{"id":5553,"date":"2019-07-15T13:37:54","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T21:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=5553"},"modified":"2019-09-18T14:28:13","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T22:28:13","slug":"celebration-of-discipline-study-foreword","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2019\/07\/15\/celebration-of-discipline-study-foreword","title":{"rendered":"Celebration of Discipline: Study &amp; Foreword"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em> Blog read\u00aders: Chi Alpha @ Stan\u00adford is  engag\u00ading in our annu\u00adal sum\u00admer read\u00ading project. As we read through  Cel\u00ade\u00adbra\u00adtion of Dis\u00adci\u00adpline by Richard Fos\u00adter, I\u2019ll post my thoughts here  (which will large\u00adly con\u00adsist of excerpts I found insight\u00adful). They are  all tagged <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=5538&amp;action=edit\"><em>summer\u2010reading\u2010project\u20102019<\/em><\/a><em>. The sched\u00adule is <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=5538&amp;action=edit\"><em>online<\/em><\/a><em>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"220\" height=\"330\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/celebration_of_discipline_220.jpg?resize=220%2C330&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"book cover - Celebration Of Discipline\" class=\"wp-image-5484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/celebration_of_discipline_220.jpg?w=220&amp;ssl=1 220w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/celebration_of_discipline_220.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 220px) 85vw, 220px\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cJesus made it unmis\u00adtak\u00adably clear that the knowl\u00adedge of the truth will set us free. \u2018You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free\u2019 (John 8:32). Good feel\u00adings will not free us. Ecsta\u00adt\u00adic expe\u00adri\u00adences will not free us. Get\u00adting \u2018high on Jesus\u2019 will not free us. With\u00adout a knowl\u00adedge of the truth, we will not be free.\u201d<\/p><cite>Richard Fos\u00adter, Cel\u00ade\u00adbra\u00adtion of Dis\u00adci\u00adpline, page 63<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This week we come to the dis\u00adci\u00adpline of study. Fos\u00adter\u2019s def\u00adi\u00adn\u00adi\u00adtion of study is a lit\u00adtle wordy and hand-wavy for me. I think what he\u2019s get\u00adting at is this: <strong>study is think\u00ading deeply about some\u00adthing until we under\u00adstand it and its sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcance<\/strong>. When done well, it changes the way we think in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are some sug\u00adges\u00adtions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>While you are young, read a few \u201chow to think\u201d books. If you are for\u00adtu\u00adnate, these will be assigned in some of your class\u00ades. If they are not, they are worth seek\u00ading out on your own. Don\u2019t assume that just because you got into Stan\u00adford and are get\u00adting decent grades that you\u2019re all set in this area. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/smile.amazon.com\/How-Read-Book-Classic-Intelligent\/dp\/0671212095\/\">How To Read A Book<\/a><\/em> by Adler is sol\u00adid gold, as is any\u00adthing by Richard Mitchell (aka The Under\u00adground Gram\u00admar\u00adi\u00adan). Start with <em>Less Than Words Can Say<\/em> (<a href=\"https:\/\/sourcetext.com\/grammarian-ltwcs-00-htm\/\">legal\u00adly avail\u00adable online<\/a>). I think my favorite thing of his is <a href=\"https:\/\/sourcetext.com\/the-gift-of-fire-chapter-three\/\">\u201cThe Land of We All\u201d<\/a> from <em>The Gift of Fire<\/em>. I remem\u00adber find\u00ading  Stanovich\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/smile.amazon.com\/Think-Straight-About-Psychology-10th\/dp\/0205914128\/\">How To Think Straight About Psy\u00adchol\u00ado\u00adgy<\/a><\/em> help\u00adful when I was in col\u00adlege, as I did Car\u00adson\u00ad\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/smile.amazon.com\/Exegetical-Fallacies-D-Carson-ebook\/dp\/B00CZALQ1A\">Exeget\u00adi\u00adcal Fal\u00adlac\u00adi\u00ades<\/a><\/em>. <\/li><li>Resolve to read books by dead peo\u00adple. C. S. Lewis\u2019s intro\u00adduc\u00adtion to Athana\u00adsius\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/smile.amazon.com\/Exegetical-Fallacies-D-Carson-ebook\/dp\/B00CZALQ1A\"><em>On The Incar\u00adna\u00adtion<\/em><\/a> explains why well: \u201cIt is a good rule, after read\u00ading a new book, nev\u00ader to allow your\u00adself anoth\u00ader new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones. Every age has its own out\u00adlook. It is spe\u00adcial\u00adly good at see\u00ading cer\u00adtain truths and spe\u00adcial\u00adly liable to make cer\u00adtain mis\u00adtakes. We all, there\u00adfore, need the books that will cor\u00adrect the char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adis\u00adtic mis\u00adtakes of our own peri\u00adod. And that means the old books\u2026. To be sure, the books of the future would be just as good a cor\u00adrec\u00adtive as the books of the past, but unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly we can\u00adnot get at them.\u201d His intro\u00adduc\u00adtion is avail\u00adable many places online and I high\u00adly rec\u00adom\u00admend it- <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bhmc.org.uk\/uploads\/9\/1\/7\/7\/91773502\/lewis-incarnation-intro.pdf\">https:\/\/www.bhmc.org.uk\/uploads\/9\/1\/7\/7\/91773502\/lewis-incarnation-intro.pdf<\/a><\/li><li>Real\u00adly do make it your goal to pass <a href=\"http:\/\/www.econlib.org\/archives\/2011\/06\/the_ideological.html\">an ide\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal Tur\u00ading test<\/a> on every major issue: be able to artic\u00adu\u00adlate any posi\u00adtion you reject so clear\u00adly that a well-informed observ\u00ader would think you real\u00adly believe it. You can\u00adnot mean\u00ading\u00adful\u00adly say \u201cI agree\u201d or \u201cI dis\u00adagree\u201d until you can say \u201cI under\u00adstand.\u201d<\/li><li>If you fol\u00adlow cur\u00adrent events, an excel\u00adlent prac\u00adtice is to write down what you think the out\u00adcomes of a cer\u00adtain pol\u00adi\u00adcy or deci\u00adsion are like\u00adly to be. Then go back a few months lat\u00ader and com\u00adpare your pre\u00addic\u00adtions with real\u00adi\u00adty. You\u2019ll learn a lot about your blind spots and assump\u00adtions. Also write down what you would do if you were in charge and what you think would like\u00adly hap\u00adpen. This is more uncer\u00adtain, but you will start to notice ways that real\u00adi\u00adty sur\u00adpris\u00ades you and would have affect\u00aded your plans. The key in either case is writ\u00ading it down \u2014 don\u2019t trust your mem\u00ado\u00adry. Writ\u00adten words have an out\u00adra\u00adgeous stub\u00adborn\u00adness that does not per\u00admit you to believe you thought some\u00adthing dif\u00adfer\u00adent than you actu\u00adal\u00adly did.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some tips for study\u00ading the Bible in par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Fos\u00adter rec\u00adom\u00admends pick\u00ading a book of the Bible and read\u00ading it every day for a month. This isn\u2019t as daunt\u00ading as it may seem. The aver\u00adage per\u00adson reads about 250 words per minute and the book of Eph\u00adesians has a lit\u00adtle under 2,500 words. Depend\u00ading on your read\u00ading speed, you can go from begin\u00adning to end in 10 min\u00adutes.<\/li><li>No time to sit down and read? Con\u00adsid\u00ader an audio Bible. The first audi\u00adences of the Bible heard it oral\u00adly, and so you\u2019re just fol\u00adlow\u00ading in their foot\u00adsteps.<\/li><li>Get a sim\u00adple one-vol\u00adume Bible com\u00admen\u00adtary to help you with the chal\u00adleng\u00ading parts. You can find an excel\u00adlent set of sug\u00adges\u00adtions at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bestbiblecommentaries.com\/top-one-volume-bible-commentaries\/\">Best Bible Com\u00admen\u00adtaries<\/a>. <\/li><li>If you wind up going into min\u00adistry, invest in a more sub\u00adstan\u00adtive set of com\u00admen\u00adtaries.  Com\u00admen\u00adtaries can be quite expen\u00adsive, so first get a one-vol\u00adume overview  and then build on it over time. <ul><li>Here\u2019s what I do: when\u00adev\u00ader I start a new ser\u00admon series, I get two or three new com\u00admen\u00adtaries to help me pre\u00adpare. I go to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bestcommentaries.com\/\">bestcommentaries.com<\/a> and choose from among the high\u00adest-rat\u00aded ones labeled P or D. So if I need\u00aded a com\u00admen\u00adtary on 1 Corinthi\u00adans, I would go to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bestcommentaries.com\/1-corinthians\/\">https:\/\/www.bestcommentaries.com\/1\u2011corinthians\/<\/a> and buy either Fee or Gar\u00adland or both. It\u2019s eas\u00adi\u00ader to do this when you\u2019re preach\u00ading through books of the Bible (a series on James, for exam\u00adple). If you\u2019re doing top\u00adi\u00adcal stuff then think about what one of your main pas\u00adsages will be and buy a com\u00admen\u00adtary for that book of the Bible. Over time you\u2019ll build a very sol\u00adid library that way. <\/li><li>Avoid buy\u00ading entire com\u00admen\u00adtary sets; even the best series are uneven. It\u2019s wis\u00ader to buy the best few com\u00admen\u00adtaries for each book of the Bible.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Sup\u00adple\u00adment your pur\u00adchased com\u00admen\u00adtaries with the <a href=\"https:\/\/planobiblechapel.org\/constable-notes-html\/\">amaz\u00ading (and free) set of notes <\/a>com\u00adpiled by Dal\u00adlas Sem\u00adi\u00adnary pro\u00adfes\u00adsor Thomas Con\u00adsta\u00adble. Down\u00adload <a href=\"https:\/\/planobiblechapel.org\/constable-notes\/\">the PDF ver\u00adsions<\/a> to your hard dri\u00adve and you\u2019ll even have access to them when you\u2019re on a retreat or a mis\u00adsion trip some\u00adwhere.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I sus\u00adpect Stan\u00adford stu\u00addents have a hard\u00ader time with the dis\u00adci\u00adpline of study than with almost any of the oth\u00aders, because study\u00ading for grades becomes so con\u00adsum\u00ading. I fre\u00adquent\u00adly talk with stu\u00addents who lament their inabil\u00adi\u00adty to read the books they want to read. It\u2019s impor\u00adtant to remem\u00adber that Fos\u00adter believes all study can be spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly ben\u00ade\u00adfi\u00adcial \u2014 even study\u00ading for grades. If noth\u00ading else, you\u2019re devel\u00adop\u00ading skills in this sea\u00adson that will serve you well for the rest of your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also, bear in mind that you can often choose to focus your stud\u00adies in a class in a way that will be spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly ben\u00ade\u00adfi\u00adcial. Tak\u00ading a class on democ\u00adra\u00adcy? Use it as an oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to engage with Wood\u00adber\u00adry\u2019s work on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/journals\/american-political-science-review\/article\/missionary-roots-of-liberal-democracy\/3D96CF5CB2F7FEB19B1835393D084B9A\">the reli\u00adgious roots of demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic gov\u00ader\u00adnance<\/a>. Tak\u00ading a class on African-Amer\u00adi\u00adcan his\u00adto\u00adry in the 1900\u2019s? Read about the black church. Study\u00ading the phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy of sci\u00adence? Read what Chris\u00adtians have said about it. Skim our resource<a href=\"https:\/\/xastanford.org\/the-gospel-and-green-library\"> The Gospel and Green Library<\/a> to find sug\u00adgest\u00aded books on a wide range of top\u00adics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And if you know you\u2019re going to strug\u00adgle dur\u00ading the school year, take advan\u00adtage of the sum\u00admer to do some seri\u00adous spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal read\u00ading beyond the sum\u00admer read\u00ading project!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A few notes on the foreword:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Skip\u00adping back many pages to the fore\u00adword\u2026 I real\u00adly like what Fos\u00adter says here. I had us save it until now because his thoughts seem linked to the idea of study to me \u2014 the fore\u00adword is an extend\u00aded reflec\u00adtion on the nature of the spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal dis\u00adci\u00adplines. I will close with a few com\u00adments on this excerpt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p> It is crit\u00adi\u00adcal for us to under\u00adstand that the Spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal Dis\u00adci\u00adplines pos\u00adsess no moral rec\u00adti\u00adtude or right\u00adeous\u00adness in and of them\u00adselves. They are, most def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly, not \u201cworks right\u00adeous\u00adness,\u201d as is some\u00adtimes said. They place us\u2013body, mind, and spirit\u2013before God. That is all. The results of this process are all of God, all of grace. Now, the oppo\u00adsite of grace is \u201cworks.\u201d Works has to do with earn\u00ading, and there sim\u00adply is noth\u00ading we can ever do to earn God\u2019s approval. Or God\u2019s love.\u201d<\/p><cite>Richard Fos\u00adter, Cel\u00ade\u00adbra\u00adtion of Dis\u00adci\u00adpline, pages xiv-xv<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Dal\u00adlas Willard once said, grace is opposed to earn\u00ading not effort. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=2+Peter+1%3A3-8&amp;version=NIV\">2 Peter 1:3\u20138<\/a> charts out the rela\u00adtion\u00adship between grace and effort nice\u00adly: \u201cHis divine pow\u00ader has giv\u00aden us every\u00adthing we need for a god\u00adly life\u2026 for this very rea\u00adson make every effort to add to your faith good\u00adness\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His grace pro\u00advides all that we need, there\u00adfore we should strive with all of our might. He gives us the plat\u00adform upon which to stand, there\u00adfore we must stand to our full height. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Next week we move from the inner to the out\u00ader dis\u00adci\u00adplines as we dis\u00adcuss liv\u00ading with sim\u00adplic\u00adi\u00adty. Get ready!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blog read\u00aders: Chi Alpha @ Stan\u00adford is engag\u00ading in our annu\u00adal sum\u00admer read\u00ading project. As we read through Cel\u00ade\u00adbra\u00adtion of Dis\u00adci\u00adpline by Richard Fos\u00adter, I\u2019ll post my thoughts here (which will large\u00adly con\u00adsist of excerpts I found insight\u00adful). They are all tagged summer\u2010reading\u2010project\u20102019. The sched\u00adule is online. \u201cJesus made it unmis\u00adtak\u00adably clear that the knowl\u00adedge \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2019\/07\/15\/celebration-of-discipline-study-foreword\" class=\"more-link\">Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cCel\u00ade\u00adbra\u00adtion of Dis\u00adci\u00adpline: Study &amp; Fore\u00adword\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Some thoughts about Richard Foster's comments on the spiritual discipline of studying.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[264,263,137],"class_list":["post-5553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resources-reviews","tag-celebration-of-discipline","tag-summer-reading-project-2019","tag-thinking-clearly"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1rz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5553"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5556,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5553\/revisions\/5556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}