The website itself is a recent development. It started as a personal experiment, a creative way to bring together what I'm learning and potentially share it with others. The aim of the project is to map the gospel onto the rest of reality, and to make the whole both comprehensible and inhabitable.
As you probably noticed, this is very much a work in progress. I published it as is to start getting feedback from friends and from my sources. At this point, consider what you find here just initial reflections and drafts—an evolving prototype showing the possibilities I see.
Also, although so far I'm the only contributor, consider me just a project editor—more of a journalist than an expert—since I'm not an authority in any of the subjects I'm engaging here. My sources are though. And I've done my best to find who's doing the best work in all areas in question. My gift to you, at this point, is the sense I've made of things, and bibliographies that show you how I got there.
Tapping academia
I've been researching intensively (especially since 2010), trying to understand the nature and content of the gospel, and how the biblical story squares with our experience of reality. Along the way, I've taken graduate-level courses in biblical studies, theology, the history of ideas, and other subjects. Recently, I completed an independent/directed study on the gospel at Northeastern Seminary.
At some point, I'd love to go back to school full-time, as long as I find a program that's compatible with my aims here. So far, I've found it more productive to take a course at a time as needed. It allows me to channel all my work toward this project, taking my time to read widely and prayerfully as I follow my own questions, rather than aiming for credentials.
Besides the gospel, the nature of Scripture, and biblical studies in general, my interests include history, sociology, and the philosophy of education.
Other training
Some years ago, I completed an accredited certificate program in human and social services (based on Poindexter and Valentine's text), and another one in TESOL with the SIT Graduate Institute, both of which I began putting to practice during a year of service through AmeriCorps. Here's some of the fruit of that work:
As you probably noticed, this is very much a work in progress. I published it as is to start getting feedback from friends and from my sources. At this point, consider what you find here just initial reflections and drafts—an evolving prototype showing the possibilities I see.
Also, although so far I'm the only contributor, consider me just a project editor—more of a journalist than an expert—since I'm not an authority in any of the subjects I'm engaging here. My sources are though. And I've done my best to find who's doing the best work in all areas in question. My gift to you, at this point, is the sense I've made of things, and bibliographies that show you how I got there.
Tapping academia
I've been researching intensively (especially since 2010), trying to understand the nature and content of the gospel, and how the biblical story squares with our experience of reality. Along the way, I've taken graduate-level courses in biblical studies, theology, the history of ideas, and other subjects. Recently, I completed an independent/directed study on the gospel at Northeastern Seminary.
At some point, I'd love to go back to school full-time, as long as I find a program that's compatible with my aims here. So far, I've found it more productive to take a course at a time as needed. It allows me to channel all my work toward this project, taking my time to read widely and prayerfully as I follow my own questions, rather than aiming for credentials.
Besides the gospel, the nature of Scripture, and biblical studies in general, my interests include history, sociology, and the philosophy of education.
Other training
Some years ago, I completed an accredited certificate program in human and social services (based on Poindexter and Valentine's text), and another one in TESOL with the SIT Graduate Institute, both of which I began putting to practice during a year of service through AmeriCorps. Here's some of the fruit of that work:
I also went to driving school. I'm a professional truck driver (CDL), a career strategically chosen because of the learning potential during highway miles: I've put in countless hours of learning by listening to lectures, audiobooks, podcasts, and quality journalism (from left, right and center).
More recently, I started driving with a rideshare app to supplement my income, and it's turned out to be a very rewarding learning experience in its own right! I'm an introvert by nature, as far as I can tell, but I've really been enjoying meeting so many people from so many walks of life, and being exposed to such a wide variety of cultures and subcultures—a very interesting learning experience I certainly didn't expect!
These days I've also been working on my first book, Reality According to the Scriptures: Initial Reflections. It should be published in October '22. Once it does, I plan to take a brief sabbatical to rest from research and writing for a little while, and to prepare for the next phase of my project. The focus of my research will probably shift to the nature of Scripture.
More recently, I started driving with a rideshare app to supplement my income, and it's turned out to be a very rewarding learning experience in its own right! I'm an introvert by nature, as far as I can tell, but I've really been enjoying meeting so many people from so many walks of life, and being exposed to such a wide variety of cultures and subcultures—a very interesting learning experience I certainly didn't expect!
These days I've also been working on my first book, Reality According to the Scriptures: Initial Reflections. It should be published in October '22. Once it does, I plan to take a brief sabbatical to rest from research and writing for a little while, and to prepare for the next phase of my project. The focus of my research will probably shift to the nature of Scripture.