All is right
“God’s in his heaven, all’s
right with the world.” whispered Anne softly.
-Anne
of Green Gables
Isolation
seems to breed inconsistency, which is quite surprising considering
all the time we have on our hands. I had meant to blog sooner,
however I some how couldn’t figure out a purpose or actual words
for another post.
As
rudimentary as it may seem, this post is acting as almost a
reinvention of my blog. Or at least a reinvention for the direction
in which my blog will take.
I
am officially done with my quarantine, and I have felt healthy!
(Thank you God) Nevertheless, I am still exercising caution as I am
sure you my readers are.
As
previously mentioned, I did start my world view intensive, via
Zoom...in which I spend usually 5 hours everyday discussing and
analyzing our books, and exploring world view concepts and how to
shape our own world view. Which as the name indicates- it is very
intense! I really enjoy the class though, despite the intensity, it
also gives structure and purpose to my day. For reference as well as for anyone
interested, here is a list of the books as well as synopses:
Jonathan Sacks, Covenant & Conversation: Leviticus: The Book of Holiness
Rabbi Sacks was the Chief Rabbi of Great Britain until just a few years ago. He is an international speaker and an accomplished author. His views on Leviticus will provide a sounding board for our explorations of the relationship between Old and New Testaments, as well as our detailed explorations of old covenant law and new covenant ethics.
Michael Kruger, The Question of Canon
Kruger is an accomplished New Testament scholar. This book will help us understand why we should have expected the New Testament at all, as well as responding to a number of critics of the New Testament. This book exemplifies conservative Christian scholarship that does not shy from scholarly challenges.
Timothy Keller, Making Sense of God
Keller is well-known as a pastor in New York City. I’ve selected this book given how well Keller communicates, how he approaches classic questions in a clever fashion, and how he show that ancient truths are relevant to contemporary times.
Rosaria Butterfield, Openness Unhindered
A former-lesbian, atheist professor at Syracuse University, Butterfield now is the wife of a pastor. Her approach to sexuality, sexual identity, theology, and to reaching others is a unique mix, a fresh perspective, and a motivation for many of her readers.
Douglas Murray, The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race, and Identity
This is a new book for our course. Murray is a former-Christian, confessedly gay man who is, at the same time, one of the most trenchant critics of European secularism. He is an advocate for free speech and a foe of identity activists worldwide.
Thomas Sowell, The Quest for Cosmic Justice
With a focus on one of the most pressing topics of our day—justice, Sowell brings a seasoned and informed and insightful perspective to exploring what justice is and what artificial surrogates are vying to displace it.
The Qur’an, trans. M.A.S. Abdel Haleem
This is perhaps one of the more readable versions of the Qur’an in English. While the translator clearly has a bit of a western bent, the rendering is nevertheless suitable for our purposes.
Nabeel Qureshi, Answering Jihad
This slim volume quickly takes readers through the terrain of Islam, the questions regarding jihad, and the challenges for Christians to remain peacemakers. It provides plenty of platforms for us to jump off of in our explorations of Islam as an ideology and Muslims as varied populations.
Matthew Harris and Thomas Kidd, eds. The Founding Fathers and the Debate over Religion in Revolutionary America
Taking readers into the thickets of the original words and writings of the Founding Fathers, the editors invite us into a world of strong opinions, of rigorous debates, of opposing viewpoints that populated the arguments in early America. Upon reading, it becomes clear that many of the debates still rage today.
I have not finished all of these books yet, however my one and only essay for this class is an Exploratory Essay on Islam, which is due Saturday...currently I have 71 words (Almost done, not really!)!
Besides having class, I have also been enjoying my Midwest life again! I also am quite happy to have my KitchenAid again:) Hence some baking fun these past couple weeks, see pictures below. To be honest, despite the fear and caution surrounding the virus, life has returned to fairly normal for me. In fact, while I miss Oxford more everyday, doing school online, baking for fun, and playing video games with my friends online, has previously been normal life to me.
I do miss the fact that I can’t see more of my family (especially with Easter on Sunday), however as Anne states in the last line of Anne of Green Gables, “God’s in his heaven, all’s right with the world.” whispered Anne softly. Those words for me right now are such a comfort. The virus is scary, however even in my fear God is in his heaven.
Jonathan Sacks, Covenant & Conversation: Leviticus: The Book of Holiness
Rabbi Sacks was the Chief Rabbi of Great Britain until just a few years ago. He is an international speaker and an accomplished author. His views on Leviticus will provide a sounding board for our explorations of the relationship between Old and New Testaments, as well as our detailed explorations of old covenant law and new covenant ethics.
Michael Kruger, The Question of Canon
Kruger is an accomplished New Testament scholar. This book will help us understand why we should have expected the New Testament at all, as well as responding to a number of critics of the New Testament. This book exemplifies conservative Christian scholarship that does not shy from scholarly challenges.
Timothy Keller, Making Sense of God
Keller is well-known as a pastor in New York City. I’ve selected this book given how well Keller communicates, how he approaches classic questions in a clever fashion, and how he show that ancient truths are relevant to contemporary times.
Rosaria Butterfield, Openness Unhindered
A former-lesbian, atheist professor at Syracuse University, Butterfield now is the wife of a pastor. Her approach to sexuality, sexual identity, theology, and to reaching others is a unique mix, a fresh perspective, and a motivation for many of her readers.
Douglas Murray, The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race, and Identity
This is a new book for our course. Murray is a former-Christian, confessedly gay man who is, at the same time, one of the most trenchant critics of European secularism. He is an advocate for free speech and a foe of identity activists worldwide.
Thomas Sowell, The Quest for Cosmic Justice
With a focus on one of the most pressing topics of our day—justice, Sowell brings a seasoned and informed and insightful perspective to exploring what justice is and what artificial surrogates are vying to displace it.
The Qur’an, trans. M.A.S. Abdel Haleem
This is perhaps one of the more readable versions of the Qur’an in English. While the translator clearly has a bit of a western bent, the rendering is nevertheless suitable for our purposes.
Nabeel Qureshi, Answering Jihad
This slim volume quickly takes readers through the terrain of Islam, the questions regarding jihad, and the challenges for Christians to remain peacemakers. It provides plenty of platforms for us to jump off of in our explorations of Islam as an ideology and Muslims as varied populations.
Matthew Harris and Thomas Kidd, eds. The Founding Fathers and the Debate over Religion in Revolutionary America
Taking readers into the thickets of the original words and writings of the Founding Fathers, the editors invite us into a world of strong opinions, of rigorous debates, of opposing viewpoints that populated the arguments in early America. Upon reading, it becomes clear that many of the debates still rage today.
I have not finished all of these books yet, however my one and only essay for this class is an Exploratory Essay on Islam, which is due Saturday...currently I have 71 words (Almost done, not really!)!
Besides having class, I have also been enjoying my Midwest life again! I also am quite happy to have my KitchenAid again:) Hence some baking fun these past couple weeks, see pictures below. To be honest, despite the fear and caution surrounding the virus, life has returned to fairly normal for me. In fact, while I miss Oxford more everyday, doing school online, baking for fun, and playing video games with my friends online, has previously been normal life to me.
I do miss the fact that I can’t see more of my family (especially with Easter on Sunday), however as Anne states in the last line of Anne of Green Gables, “God’s in his heaven, all’s right with the world.” whispered Anne softly. Those words for me right now are such a comfort. The virus is scary, however even in my fear God is in his heaven.
Per usual, here are some pictures, as well as my one recipe I tried out this last week!
Blueberries & Cream Coffee Cake (Taste of Home)
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries (I didn't have fresh, and I wish I did!)
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional (I did not add them)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar (Instead of finishing with powdered sugar I made a basic vanilla glaze instead)
Directions
- 1.In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beating well after each addition. Fold in blueberries.
- 2.Spoon half of batter into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, pecans if desired, and cinnamon. Sprinkle half over the batter. Top with remaining batter; sprinkle with remaining brown sugar mixture. Cut through batter with a knife to swirl the brown sugar mixture.
- 3.Bake at 350° until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, 55-60 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Just before serving, dust with confectioners' sugar.
(My cake, it tasted great!)
(The Baking Process)
(My usual class attire, Oxford student from
the waist up, casual day at home from the waist
down)
(Beautiful sunny day=
swimsuit, shorts, and analyzing the Levitical
System, and how does it compare to
New Testament Ethics)
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