Another call for Redeemerites to give my mother juicy quotes for her magazine. What did Redeemer University mean to you? How has it shaped your thought? How has it shaped you as a Christian?
Okay, here's my contribution, for what it's worth.
"To be honest, Redeemer was the only university I applied to study at. I had others in my mind, in particular a school in the southern United States, but I had to quickly take that one off my list as the financial burden would have been far too much. I began studying at Redeemer in the fall of 2002, and knew right away what I wanted to study. I majored in the Humanities, which was composed of History, Religion and Theology, and Philosophy courses, while taking a minor in Missions and World Christianity. I was planning on heading to seminary after university, and this was the recommended course of study.
My first year was, actually, quite easy. I received good grades, and thoroughly enjoyed most of the courses I took. However, second year was a downward spiral. In addition to meeting the woman who is now my wife---taking up a significant amount of my time---I also began to wrestle with the neocalvinist worldview that Redeemer holds to. This pervades so much of what is taught at the university, and for me, it was a different perspective from what I was used to. I had a little trouble fully understanding all the intricacies of the worldview, but there were many parts of it that I embraced and began to understand more fully during third and fourth years, especially its theme of redeeming all of creation. This has been one of the most influential notions of my life thus far. At some point in the course of study at Redeemer---in fact, probably at many points---you will hear a professor quote one of Abraham Kuyper's thoughts: "There is not one square inch of creation about which Jesus Christ does not say: ‘that is mine.’"
This is very thought-provoking (and hopefully action-inducing) for any Christian. The implications of this Biblical perspective are extensive. That is why Redeemer is such a great liberal arts university, because this is a point of view that someone from any discipline can work with, be it philosophy, kinesiology, or sociology. There is no divide between what is Christian and what is not. Everything in this world belongs to God. To be sure, things have been distorted because of sin, but everything is redeemable. That is what they teach us, and that is what students are equipped to do when they graduate and move on and out into the world. That is what has shaped me, and that is what makes Redeemer University College a good school."
Okay, John, so I don't know if you were looking for a full-bore response like that, but the words just flowed, man. They just flowed. :) I'm assuming, this magazine will not be tending towards highlighting the negatives of Redeemer...that's for another issue?
hey, That's awesome thanks a lot, man. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I haven't congratulated you on being married yet, so congratulations!
I believe the magazine will be looking at more of a positive spin, my mother tends to be quite positive. Of course, she is also honest so if you have any beef you'd like to air, she would definitely put it into consideration. Of course, I don't know how much space she could give for large speed "bumps" and head-scratch inducing bureaucracy.
Nope, no major beefs besides the two you mentioned, except maybe too much of a lax attitude on who is admitted to the school. But I think that's a separate issue.
I will attempt to put into succinct words what Redeemer University College means to me. I should say that I have sometimes second-guessed what I took there, merely because I am struggling with my career direction. I took Honours English and Religion as a double-major, a very general degree; these were my interests and passions. I appreciated my liberal arts courses quite a bit including history, human geography (pre-9-11), psychology, two sciences, and philosophy. I really enjoyed most of my professors, especially those in my two majors and found them quite willing to give assistance to their students. I came to Redeemer unsure if I could handle university, as I was recovering from a debilitating depression and very unsure of my faith (I was angry at God and doubted I was a real Christian). For a considerable period of time, I meet weekly with the Dean. Not only did I change a lot (thankfully) through dorm experiences, some not so pleasant, I also grew in knowledge and insight and pondered my worldview through my courses and interactions. I am not quite a full-fledged neoCalvinist and there is an individual whose neoCalvinist fanaticism regularly sets my teeth on edge (not a professor, don't worry, just an anti-ecumenical person). Still I appreciate what my professor Al Wolters wrote in "Creation Regained" (I am now reading his new edition) and especially enjoyed the Interdisciplinary Studies and Missions courses with the amazing Goheen and Polman. With my Redeemer degree I was accepted into Calvin Seminary in a Masters of Theological Studies program. I was unable to actually go there and also I don't really want to go there anymore. My favourite courses were either biblical studies courses or church history courses, but I also really liked my upper-level Lewis and Tolkien and Shakespeare with the incredible Dr. Doug Loney and Victorian Literature and British Novel with Dr. D. Bowen, my faculty adviser who talked to me often. Although I advised my younger sister against going to Redeemer, I really do not regret choosing Redeemer, because the education I received there was stellar and very important in teaching me how to think from a Christian perspective and how to integrate faith with all of life. In my opinion it was worth all the money and all the hard work. I am unsure if I could have handled university in a secular environment without the caring support of the Dean and others including dorm-mates. And the distinguished Al Wolters is now my Facebook friend and mentor.
Thanks for your help. The article is written and I used several quotes from your posting. So thanks everyone who spoke out. The article is scheduled to come out in September in time for Redeemer's 25th anniversary celebrations.
6 comments:
Okay, here's my contribution, for what it's worth.
"To be honest, Redeemer was the only university I applied to study at. I had others in my mind, in particular a school in the southern United States, but I had to quickly take that one off my list as the financial burden would have been far too much. I began studying at Redeemer in the fall of 2002, and knew right away what I wanted to study. I majored in the Humanities, which was composed of History, Religion and Theology, and Philosophy courses, while taking a minor in Missions and World Christianity. I was planning on heading to seminary after university, and this was the recommended course of study.
My first year was, actually, quite easy. I received good grades, and thoroughly enjoyed most of the courses I took. However, second year was a downward spiral. In addition to meeting the woman who is now my wife---taking up a significant amount of my time---I also began to wrestle with the neocalvinist worldview that Redeemer holds to. This pervades so much of what is taught at the university, and for me, it was a different perspective from what I was used to. I had a little trouble fully understanding all the intricacies of the worldview, but there were many parts of it that I embraced and began to understand more fully during third and fourth years, especially its theme of redeeming all of creation. This has been one of the most influential notions of my life thus far. At some point in the course of study at Redeemer---in fact, probably at many points---you will hear a professor quote one of Abraham Kuyper's thoughts: "There is not one square inch of creation about which Jesus Christ does not say: ‘that is mine.’"
This is very thought-provoking (and hopefully action-inducing) for any Christian. The implications of this Biblical perspective are extensive. That is why Redeemer is such a great liberal arts university, because this is a point of view that someone from any discipline can work with, be it philosophy, kinesiology, or sociology. There is no divide between what is Christian and what is not. Everything in this world belongs to God. To be sure, things have been distorted because of sin, but everything is redeemable. That is what they teach us, and that is what students are equipped to do when they graduate and move on and out into the world. That is what has shaped me, and that is what makes Redeemer University College a good school."
Okay, John, so I don't know if you were looking for a full-bore response like that, but the words just flowed, man. They just flowed. :) I'm assuming, this magazine will not be tending towards highlighting the negatives of Redeemer...that's for another issue?
hey, That's awesome thanks a lot, man. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I haven't congratulated you on being married yet, so congratulations!
I believe the magazine will be looking at more of a positive spin, my mother tends to be quite positive. Of course, she is also honest so if you have any beef you'd like to air, she would definitely put it into consideration. Of course, I don't know how much space she could give for large speed "bumps" and head-scratch inducing bureaucracy.
Thanks again, Jake.
Nope, no major beefs besides the two you mentioned, except maybe too much of a lax attitude on who is admitted to the school. But I think that's a separate issue.
I will attempt to put into succinct words what Redeemer University College means to me. I should say that I have sometimes second-guessed what I took there, merely because I am struggling with my career direction. I took Honours English and Religion as a double-major, a very general degree; these were my interests and passions.
I appreciated my liberal arts courses quite a bit including history, human geography (pre-9-11), psychology, two sciences, and philosophy. I really enjoyed most of my professors, especially those in my two majors and found them quite willing to give assistance to their students. I came to Redeemer unsure if I could handle university, as I was recovering from a debilitating depression and very unsure of my faith (I was angry at God and doubted I was a real Christian). For a considerable period of time, I meet weekly with the Dean.
Not only did I change a lot (thankfully) through dorm experiences, some not so pleasant, I also grew in knowledge and insight and pondered my worldview through my courses and interactions. I am not quite a full-fledged neoCalvinist and there is an individual whose neoCalvinist fanaticism regularly sets my teeth on edge (not a professor, don't worry, just an anti-ecumenical person). Still I appreciate what my professor Al Wolters wrote in "Creation Regained" (I am now reading his new edition) and especially enjoyed the Interdisciplinary Studies and Missions courses with the amazing Goheen and Polman. With my Redeemer degree I was accepted into Calvin Seminary in a Masters of Theological Studies program. I was unable to actually go there and also I don't really want to go there anymore. My favourite courses were either biblical studies courses or church history courses, but I also really liked my upper-level Lewis and Tolkien and Shakespeare with the incredible Dr. Doug Loney and Victorian Literature and British Novel with Dr. D. Bowen, my faculty adviser who talked to me often.
Although I advised my younger sister against going to Redeemer, I really do not regret choosing Redeemer, because the education I received there was stellar and very important in teaching me how to think from a Christian perspective and how to integrate faith with all of life. In my opinion it was worth all the money and all the hard work. I am unsure if I could have handled university in a secular environment without the caring support of the Dean and others including dorm-mates. And the distinguished Al Wolters is now my Facebook friend and mentor.
Hi John,
Thanks for your help. The article is written and I used several quotes from your posting. So thanks everyone who spoke out. The article is scheduled to come out in September in time for Redeemer's 25th anniversary celebrations.
Thanks again,
Mom
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