I know you're all dying to know what I will be writing my three papers on this quarter, so I thought I'd make an official announcement. I've mentioned a lot about the first one already. It will be on the subject of "Christ as Transformer of Culture." The paper will be based on H. Richard Niebuhr's Christ and Culture, which I have blogged about starting here. I am not in full agreement with the view Niebuhr presents, but of his five "types," this is probably the one I fit into best.
Paper number two will be a historical look at iconoclasm in Reformation Germany. Are you ready for my really catchy title?
Andreas Karlstadt and His Opponents: Iconoclasm in Reformation Germany
Amazon.com, here I come! Karlstadt (pictured above) was a professor at the University of Wittenburg at the same time as Martin Luther. While Luther was in hiding, Karlstadt started several iconoclastic riots and published a treatise presenting his views. In February of 1522, Luther finally came back to Wittenburg and preached against Karlstadt, who was forced to leave. My paper will focus on the views of Karlstadt, Luther and two Roman Catholic theologians who debated Karlstadt: Hieronymous Emser and Johannes Eck.
My third paper is for my class on the Hebrew Prophets. I have to select a 4-10 verse passage from one of the prophetic books of the Bible and write 10-12 pages of exegetical observations. This is the one I'm scared of, ladies and gentlemen.
Okay, now you can go back to your regularly scheduled lives and stop wondering what I'll be writing about during the month of November.
Comments