Logan Martin Isaac

coursework

MTS-07: Hauerwas on Bell

Discussed on May 6, 2013, with Stanley Hauerwas as part of my MTS Thesis Proposal. Source: Daniel Bell, Just War as Christian Discipleship (Brazos, 2009) Discussion Prompt Daniel Bell's book[1] is an important work that attempts to re-center the tradition of just war on the church

coursework

"A Rationally Disorganized Temporary Witness: Stanley Hauerwas (on Politics, Theology, and Democracy)"

Submitted as a final paper April 29, 2013, to Luke Bretherton in partial fulfillment of Christian Theology 837: Christianity and Democracy (CT837). Stanley Hauerwas has been called “Best Theologian” by Time magazine, but it is a title he rejects outright. His polemic style of writing would lead one to presume

coursework

"That You May See What You Are: Rhetorical Characters in the Letters of Augustine of Hippo and Sulpicius Severus"

Submitted on April 23, 2013, to Stanley Hauerwas and Sean Larsen in partial fulfillment of Philosophical Theology 958 (CT958): Truthfulness, Rhetoric, and Irony. Over the course of this class, we have explored truthfulness in relation to classical rhetoric. Through a variety of writers, we have learned about the forensic, ceremonial,

coursework

"Take These Things Away: The Father's Economy in the Gospel of John"

Submitted on April 17, 2013, to Kavin Rowe in partial fulfillment of New Testament Interpretation (NT754). In the Gospel of John, the episode variably referred to as the "cleansing" or the "purification" of the Temple is placed quite early.[1] According to John, this scene sets

coursework

"A Vague & Persistent Question: Reflections on Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart"

Submitted April 12, 2013, to Sujin Pak n partial fulfillment of European Church History 750 (CH751). In Chinua Achebe's 1958 classic Things Fall Apart, the West got its first glimpse into their own colonial instincts through the eyes of an African perspective. Achebe's novel refuses to

coursework

"Daring To Reach Far Beyond Ourselves: Barth's Hermeneutical Conditions for Biblical Interpretation"

Submitted on April 3, 2013, to Kavin Rowe in partial fulfillment of New Testament Interpretation (NT754). Karl Barth is one of the most poignant theologians of the 20th century. Rebelling against the liberal assumptions that gave birth to the kind of arrogance that made Nazi Germany possible, he developed profound

coursework

MTS-06: Smith on Attitudes

Discussed on March 28, 2013, with Warren Smith as part of my MTS Thesis Proposal. Sources: * Roland Bainton, Christian Attitudes to War and Peace (Wipf and Stock, 2008) * John Howard Yoder, Christian Attitudes to War, Peace, and Revolution (Brazos, 2009) Discussion Prompt Roland Bainton, the son and husband of Quakers,

RELEVANT

Unlearning War

*Originally published on March 27, 2013, by Relevant Magazine. Ten years ago this month, the U.S. government, claiming a connection between the September 11th attacks and dictator Saddam Hussein, invaded Iraq. At the time, it was difficult to find a critical mass decrying, or even cautioning against, the rush

coursework

"Shucking Corn With a Chainsaw: A Rebuke of Adolf von Harnack’s Christianity"

Submitted March 22, 2013, to Sujin Pak in partial fulfillment of European Church History 750 (CH751). In his classic lecture series, published under the title “What is Christianity,” Adolf von Harnack establishes himself as a theologian of his age. However, that is both a compliment and a critique, for his

coursework

"One Violent Son of A Bitch: Hauerwasian Ecclesiology as Radically Finite Democracy"

Submitted March 21, 2013, to Luke Bretherton in partial fulfillment of Christian Theology 837: Christianity and Democracy (CT837). Stanley Hauerwas grew up in Texas being groomed for bricklaying, about the farthest thing from the philosophical theology he ended up pursuing. Educated at Yale and associated with the post-liberal and

coursework

"Ethics Without Eschatology: John Howard Yoder's Politics of Jesus as Critique of Christian Realism"

Submitted as a midterm book review on March 15, 2013, to Luke Bretherton in partial fulfillment of Christianity and Democracy: Christian Theology 837 (CT837). In 1972, John Howard Yoder set out, in his Politics of Jesus, to recapitulate a kind of "biblical realism" as an alternative to the

coursework

Textual Analysis of Romans 5

Submitted on March 6, 2013, to Kavin Rowe in partial fulfillment of New Testament Interpretation (NT754). I. OUTLINE (Romans 5:1-11) "Hope for Peace with God Through Justification" * Rejoice in hope despite sufferings (vv.1-2) * Hope reinforced by being grounded in God's love (vv.

coursework

"Protestant Women After the Reformation: The Already-Not-Yet Nature of Luther's Theology of Ministry in the Eyes of Women"

Submitted February 22, 2013, to Sujin Pak in partial fulfillment of European Church History 750 (CH751). What Martin Luther unleashed in Europe was both new and very old. His groundbreaking ideas about common ministry open to all believers is a tricky subject to extrapolate in light of his otherwise uncritical

coursework

Textual Criticism of John 2

Submitted on February 13, 2013, to Kavin Rowe in partial fulfillment of New Testament Interpretation (NT754). I. OUTLINE (John 2:13-25) A. Tell: Authoritative Paschal Act - Occupy Wall Street Temple Courts. (v.13-16) * Driving "out" the money-changers, salesmen, and other animals * Scattering money and capsizing

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"Deceitful Lips and High-Sounding Tongues: Sadoleto & Calvin on Piety and Philosophy in Catholic Reform"

Submitted February 8, 2013, to Sujin Pak in partial fulfillment of European Church History 750 (CH751). The debate between Jacopo Sadoleto and John Calvin is paradigmatic for the debate between Catholicism and elements of Reform in 16th century Europe. The Catholic church based in Rome was being fragmented by social

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MTS-05: Hauerwas on McClendon

Discussed on January 24, 2013, with Stanley Hauerwas as part of my MTS Thesis Proposal. Source: James McClendon, Biography as Theology (Wipf and Stock, 2002) Discussion Prompt James McClendon's central claim throughout his Biography as Theology is that "The truth of faith is made good in the

coursework

"By the Excess of His Love: Francis of Assisi, Stigmata, and his Cruciform Life of Poverty"

Submitted December 4, 2012, to J. Warren Smith in partial fulfillment of Church History 750 (CH750). Bonaventure, a medieval scholastic theologian and philosopher commissioned by his order, the Order of Friars Minor, to write a biography of their founding father, Francis of Assisi, in about 1263. His became the official

coursework

"Going Deeper: The Politics of Pornography in Feminist Debate"

Submitted as a final paper on December 3, 2012, to Kathi Weeks in partial fulfillment of Debates in Women's Studies (WS601). "What is it?" was the lingering question after our tenth week together in class, during which we focused on pornography. The question led to major

Public Writing

Serving Veterans at Home

*Originally published on November 12, 2012 by Duke Chronicle. This Veterans Day will mark the 12th year our nation has been at war. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have brought America millions of new veterans, among other things. They have served under conditions unthinkable just one generation ago: deployments

Red Letter Christians

How Do You Vote

*Originally published on November 6, 2012, by Red Letter Christians. It has since been removed from their site. What Francis of Assisi said of preaching is equally true of voting: do it without ceasing, and do it on Election Day only when necessary. Voting our conscience as Christians includes the

coursework

"Not According to Power:Divine Love & Human Will in Augustine of Hippo and John Cassian"

Submitted November 2, 2012, to J. Warren Smith in partial fulfillment of Church History 750 (CH750). Augustine of Hippo has demanded great esteem for his theology of grace, and for good reason. But the doctor of the church was not without his formidable opponents. His maxim of "grace alone&

Christian Century

“Making space for veterans”

*Originally published on November 1, 2012, by The Christian Century. It has since been removed. If soldiers make it home, the war comes with them. Every day, about 18 of them implode in suicide. As a combat veteran, I find it tragic that election day always falls just before Veterans

TCCW

Soul Repair Center Testimony

*Delivered at the launch of Brite Divinity School’s Soul Repair Center in 2012. Thanks for having me. My name is Logan Mehl-Laituri. I didn't prepare anything, and I usually do—I did at the Truth Commission, because otherwise I usually sputter around and ramble. My first

coursework

MTS-04: Smith on Severus

Discussed on October 24, 2012, with Warren Smith as part of my MTS Thesis Proposal. Source: Sulpicius Severus, Vita Martini (trans. Robert Alexander) Discussion Prompt Sulpitius Severus by all accounts lived during the same time as that of the subject of his biography, Martin, the Bishop of Tours from 370

coursework

MTS-03: Hauerwas on York

Discussed on October 17, 2012, with Stanley Hauerwas as part of my MTS Thesis Proposal. Source: Tripp York, The Purple Crown (Wipf & Stock, 2020) Discussion Prompt Tripp York suggests that martyrdom "is the political act because it represents the ultimate imitation of Christ."[1] It is easily