The Future of Education

Semi CreditsManaging Editor Carmen Valdés

Editor Randall FrederickProduction Editor Matthew Schuler

BY MATTHEW SCHULERProduction Editor’s Note

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In the coming years, two new educational degrees will be introduced to the United States. The first is a Doctor of Letters (DLitt), and the second is a Doctor of Science (DSc). These two degrees will be higher than a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy), as PhD’s are becoming increasingly commonplace and many students are now acquiring multiple PhD’s in order to survive in professional careers. We live in a time of “academic inflation.” Going to college used to guarantee a job, now holding a Master’s degree won’t even do that.

Surprisingly, leading educators feel that this shift is generally unrelated to degree super-saturation. Yes, more people have more degrees, but they argue that academic inflation is instead directly linked to a nationwide decrease in student performance at virtually every level. Classes are easier than ever, which means that “getting an A” is not an accurate indicator of how well any given concept is mastered. “Getting good grades” has become more important than mastering concepts.

Another issue: obtaining a degree that guarantees a viable career now costs so much money that many students will be paying for their degrees for the rest of their lives. In essence, the current system guarantees that a significant percentage of everything that you will ever earn will automatically land in the government’s, the bank’s, and the university’s back pocket. Instead of borrowing money to purchase a car or a new home, instead of planning for the future, graduates are forced to pay for the past. When educational institutions are run like businesses, everyone benefits but the student.

So what is the answer? How do we train people in a way that costs less, and provides more? Can we teach in a way that fosters concept mastery at the highest level, even higher than the new DLitt or DSc, and yet frees the student from becoming a slave to the global corporate banking system? The answer is, of course, yes.

(continued online at thesemi.org)

While studying at Fuller, we are surrounded by an incredibly diverse and passionate student body. Within our community there is an extensive collection of experiences in life, faith and ministry. However, I have come to believe that this collection of experiences is one of the most underused resources here at Fuller. There are some things in life that simply cannot be taught in a classroom or come by reading a book but come only through unique events or years of experience. When these experiences are shared, we are spared the toil and hardship of having to learn these lessons ourselves. I certainly am not the only person who has been greatly impacted by fellow students and wish we had a way to capitalize on this unique period of time that we share.

The problem I see is that there are many people whom I will simply never meet. While I might be shaped by the experiences of others I have befriended through happy accidents and coincidence that occur as we study together, I will sadly miss out on the majority of the collection of experiences that surround me. Two experiences and observations have inspired me to do something about this.

First, at a recent panel discussion Fuller hosted with outside speakers, I realized I could name four or five of my fellow students who could have seamlessly blended into the panel and offer their opinion. The panels would have been just as engaging -- if not more so. But those were just the students I knew personally, which is what made me question why we are bringing in outsiders when we could

Week Four: Student Group Initiates TED-like Event

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just have these conversations ourselves? Second, I have become an incredible fan of TED (TED.com), whose acronym is short for Technology, Entertainment Design. It is a nonprofit that has been around since 1984 and is devoted to generating and making the most of innovative thinking. Speakers at TED events are challenged to give the best talk of their lives in 18 minutes or less and the results are often amazing, profound and moving. These videos have convinced me that we could do the same thing at Fuller - come up with some great talks that would spark even better conversations.

So this quarter I am going to be starting Week Four. This quarter, in the fourth week, we will be hosting a public one hour talk where, taking a page from TED, three Fuller students will be invited to give the

talk of their lives and answer one simple question: If you could share one thing to future Christian leaders, what would it be?

For anyone interested in sharing their answer, please submit a proposal of what you would like to talk about with a general outline of your talk to weekfourfuller@gmail.com by January 14th. Every student is welcome to participate, though I especially want to encourage those with the wisdom and insight only age and experience can bring. A student panel will pick the top three most promising student proposals and notify the campus about what speakers will be hosted on what topics that quarter.

Kevin Gonzaga (MAT, 2012) serves regularly at the Pasadena International House of Prayer and is a student in their School of Supernatural Ministry.

BY KEVIN GONZAGA

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Why would someone choose to go to a seminary to get a degree in psychology? I asked myself when deciding where to attend graduate school. If my goal had been a Master of Divinity, a seminary would have been my only option. However, there are many kinds of schools a person can attend to do graduate work in psychology, and most of them are not seminaries. Further, in the field of psychology, degrees from secular schools tend not to be stigmatized as much as degrees from Christian schools. So why should someone go to seminary for psychology?

Unlike many people, my decision to attend Fuller was not based on a desire to work in a Christian setting. Moreover, the cost of Fuller definitely did not make it the most practical decision for my financial future. So it might seem that it would have made more sense for me to choose a secular, less expensive program. However, in spite of these considerations, former and current students convinced me that Fuller was an excellent choice. Moreover, it is the people here - and not just the many papers I have written on integration - that have helped me process and learn what it means to be a good student and professional in the field of psychology.

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Now that I have graduated from Fuller, I have a better understanding of the distinctiveness of the psychology program here as well as how a program like this has broadened my understanding of what the seminary looks like - at least at the school I attended. In the School of Psychology we were required to do a lot of self-reflection –much more, it seemed, than in the other Fuller schools. I once had a friend in one of Fuller’s other programs tell me he could not believe I was writing another paper on my feelings. He wondered why we didn’t spend more time discussing practical matters. Ironically, I found that the

process of writing these “feeling papers” actually had a lot of practical value. They enabled me to explore what it meant to heal, grow, and learn through pain on a personal level. These are things many therapists hope to do in their own lives as well as the lives of their clients.

The SOP’s place within a seminary context was an important piece in the way I was able to process my feelings, including what it means to heal and do good therapy. It gave me the freedom to let go of the pressure to intellectualize everything I learned. While part of the program required us to take courses in the School of Theology where we

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Angelic visitations and demons, if accepted at all, are reserved for the gullible, the “crazy”

learned things about interpreting scripture, much of our degree let us explore how the healing process in therapy involves much more than reading scripture verses for comfort. A person may be able to exegete an entire passage of scripture, but most people begin their healing process in other ways. In this way, I see the SOP as adding a lot of depth to the seminary experience. While we need people who

are able to explicate passages and give informed sermons, I believe it is just as important to train people to be able to personally reach out to those in their brokenness without using a theological or intellectual bent. I think this is something that can be easily neglected at other seminaries.

Fuller’s seminary-based program also allowed me to explore how my emotional, physical, and spiritual health are significantly interdependent. I have found that becoming equipped to help people deal with their psychological health is a complex process. Our psychological health is dependent on our spiritual well being, and vice-versa. Psychologists have not always considered it important to pay attention to people’s spiritual well being and the way it connects to their emotions

and psychological well being. The entire field of psychology is slowly beginning to take more seriously the idea that religion and psychology can be discussed at the same time and, further, can work together in the healing process of a person. On the opposite end of the spectrum, spirituality is also something that religious communities are taking more seriously. Religion and psychology can mix and I appreciate that this is something that Fuller has realized for quite some time.

A person’s deepest and most personal beliefs are usually connected to their spirituality. When a person has doubts about their spirituality and the way it fits into his or her everyday life, it can be emotionally exhausting and even devastating on his/her psyche. A psychological environment in which spirituality is left out of the conversation, in my opinion, limits the healing process of the individual. For example, there are clients who feel God may be punishing them when they are faced with a divorce, death in the family, or financial hardship. These clients carry with them many theological questions that may not simply be satisfied by looking at scripture or exploring the cultural context of biblical times. The clients may feel shame and or guilt about their situation, and many other feelings are inexplicably tied to all this. A therapeutic setting that enables clients like this the freedom to explore questions about their spirituality - such as how their spirituality and emotional state affect one another - is very important to me in the healing process. This is one of the reasons I see the need for the intersection between psychology and spirituality in people’s lives. Does

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this mean I was trained to be merely a Christian counselor? No. I was trained to be able to think about spirituality and psychology and how they do not completely exist apart from each other. I did not choose to go to Fuller because I wanted to evangelize all of my clients and this is, thankfully, not what I was trained to do. If a person sees Fuller as a place to go to learn how to evangelize clients, this is not the place for him or her.

I could have gone to a non-Christian school and received a great education. I would have been able to learn many of the same techniques that I learned at Fuller. However, for me, Fuller was a place where I was able to openly discuss the connection between psychology and spirituality within a religious context. For many people, their religion/spirituality is one of the most important parts of their life. Why would I leave this out of the therapeutic process? It is important to point out that a person’s spiritual journey may not necessarily be a Christian one and that it is no less important to discuss a non-Christian’s journey and how it connects to spirituality than it is to talk about a Christian’s journey. My experience of the program is not about the conversion of clients. Instead, it equipped me to be open to walking with my clients through their own psychological and spiritual journeys and to be open to talking about and processing all areas, including the spiritual area, on their way to healing.

My point is that Fuller’s psychological program is not in its own little world of Christian psychology. The MFT program equipped me to work not just in a Christian setting but also in

all different kinds of clinical settings, religious and non-religious. I think this is something that a seminary should do regardless of the program. Many people may see the SOP as an important while still peripheral part of the seminary. But I think that the other schools at the seminary can learn a lot from the SOP just as we have learned from them. I don’t think a seminary’s education should be just about thinking theologically. While this is important, a seminary’s education should also equip students to live and minister in and out of the church and think in a variety of ways. We should be able to relate to people in all kinds of settings and it was here that I learned a lot about reaching out to people in their deep pain and brokenness - no matter what their past. This fits with my vision of a seminary as a whole. In this way, I hope the SOP can be seen not as a tangential part of the seminary but as a central part of Fuller’s future and mission. Sarah Taylor, a recent MFT graduate, is famous for her dancing finger; knows nothing about sports but sounds like an ESPN anchor; and secretly loves dogs, though she pretends not to. She frequently craves hot dogs.

an op-ed by randall frederickThe world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater. -J.R.R. Tolkien Upon deciding to attend seminary, many of us were cautioned to find something else - anything else – and do that instead. Get married. Start a dot-com. Become

an accountant. But do not go into the one field that celebrates diversity while demanding rigid conformity. Do not invest your money and time toward a degree which, upon graduation, will be nothing more than a conversation piece, evidence of some half-brained adventure that helped close out your twenties. Our generation faces many crises and so we shouldn’t dawdle by trying to take

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scripture seriously. What do any of the sacred scriptures have to say about a global economic crisis, after all, except that we should expect it and see it as part of the plan? What does it have to say about genocide except to support it but not be the first bully to cast a stone? We find ourselves almost overwhelmed by the barrage of information and disappointment.

This is something we accept as part of our calling and meta-narrative. Well-read and articulate people of faith should be expected to speak to their time with innovative solutions. It is inherent every time we invoke the name of G-d. As 2012 begins, we must acknowledge our moral responsibility compels us to become more devoted towards this cause – to help others, to find ways to feed them

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and make sacrifices so that others may find and live in that better way we propose. But the crises are not all “out there” in some distant land. Some of them are occurring within education and seminaries. This is a time when the future of education in general and seminary in particular is being scrutinized and, like the neighbor at the burning house, expected to find some way to help. For some, this will mean re-evaluating their decision to come to seminary and for others this will be a time when we fully and finally commit to “this thing we do.”

Earlier this year, Pres. Mouw co-authored a report with Andy Crouch entitled The Seminary of the Future. The report indicates that the future of seminary education involves “augmented reality,” a creative way to express “online education.” Mouw and Crouch (a Fuller trustee) propose that in our increasingly individualistic society, students find freedom in private studies, though they appreciate the perspectives that online cohorts provide. This move is not so much about technology, but a culture which consumes technology and resists commitment to enduring relationships. “The dominant culture,” they go on to write, “that once at least paid lip service to the importance of Christian institutions is simultaneously more secular and more attuned to faiths other than Christianity.” Seminaries, and all Christian institutions, consequently must embrace globalization to survive. The

white, middle-class Evangelicalism that followed World War II has given way to new traditions, practices and theologies and the seminary must change to accommodate these differences or continue becoming more obsolete. When in doubt, create an online account. This solution is simple but it is also a reduction of genuine issues. Education cannot magically be fixed by going online anymore than your relationships can. There are genuine issues of fact that must be addressed, ways that culture must be confronted and questioned. Are we better now that we were ten

years ago? Are we proud of who we are becoming or are we pleasantly contributing to our own epidemic? Dr. Philip Clayton, dean of Claremont School of Theology, takes another approach. In his essay, “An Emergent Seminary for an Emergent Church,” he writes that the future of seminary education is directly related to whether a seminary will embrace Emergent theology. The dilemma of our future is not, he argues, about seminaries at all but how the Church is transforming into something as yet undefined. Culture, he argues, drives what the Church is becoming and seminaries are making changes much too slowly out of fear. In some ways, we can move with the changes. In others, we must wait to see what we are adapting to. Such a position would have been worth blogsophere buzz a decade ago perhaps when

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“the plain fact is, religion must die for mankind to live. The hour is getting very late to be able to indulge in having key decisions made by religious people.”

“Emergent” was a buzzword, but as contemporary Christianity continues to become post-Emergent, Clayton’s position must be scrutinized. At Claremont, he says the directive is now to educate their students and succeed in“becom[ing] leaders for the emerging forms of the church. A smaller number of these new leaders will stand in pulpits and read sermons to congregations, watching their parishioners holding bulletins and thumbing through hymnals. Many more will be “hosts” of discussions, spiritual directors, community organizers and Christian participants in interfaith collaborations.” Towards this end, Clayton reasons that students need to know the traditions of the Church and devote themselves to life-long experiential learning, but in equal measure must be “able to read contemporary trends in global culture more profoundly and accurately than others.” Progressive (and prophetic) as we imagine ourselves to be, this is a quality worth developing some more.

To this, newly minted provost Doug McConnell has been addressing Fuller in a series of articles and letters to the Fuller community. McConnell admits that Fuller, facing new opportunities, has taken on more endeavors than their respective components can manage. “[O]ur capacity has limits,” he says. Fuller must navigate this desire for broader studies and various opportunities while facing budget restrictions. Decreased enrollment and “budget

concerns” revolving around a $2.5 million shortage caused the seminary to institute mandatory vacation time for all departments for the recent holidays. While exploring “all options, including departmental expenses, travel costs, vacation liability, retirement contributions, increasing revenue, etc.” to cut costs, McConnell insists that “layoffs are not being considered at this time.” In a follow up interview with The SEMI in early December, McConnell was adamant that termination of faculty was not and is not being considered at this time. Instead, he is optimistic that Fuller can find ways to capitalize on fundraising and inherent assets like diversity, creativity and dedication to the three staples of graduate institutions: research, writing and teaching. “We’ve really kind of lost some of our momentum for fundraising,” and “We’re going to work towards getting that back.” Such a directive implies the seminary is changing structurally “but our mission remains the same.”

Clayton’s positions assumes people of faith are not leaders. Richard Dawkins and the recently deceased Christopher Hitchens have done an excellent job demeaning and belittling the efforts of religious people to move countries, communities and individuals forward. History does not agree with this. As we look to the future and renew our investment in considering our course, Drs. Mouw and McConnell are resolute that Fuller has always been at the

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the popularity of televangelism, titans of technology, celebrity culture and a general state of apathy all confirm that America exalts the uneducated

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vanguard of creating leaders who can change the world for the better. It’s their mission, the essence of this thing we do. Which is, of course, optimistic. Any time an institution begins to focus their attention on money instead of innovation, they are admitting a delay in some part of the process. Maslow’s lowest common denominator of survival, that primal instinct, may allow an entity to survive but it does not necessarily move us forward. We must keep in mind that any conversation about the future of seminary in general or Fuller in particular is only part of the larger one taking place concerning the place of higher education and global economy. With celebrities creating a new social media or perfume/fashion line every three weeks, higher education is not as prestigious or valuable as it once was. Among Christian education in particular, leading televangelists and authors like Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, even Brian McLaren are proving that you do not need to attend seminary to lead or even influence the faith – something that McConnell says that Fuller must keep in mind as we move forward. “Corruption of the gospel such as this,” he writes, “combined with threats of violent persecution from fundamentalist Islam, makes sound teaching in ecclesiology, public theology, ethics, biblical studies, marriage and family studies and trauma counseling critical for the church’s maturity.” But who has time or money for that? Most institutions, including seminaries, face the economic crisis by round-table debates over whether to lower admission standards and academic quality or raise tuition. Northwestern State Univ. in Louisiana, my alma mater, provides a readily available case study in this regard. Faced with impending

budgetary concerns, NSU decided to raise admission standards to maintain their credibility. Though praised at the time, this decision was met with extensive cuts to their operating budget, mass severance of faculty (who are now in litigation for termination of tenure) and decreased enrollment in flagship programs which have since been restructured under the supervision of seemingly unrelated fields. Physics, Engineering and Marketing are now overseen by Mathematics. It is easy to speak of what we should study and of an illustrious future, but who will be there to fill the desks? The future of the seminary, it could be argued, is not so much about what is taught and the medium in which that education is transmitted as much as to whom. To make seminary education viable again requires a united effort which (and on this, history does agree) Christianity has not collectively been noted for. Bounded-set thinking prevails and the modus operandi for education becomes implicit: we’ll take who we can get. Barbara G. Wheeler, former president of Auburn Theological Seminary puts it simply, “Almost anyone who has a college degree can gain admission to some seminary.” As observers of culture, we know seminary is not the only realm in which lower standards are becoming acceptable – even praised. Rick Perry, one of the candidates for the Republican nomination, said that the Dept. of Education would be one of three agencies he would “end” as President. When asked what the other two agencies would be, he ironically forgot it. Such an egregious error was lampooned and forgotten with a simple “Oops.” His approval ratings dipped then resurged within 24 hours once he was able to laugh the gaffe off. This should

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be disturbing to most of the American population: a presidential candidate who dismisses education entirely, claims God has ordained his election, and forgets huge sectors of the economy (turns out he wanted to end the Dept. of Energy). There is an easy joke here, but Perry’s approval ratings as well as the popularity of televangelism, titans of technology, celebrity culture and a general state of apathy all confirm that America exalts the uneducated. If it can be said that the standards for admission at a seminary are low among a larger debate about low expectations of education in general, what kind of student pool is this creating and what kind of graduate is this producing? Education, as much as Christianity, is in a state of flux. Perry’s disappointment in the Dept. of Education may be uninformed, but there is certainly a genuine cause for concern. American educational reform, despite the intellectual capital present in the debate, continues to be restricted by tenure, poor instruction and allocation of intellectual capital, unionization, resistance to new paradigms as much as technology and the malaise of low expectations regarding the outcome of education. What use is high school biology in a factory town or Scholars English in a multi-lingual region after all? Specialization is considered the cure-all. If we educate a student towards a particular field and create a division of labor, even be so bold as to regionally engineer it, our economy will be fixed. This fundamental assumption about economics, proposed by Adam Smith in the 18th century, continues to inform the educational debate. After all, it is what has brought us to a seminary, an institution specializing in religious

education. But Liz Coleman, president of Bennington College since 1987, disagrees with this assumption. As part of the TED lecture series, Coleman puts forward what worked for her restructuring of Bennington College, once considered the most expensive university in America. In a 1994 report, Bennington’s Board of Trustees confessed to “a growing attachment to the status quo that if left unattended,” could have proved “lethal to Bennington’s purpose and pedagogy.” Coleman took on the specialization of education, challenging any effort to compartmentalize studies as though they had nothing to do with one another. The destructive dominance of this educational model was and is, she asserts, “enormous. Subject matters are broken up into smaller and smaller pieces, with increasing emphasis on the technical and the obscure.” She challenged Bennington to see the broad implications of instruction and time has shown her model of integration worked well for the school. So well, in fact, that the Bennington model was exported to Eastern Europe and Russia where it continues to see success. Coleman continues to argue against the “progression of today’s student to jettison every interest except one. And within that one, to continually narrow the focus, learning more and more about less and less […] despite the evidence all around us of the interconnectedness of things.” Instead of leaving the matter to “the higher powers” or even waiting expectantly for the wisdom of our scholarly instructors to bestow on us their pre-packaged and easily reductive knowledge, perhaps it is time that students begin to pursue creative ways to collectively balance the future of our profession. Naturally, this is where

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hecklesome ideas like, “Think better” and “Don’t blow it” come to mind. But assuming these reductive ideas are sound, perhaps Fuller should take a page from Coleman, the Occupy Movement and Proverbs, finding wisdom in the multitude of counsel. The fact is we can make theology good again. We can make it right and take pride in our endeavor. It is just that none of us know how. We continue to look for a singular answer from specialists, continue looking for that one key component that we previously overlooked. That’s how Adam Smith’s long-dead hand continues to stroke our cheek. The future of seminary

is not about what pundits, professors or administration say it is, but what we make of it. Whether we engage in distance learning through wires or smoke signals or local uncomfortable close-talking, we must insist that the Church is not some distant thing but instead is here, now, among us – that very Kingdom we have mythologized come to life. As children of the eighties and nineties, we know the excess of “this thing we do,” speaking faith, hope and love into every area of society, yet we continue to occupy, to move forward and move on to something better. But is religion still relevant? In an interview with Newsweek last month, Bill Maher, an unintentional celebrity of the Occupy Movement, says “the plain fact is, religion must die for mankind to live. The hour is getting very late to be able to indulge in having key

decisions made by religious people.” Maher has always taken an extreme position. Ten years ago, ABC cancelled his late-night Politically Incorrect when he said the American military was made up of cowards and the 9-11 terrorists were heroes. While we may be inclined to dismiss Maher as a heretic or even a naughty rascal, he has tapped into a large demographic of Americans who feel the same way. Those who challenge religious influence in culture and society continue to draw crowds, sell books and participate in lectures, interviews and conferences all questioning what right religion has to speak to the challenges

of our time. It would be easy for us to imagine the world is what we theorize it to be from the hallowed halls of our institution, but there is a harsh reality “out there” that we fail to address in constructive ways. Our gospel, that glorious good news, has been reduced to a set of ethics and our faith which can move mountains is defined by what we are against more than what we are for. Buddhism and Mormonism have both done well in proactively pursing positivity. The LDS Church continues to promote family more than family values and Buddhism has found multiple channels of appeal through healthy living, yoga, meditation and the quest for peace. Evangelicals, meanwhile, continue to be fascinated with leaving the sublunary terra behind for some triumphant orchestra above the chaos. Some of the best selling Christian titles last year were about whether there

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we must insist that the Church is not some distant thing but instead is here, now, among us – that very Kingdom we have mythologized come to life.

was a hell and who would be there. Our “glorious” apocalyptic visions evoke Nero and his fiddle as we leave friends and neighbors behind to play harps

above the flame. Maher is right. If we truly believe this is the kind of life Jesus died for, Maher is right for condemning religion as field of study and he is right for mocking religious people who proclaim that kind of piety. Focused and directed religious studies need to correct the corruption of our gospel even as we face the changing crises we face globally -- externally as much as internally. This requires a better caliber of student. To this, I mean not just the rolling tide of incoming first-years but the current student body, you, me, the person sitting on the other side of class whose raised hand makes you cringe. We either work on this together or we fail. Walter Brueggemann’s analysis of the process of emancipation provides us with a valuable key to understanding how to navigate the immediate future. In Hope Within History, he summarizes that three things happen as we make a transition. There is a critique of the dominant ideology, of which this article is part, followed by a public processing of pain like Nineveh’s reaction to Jonah’s critique (Jonah 3:5-9) or the Occupy Movement. But a third stage, that of the release of new social imagination, is the most difficult because it requires change. Since 1948, South Korea has had a long and difficult struggle as industrialization, urbanization and other

factors have entirely restructured the country. South Korea has since become a leader in numerous fields including education, economics and religion. The people decided to change the social landscape, exercise creative imagination, and make hard choices to redirect their society towards an alternative. It is one thing to speak of liberation, another to pioneer that new frontier. Perhaps this oversimplifies the matter, but it shows that real progress can take place. As we conclude one year and begin another, let us look forward to the time when all things will be made new. In 2012, The SEMI encourages every member of the Fuller community to express their views, to fill in the gap and be willing to make the necessary sacrifices for our community. This will be hard. But we were never called to anything else. Randall Frederick (MDiv 2013) previously worked as a media consultant for non-profit organizations, and is a firm believer that f you like it then you gotta put a ring on it.

References Clayton, Phillip. “An Emergent Seminary for an Emerging Church” Patheos.com 17 Oct. 2011. Craig, William Lane. “God is Not Dead Yet” Christianity Today, 3 July 2008. McConnell, C. Douglas. “Reflections on a Global Seminary.” Fuller Theology, News & Notes, Fall 2011. Mouw, Richard and Andy Crouch. The Seminary of the Future, Sept. 2011. Wheeler, Barbara G. “What a Mess! Notes on the Future of Theological Education.” Patheos.com 17 Oct. 2011

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It is one thing to speak of liberation, another to pioneer that new frontier.

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N.T. Wright’s latest, Simply Jesus, provides an excellent overview of the “perfect storm” of events surrounding the rise of Christianity and a overview of his more extensive work regarding the Kingdom of God. As usual, Wright brings his academically wry humor to bear but where the book excels is the relaxed way in which Wright abbreviates his works for a reader just approaching a more rigorous study of the life and time of Christ. The book comes on the heels of two major events in Wright’s life: his retirement as Bishop of Durham and the death of his father earlier this year and the reader benefits from both as Wright is reflective on the person and work of Christ as much as approaching existential questions

with renewed interest. By establishing a framework for how Jesus would have understood himself in light of scripture as much as how modern scholarship approaches that same question, the book grounds Evangelicals in an otherwise overwhelming amount of supplementary information. For the believer seeking a consolidated understanding of Wright’s voluminous scholarship and for the experienced scholar looking to cleanse the palate, Simply Jesus is simply the best book for those idle moments at the Laundromat. Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and WhyHe Matters. $24.99, HarperOne Publ. 2011. ISBN: 9780062084392

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Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs is the last lavish public love letter to a modern polymath. Collected from forty interviews over two years, Isaacson presents his titular subject as a man myopically focused on how he could change the world into his own vision. Unlike other biographies which flatter Jobs while lightly focusing on the destructive side of creativity lest they later incur his wrath, Isaacson safely focuses each chapter on the milestones of Jobs’ career as a form of eulogy. Detractors are footnotes to the epic yarn as Jobs is haloed as a driven (and thus misunderstood) artist who humbly tries to make things better. The man portrayed easily becomes whatever the reader wants to project on him as much as themself. Even if that idealized image is a fruitarian who believes positive affirmations can cure pancreatic cancer. Pedantically weighty yet tragic in the way it facilitates a self-indulgent generation

to find excuses for their poor behavior and write off anyone who doesn’t buy into their fantasy, Isaacson’s tome is still an still an excellent read for those raised on Apple, Pixar and the belief that they are in fact as special as they believe themselves to be -- grades, relationships and endeavors be damned. The book demands to be read, whether in an attempt to collect “how to” notes or to fill in the gaps of a wild mythology. The myths of Steve Jobs that Isaacson captures are generous, though they may leave the reader perplexed as to how a hero could have so many faults. For those inclined to look for religious undertones, a reader will see a clear redemptive character arc as well as be left with new questions about fate, destiny and question whether it is possible to make a pact with a higher programmer, viral enemy “or whatever” in pursuit of a better world. Steve Jobs. $35.00, Simon & Schuster 2011. ISBN: 9781451648539

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Jan 30-Feb 3, Mission Week The week of events, workshops, and booths designed to help students connect locally and globally. ASC is looking for students in all 3 schools to help plan. Stephanie atasc-campuslife@fuller.edu.

Morning PrayerWed, 7:30–7:55am, CatalystA Sacred Space for a Variety of Prayer Traditions. Find community and rest as you breath new life into your mornings. Free coffee. Office of Student Affairs, 626.584.5433, studentaffairs@fuller.edu.

Thursday DevotionsThurs, 10:00–11:00am, Payton 100Join us for weekly Thursday Devotions. Sponsored by Africana Student Association. Refreshments will be served.asa.fuller11@gmail.com

Food Distribution needs YOUR help!!The Food Distribution Program, initiated in 1987 by int’l students, is an outreach to students & the greater Pasadena community struggling with the cost of living. It takes place every Wednesday and shifts are 10am - 12pm, 12 - 2:00pm, or both. Sign up to volunteer at: http://tinyurl.com/ftsfooddistribution. For more info, email carmenvaldes@fuller.edu.

Strong Marriages/Successful Ministries - Small Groups available!

• Small group psycho-educational opportunity to enhance your marriage. Groups meet one night a week for 9 weeks. • Small group marriage relationship enrichment experience for Asian and Asian American students. Winter Quarter - Tuesday nights, 7:00–8:30pm.

Total cost $40. Sharon Hargrave, sashargrave@aol.com.

FIELD ED

Self-care for Pastors: Attending to the Mind, Body and SpiritMon, February 6, 11:00am–1:00pmGeneva Room (above the Refectory)Dr. Alexis Abernethy, Professor of Psychology, SOP, will present. What habits do we develop that may negatively affect our physical and mental health? How can we understand that taking time for rest is as critical for ministry as more active service? Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their own experiences and past models of pastoral ministry. Practical strategies will be shared. Healthy Boundaries (Part 2 of the Workshop Series)Fri, February 17, 11:00am–1:00pmPayton Hall 101The Rev. Dr. Beverly Weinhold, DMin, Licensed Professional Counselor, will present. This seminar series addresses personal and pastoral boundaries; sexual ethics; and good conduct practices for students, clergy, and congregational leaders. (Please note: This seminar requires an RSVP to fielded@fuller.edu by Wednesday, February 15.)

Understanding Hospital Chaplaincy: How to Prepare for CPETues, February 21, 1:00pm–3:00pmConference Room 220 (2nd Floor, 490 E. Walnut St.)Rev. Cheri Coleman, Chaplain at Methodist Hospital, Arcadia, CA, will present.

CHRISTIAN WOMAN SEEKING WORK!Elderly care, nanny, house cleaning. Dependable, own transportation. Contact Shelly at 626-773-6030 orshellyupright@aol.com.

fuller happenings

classified ads

001A Dutch researcher has created a virus with the potential to kill half of the planet’s population. Now, researchers and experts in bioterrorism debate whether it is a good idea to publish the virus creation ”recipe”. The new strain (an avian influenza H5N1) has been genetically modified to be extremely contagious. “I can not think of a pathogenic organism more dangerous than this one”, commented Paul Keim, a specialist in microbial genetics. “Anthrax is not at all scary, when compared with this virus.”

Source: LA Times

A Nobel Prize winning biologist has ignited controversy after publishing details of an experiment in which a fragment of DNA appeared to ‘teleport’ or imprint itself between test tubes. According to a team headed by Luc Montagnier, previously known for his work on HIV and AIDS, two test tubes, one of which contained a tiny piece of bacterial DNA, the other pure water, were surrounded by a weak magnetic field. Eighteen hours later, the DNA had found its way into the test tube of pure water. Skeptical scientists demand repeat experiments.

Source: Tech World

David Beckham is set to stay with the Los Angeles Galaxy after turning down a chance to join Paris Saint-Germain, the French club said Tuesday. After weeks of negotiations with PSG, the 36-year-old midfielder and former England captain decided he doesn’t want to move his family from the United States. “David Beckham is not coming,” PSG President Nasser al-Khelaifi said at the Qatar Open tennis tournament. “We feel a little disappointed. But both sides agreed it would be better that we not do the deal ... maybe in the future.” Beckham will try to finalize a new, rolling one-year contract this week with the Galaxy, which was paying him an annual base salary of $6.5 million.

Source: The Washinton Post

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drawing held January 17 f a c e b o o k . c o m / t h e s e m i o n l i n e