Essays
Being a student means I write a lot. I write down notes in class. I write down notes after class. From time to time, I’ve even been known to write down notes at home. I scribble out my thoughts on material covered in class. I record reflections on life events that seem to be important, that I might look back on the present moment once the story has played out. I write detailed exegesis papers and short answers for pop quizzes.
Most of the things I write are nonsense; Some of it is not. The later is what I hope to share here.
Akedah: Breaking the Bonds of Primitive Faith
This was my first attempt at studying a text for the purposes of exegesis. I wrote this paper for my Old Testament I class during my first semester of Divinity School. The passage of Genesis describing the near sacrifice of Isaac is one that I have been familiar with since childhood. For me, the text always carried a certain level of discomfort. As much as possible, I hoped to explore the meaning of this story in its original context and to discover what relevance it has for contemporary Christians.
