Mark Noll’s work, America’s God, was primarily concerned with showing the unique interplay that occurred between American views of religion, political theory, and ideas of knowledge. He was primarily concerned with how the latter two ideas affected the first. The account is distinguished others in that Noll attempted to show 1) how unique and unexpected this development was, and 2) the role that the development of the commonsense theory of knowledge played. Noll focuses on the dominant trends in the above categories, specifically, Protestantism, republicanism, and a commonsense, or intuitional, theory of knowledge. None of these were uniquely American developments. Whether it was Protestantism from Europe, republicanism from France, or notions of commonsense from Scotland ; each was inherited. The combination of these factors resulted in the widespread adoption of Protestantism in America. The adoption of Protestantism reversed fortunes from their decline in influence in the mid to late 1700s to an adoption rate of 85% in 1860. Noll sees Jonathan Edwards as the premier shaper of American Theology. Everyone either utilized or had to respond to his work. The great north/south schism of Evangelicalism in early parts of the 1800’s aided the national rift over slavery and was a contributing factor in America’s decent into civil war. (more…)

Soon I need to come up with ideas for my thesis, ultimately picking a topic by the end of the semester. Here is a list of things I am kicking around along with my interests.

• Anything on the formulation of cannon in religion
• Anything on early Christianities and the level of doctrinal and actual laity difference.
• Heresy creation / Polemics over the years and their effect on the laity.
  • By Proto-Orthodox Christians
  • By Church fathers / Opposing bishops in church councils
  • By the Catholic Church
  • By the Leaders of Protestantism
  • In America by anti-Mormon leaders
  • By Modern Evangelical leaders
• The Relation of Philosophy and Science as the background of the formulations of Christianity
  • Utilization of Philosophies by Christians and the resulting sythesis
  • As philosophies and science change - the impact on the formulations of Christianity
  • Infancy Gospel of Thomas and Zeno
• Religion and Heisenburg’s Uncertainty Principle
  • Comparison between behaviors of similar scale in the movement of atoms and the religious patterns in Christianity
  • Use this as a structuralist view of religion
  • Show how large events with large populations of people can be predicted/modeled/described generally and historically
  • As you refine the picture, the ability to be predicted/modeled/described generally and historically declines with the scale
  • Set the limits of historical knowledge and embrace them as to limit errors in history and judgment
• Disconnect between denomination and the members

Those are some of the things that I have been interested in, but I know that my thesis will need to have a very specific question about a very specific group. We will see how it goes.

Was Augustine’s transition from a libertarian to a determinist?

Abstract:

This post is taken from a paper submitted for my class on the life and works of Augustine. It posits a forum where three people are invited to give their interpretations of Augustine’s works. The papers are then followed up by a discussion on how or if Augustine’s thought developed throught his life.

Henry:

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I recently finished up my first semester after taking a break between college and grad school. The following is a list of things that I wish I would have done the previous semester.

1. Always turn in a rough draft. Instructor feedback is of almost unlimited value. It gives one a chance to test out one’s ideas on the instructor and will eliminate possible crazy theories.
2. Beware the first paper back. I had not written a formal paper in well over a year and half when I turn my first one in. I had not even had to think about proper writing style outside of a few letters I had to write to customers. As a result of this, my first paper was rife with minor errors in grammar and tone.
3. Learn to skim and speed read. You will get more reading assigned the first semester than you did all of undergrad. The last few pages of chapters are usually your friend. If you must dig deep into the text (and you will need to a lot), skim-speed read the whole book first and then revisit sections that need more depth.
4. Don’t loose your life - physical and social. Take time to blow off steam and engage in something besides your school work. Doing this will help with not being burnt out after half a semester.
5. Grades don’t equal self-worth. The difference between a B+ and an A- (and even an A- to an A) would make all the difference in my self esteem for weeks when I got a grade back. Don’t let grades effect your work or your life. Be happy when you get good grades, use disappointing grades as a challenge, instead of a lessening as your worth as a person.
6. Recognize that you don’t know everything. Just about everything you learned in undergrad will turn out to be wrong or an over-generalization.
7. Turn hardships into a challenge.
8. Don’t procrastinate. Getting and early and prolonged start on big projects will save you from having those weekends from Hell. During finals weeks I started an 18 page paper the day before it was due. I turned it in 6 hours before it was due, at seven am. Only thing was, I had not gone to bed that night. Early and prolonged starts allow you to get things done early, which allows you to turn in papers early, which allows for instructor feedback, which makes your papers better, which makes your grades better, which makes your chances of being successful overall better.
9. Schedule, Schedule, Schedule. There will be too much to do - unless you schedule it well. Then there will be just enough time to get everything done without ruining your life or your stomach lining.