as I read his words. For the Galatians bit I will get Moises Silva, I am open (as above) to any suggestions on the other, as far as commentaries go.
[I want to also do as much helpful background non-textual reading regarding both Jesus and Paul as I can, to help with these directed studies.]
3. I want to understand the Gospel more - I find it odd that if you ask 100 Christians what the Gospel is, you get so many different answers. And yet the Gospel is meant to be so vital and central.
4. I want to understand the role of Wisdom in the believer's life.
5. I want to understand the idea of virtue in the believer's life, both the nature and acquisition of it.
6. I want to study more the idea of how the Ego is situated in today's westernized Christianity, and see if I can't end up with a more Biblical view of the Ego's decentralization in everyday life that does not end up as some kind of parody of piety.
7. I want to study more about how a common mutual ministry of encouragement via faith (as Paul spoke of in Romans 1) should be an important part of Body Life as the church meets together.
Sorry if that seems like a totally random bunch of things. I would be really interested in hearing what others are reading about, thinking about, desiring to get somewhere with in terms of understanding better, etc. Especially these kinds of 'private' projects.
Blessings in Him
PS: My real name is Daniel ... I use Sam Owen online a lot as a kind of private joke. My dad is Samoan, and if you say Sam Owen really fast ...
... meh, it makes me laugh. What do I care? =D
