Wrapped up four position papers for ministerial training. And now I am ready for a week of Christmas respite. Hopefully I will read a good novel; hoping that novel will be Melville’s Moby Dick. So.

The first paper is on evangelization; I argue that evangelization is comprised of two tenets, missions and evangelism, and that these are distinct from one another because of differences in evangelistic intent and whether the evangelist shares/does not share native cultural spaces with the audience.

The second paper is on the doctrine of man; I believe it is important to have biblical doctrine of man nailed down in our minds (meaning, don’t have a clumsy anthropology). Why? Because the divine perfections are best displayed in man (leaned heavily upon John Calvin’s Institutes ).

The third paper is on the importance of and necessity for cultivating the Christian virtue of hope. Why? Because it is hope that engenders and sustains faith.

Lastly, I summarized and argued for the importance of the Reformed/Federal Theology distinction of the covenant of works/covenant of grace. I believe that our understanding of God’s covenant with man is of the utmost importance, since our view of the covenant of redemption/covenant of grace will determine our understanding of the Atonement and human salvation.