I must apologize for not having posted much lately. I have had a large number of things going on, all at the same time, for the past few weeks. If you don’t mind me sharing some personal news, I will briefly make note of some of the things that have happened recently.
I graduated from Marquette University with an MA degree in Theology, with an emphasis in Biblical Theology. The past couple of months have been pretty rough, with MA comprehensive exams, MA essay, final exams, term papers, etc. Fortunately, all that time in the library and sitting in front of the computer paid off and I am finally done with my Master’s degree. It was a great journey and I will be forever greatful to my professors and colleagues for helping me get through it. It has been extremely interesting to be a lone LDS student in a theology program of a Catholic (Jesuit, no less) university. But despite being the “odd man out”, I felt very welcomed and befriended at Marquette. I learned a lot and will always cherish these couple of years here. While I really loved most all my professors, I am especially grateful for having had the opportunity to study with Dr. Andrei Orlov, with whom I share many academic interests, and for his help and support as my advisor during my studies at Marquette.
During finals week (and luckily after my finals were done!), my wife gave birth to our fourth child, a baby girl we named Christine. We are overjoyed and feel very blessed to have this special new spirit in our home. We were also very happy to have my mother stay with us for a while to help out. It was great for our other children to be with their grandma and for her to see them and the new baby. Was it hard to have a new baby right at the end of the semester? Well, I was sleep-deprived already, so baby Christine didn’t really make that issue worse than it already was! She has actually been a very good baby and already sleeps through most of the night! Both my wife and the baby are doing very well. While we often hear about post-partum depression, my wife (and I) have really had our spirits elevated by having this beautiful baby who has recently come from our Heavenly Father’s arms to ours.
I have been accepted to two great PhD programs, both in the UK — Durham University and the University of St Andrews. I have not yet decided which one I will attend. At Durham, I would be studying under the supervision of Professor C.T.R. Hayward, known for his excellent work on the Jerusalem Temple and early Jewish literature. At St Andrews, I would be studying under Professor James Davila, head of their School of Divinity, and one of the very best scholars in the area of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Pseudepigrapha, and early Jewish and Christian literature. Both schools are very good, their religion departments usually being ranked third and fourth in the UK after Oxford and Cambridge. If anyone has any input on either of these schools, I would love to hear it. Whichever school I choose, I will be doing research on the temple, ritual, and ascension/enthronement motifs in the Scriptures and in extra-canonical literature.
I will be traveling to the UK next week to visit Durham and St Andrews, and also to attend Margaret Barker’s temple symposium. A big thank you to my dear friends who have made this trip possible. I will be visiting the campuses of the schools I was accepted to in order to get to know them better before I make my final decision. I have my mind made up pretty well, but I really felt I needed to get to know the schools, professors, and towns where I and my family may be living. I am also very much looking forward to the temple symposium, which will focus on the role of music in the temple. You can read more about it here. You can be sure that I will be taking good notes at this conference — I feel incredibly blessed just to have the opportunity to attend! And I can’t wait to get a good look around the Temple Church where the conference will take place.
10 Comments
Congratulations David! Thanks for sharing all of your wonderful news with us. Good luck on your trip across the pond, I envy your opportunity to meet Barker!
Congratulations again on your graduation and your new baby. You have an embarrassment of riches to choose from between the two schools! Be sure you take notes at the Barker seminar and post them on your web page!
Congratulations! May your gifts be truly what you give to others and may God always light your path with grace and tenderness.
Sounds great! Congrats and good luck!
David!!!!!
I am duly impressed with your accomplishments, both at home and at the university. I think you would be well served by either Durham or St. Andrews. My only request is don’t let the British swallow you up. We want you back here in America after you get your doctorate.
Margaret Barker is the Einstein in modern-day theology scholarship. I hope you get a lot of exposure to her.
I look forward to your many productive years of scholarly writing. I am envious of what is ahead for you.
Best wishes.
Congratulations on everything, David. What a happy time!
Are you already aware of Nijay Gupta (http://nijaygupta.wordpress.com/)? He blogs on New Testament subjects, mostly, but he is graduating from the Durham PhD program and has loved it. His posts are sometimes very helpful for PhD and Durham stuff, and he’s mentioned to me in some email conversations that there’s a Mormon in the program already. Mauro Properzi, I think it was. Unfortunately, I haven’t spoken to Mauro, nor do I know how to contact him.
Thank you all for your kind comments. I am grateful for all that the Lord has so graciously blessed me with.
Dr. Hamblin — I will be sure to take as good notes as possible! Did you know that there is a guy from North Logan — Frederick Huchel– who will be presenting there? I don’t know him, but it’s pretty cool that he was accepted to present there.
S. Faux — I have no plans to stay in Britain permanently, but I actually do have a legitimate claim to British citizenship as my mother is British!
Jon — Thanks for the info on Mauro Properzi. I looked him up on Durham’s website and he is indeed studying Mormon theology (which would probably suggest he is LDS). I have seen Gupta’s site, and it is good and helpful.
I know Huchel. He’s a stand-up guy. Ask him to do his Heber J. Grant impression.
Whatever your choice, I believe the next best step is to send a package to your dear sister loaded with chocolate from the British Isles. I am definite that this is the best course… definite. She’ll be so surprised.
Sounds like a good idea, HEIDI. I’ll have to make sure she gets some. St Andrews, as it happens, has a number of good chocolate shoppes. I’m sure I could find something suitable that “my dear sister” might like.
And I’m so sure she’ll be surprised…