Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

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Science Corner: Raising Nemo

Why pass up a chance for a clownfish photo? (Photo by edanley )

I know I’m a little late for Father’s Day, but I thought you might be interested in this article about parenting among bony fishes. It’s a summary of this paper from last October, exploring the evolution of father-only care, a parenting style much more common underwater than it is here on land. The reality of that care is far from Finding Nemo‘s charming songs and walks to school. Real fish dads’ guidance often ends where the movie begins, with the hatching of the eggs. Still, the sheer number of fish species which exhibit this behavior and the contrast with how other animals rear their young makes for an interesting puzzle to solve.
[Read more…] about Science Corner: Raising Nemo

To Will One Thing; A Lenten Reflection on Matthew 4:1-11

Soren Kierkegaard famously said, “purity of heart is to will one thing.” Kierkegaard

To center back on our call to will one thing, namely the will of God, is the chief purpose of Lent. This week’s gospel reading comes from Matthew 4:1-11. It’s the scene of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. The Liar and Destroyer tempts Jesus, beckoning him to use God’s power to turn stones to bread, to use God’s power to call the angels to his aid, and he offers him the authority over all the kingdoms of the world, if only Jesus would will to bow down to the Deceiver.

But Jesus does not.  He wills only one thing–only that which the Father wills. He is pure in heart. [Read more…] about To Will One Thing; A Lenten Reflection on Matthew 4:1-11

Supporting Cast to the Christmas Story: Angels

This time of year in churches all over, little children dress up in white robes, put on wings and halos, and in general, look cute! Children dressed as angels are a staple of Christmas plays everywhere. Congregations voice their “Ahhhhs” and parents and family members hope that their “angels” behave themselves.

This is as it should be – angels do play a part in the Christmas story. Christmas pageants are stylized portrayals of the story of Jesus’ birth, and children dressed as angels fit right in. But we should, from time to time, stop and consider: what are angels?

Still of James Stewart and Henry Travers in It’s A Wonderful Life (1946). [retrieved December 20, 2013].
Maybe you don’t believe in angels. Some modern scholars claim that the Jews picked up the idea of angels from the Persians. Certainly some modern portraits add to our incredulity. Clarence, the would-be angel in Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life, is a very likable character, but not so good for getting at what angels are (and the movie reinforces the notion that angels are just humans who have been promoted, so to speak). We get more of our ideas about angels (and demons) from the not so modern picture in Milton’s writing than from the Bible.

And we are embarrassed by the kitschy angels sold in gift shops. Nothing this silly could possibly exist. [Read more…] about Supporting Cast to the Christmas Story: Angels

Supporting Cast to the Christmas Story: Zechariah

Pontormo, Jacopo da, 1494-1556. Birth of John the Baptist, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=49459 [retrieved December 14, 2013]. Original source: http://www.yorckproject.de.
In our first installment, we took a look at the shepherds. Last time we considered the Magi. Now it is time to learn from the story of Zechariah.

Zechariah has been in the shadow of his famous son – John the Baptist. John certainly is an important character. But Zechariah was a man who had waited a long time, and so we can benefit from his story as we wait.

First note that Zechariah was “getting on in years.” And he and his wife Elizabeth were childless. In our culture, childlessness has a definite sting. Many modern day parents long for a child to be given to them. But in Zechariah’s day the burden was even greater – especially for the women. To be childless was a curse, possibly for having committed some grievous sin. The text, however doesn’t leave this as an option, for they both were “righteous before God” (1:6).

Are you suffering some kind of affliction? Are thing especially hard for you? It is possible that it is because you have done something that causes the heartache, but it is not necessarily the case. It might be just the randomness of life; or it could be that God has something for you in the midst of it. [Read more…] about Supporting Cast to the Christmas Story: Zechariah

Returning to Graduate School – Thoughts by Michael Stell (2)

Part Two – Being a Graduate Student

Thank-you to Michael for sharing his story/thoughts with us! Note: To explore sharing your story/thoughts as a testimony to God and an encouragement to others, please read Want to write for the ESN blog? and email ESN with a proposal. ~ Thomas B. Grosh IV, editor.

When I entered grad school, I entered with a sense of purpose that was in my mind akin to the idea that the Puritans had of vocation or calling. Attending a Catholic university, I realize that many use the word vocation in strictly religious ways, but the Puritans viewed all of life as religious, and so all of life should be understood as vocation. I had been involved in the vocation of teaching, but not at the place where I felt I was fulfilling my true calling. I was going to grad school with the intent in my mind to complete that calling, to fulfill my vocation. But shortly upon arriving at grad school with the above ideas in my mind, I realized I needed to change the way I thought about my own vocation. So, what changed in my own self-understanding about the vocation of academia?

First, I realized I had to become a scholar if I was going to take seriously the vocation of an academic. In the first six months, I shifted my thinking in a variety of ways, not the least of which was changing my vocabulary from studying theology, to being a theologian. While this change might be subtle, it was a reflective way for me to begin to think of myself as a scholar, not just a teacher. I do think there is not enough emphasis placed on the development of the craft of teaching in doctoral programs, but I needed to do a reset of my thinking about my own place in scholarship.

I came into the program with very vague ideas of what I wanted to study, and I had no real settled person who I wanted to study under. My previous work had been very general, and I liked thinking about things in big picture terms. But I soon realized that to become a scholar meant mastery, not just generalized knowledge. I was very fortunate that in spite of my lack of vision, God saw fit to bring both a great mentor to study under and a theologian whom I could study in depth whose papers were close to my current location. My studies have opened doors to present papers and work on writing articles about my research which I never envisioned when I began the program. If we as evangelicals are to fulfill the vision that Mark Noll laid out, it is necessary that we become scholars. I needed to learn that lesson. [Read more…] about Returning to Graduate School – Thoughts by Michael Stell (2)