encouragement
Well I got some instant gratification on my paper. Right away with a response. And I am a bit floored. I thought my paper was rushed and I wasn't so happy with it. But this is nice, some times I need some encouragement.
Letter from Dr Wood:
---------------------
Hi Tim,
I have now read your 45-page paper on Ricoeur--every word of it! It's excellent. If you should decide to do a PH. D (especially in Britian where the main project is the thesis), the philosophy/theology of Paul Ricoeur would be a most excellent choice, and you have demonstrated in this work that you are indeed Ph. D. quality. In fact, you could build on this paper for a Ph.D. dissertation and this puts you miles down the road. I don't know if you are aware of it, we have two Ph.D. programs--one is through the London School of Theology (Joel Green is the coordinator) and another one is about to start through Manchester University (England) with Mike Rynkiewich as the coordinator. The Manchester option is linked to a Wesley Center (of which several schools are members including the Nazarene Theological College in Manchester). This option is for those interested in Wesley Studies. If you would be interested, doing a Ph.D. thesis on re-reading Wesley in the light of Ricoeur's hermeneutics would be an important theme. I think Wesleyan evangelicals would find Ricoeur a delightful philosophical atlernative to modernist thinking. It's interesting that Ricoeur is another Frenchman (alongside Derrida, Lyotard, and Focault) who contributed to the rise of postmodernism, but unlike the other three, Ricoeur was a practicing Christian believer and affirmed an orthodox doctrinal view (even if it was Paul Tillich's successor at the University of Chicago!). I'm using a book on postmodernism this coming semester in ST501 that discusses Derrida, Lyotard, and Focault, and the author (James K.A. Smith) shows how their concerns about knowledge contribute significantly (although unwittingly) to Christian faith, but Ricoeur's contributions are direct and explicit.
I think having read Kant in your independent study prepared you for grasping the concepts of Ricoeur. I don't think you did a course on Hegel, but that would help as well. If pursuing a Ph.D. is of interest to you, you might think of ways that you could even now prepare yourself for a possible thesis, as this paper. I of course have no way to guarantee that you would be accepted into a PH.D. degree program, but I believe you should think about this.
Tim, I think it is truly remarkable that a Min.Div student as yourself could understand Ricoeur so clearly and write so lucidly about his key concepts. You have a right to be proud of yourself.
Incidentally, I like the subtle way you incorporated Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ. Also your focus on the doctrine of the atonment was insightful. The topic of the atonement from Ricoeur's perspective could serve as possible thesis as well!
Blessings,
Larry Wood
Letter from Dr Wood:
---------------------
Hi Tim,
I have now read your 45-page paper on Ricoeur--every word of it! It's excellent. If you should decide to do a PH. D (especially in Britian where the main project is the thesis), the philosophy/theology of Paul Ricoeur would be a most excellent choice, and you have demonstrated in this work that you are indeed Ph. D. quality. In fact, you could build on this paper for a Ph.D. dissertation and this puts you miles down the road. I don't know if you are aware of it, we have two Ph.D. programs--one is through the London School of Theology (Joel Green is the coordinator) and another one is about to start through Manchester University (England) with Mike Rynkiewich as the coordinator. The Manchester option is linked to a Wesley Center (of which several schools are members including the Nazarene Theological College in Manchester). This option is for those interested in Wesley Studies. If you would be interested, doing a Ph.D. thesis on re-reading Wesley in the light of Ricoeur's hermeneutics would be an important theme. I think Wesleyan evangelicals would find Ricoeur a delightful philosophical atlernative to modernist thinking. It's interesting that Ricoeur is another Frenchman (alongside Derrida, Lyotard, and Focault) who contributed to the rise of postmodernism, but unlike the other three, Ricoeur was a practicing Christian believer and affirmed an orthodox doctrinal view (even if it was Paul Tillich's successor at the University of Chicago!). I'm using a book on postmodernism this coming semester in ST501 that discusses Derrida, Lyotard, and Focault, and the author (James K.A. Smith) shows how their concerns about knowledge contribute significantly (although unwittingly) to Christian faith, but Ricoeur's contributions are direct and explicit.
I think having read Kant in your independent study prepared you for grasping the concepts of Ricoeur. I don't think you did a course on Hegel, but that would help as well. If pursuing a Ph.D. is of interest to you, you might think of ways that you could even now prepare yourself for a possible thesis, as this paper. I of course have no way to guarantee that you would be accepted into a PH.D. degree program, but I believe you should think about this.
Tim, I think it is truly remarkable that a Min.Div student as yourself could understand Ricoeur so clearly and write so lucidly about his key concepts. You have a right to be proud of yourself.
Incidentally, I like the subtle way you incorporated Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ. Also your focus on the doctrine of the atonment was insightful. The topic of the atonement from Ricoeur's perspective could serve as possible thesis as well!
Blessings,
Larry Wood