When I set off down the not-exactly-career-path towards a theology MA in 2020 I was determined to get to grips with the complex, high-stakes and unavoidable task of biblical interpretation – too often underacknowledged or even (in some circles) denounced in defence of a dangerously supposed “plain reading” (aka unexamined interpretation). And so Hermeneutics was the very first module I took, and I passed it just fine but I don’t think I’ll ever get past it. Which is to say: complex? high stakes? and some. This poem was written near the start of that still-going journey and is especially dear to my heart as it made it into the Anglican Theological Review (whoop) and because I’m real pleased with “tabernacular”... Though I can hardly pretend to have "arrived," one book that has especially helped me along the way is Kevin Vanhoozer’s Is There a Meaning in this Text ? It’s about the relationship between meaning and written language (including but not only the Bible) – or wha
“What is it again that you're doing?” Is the question I’m ever eschewing; But it’s time to face fears Cos in two-point-four years I’ve got one hundred thousand words due in… When asked what I’m up to these days, I typically reply with a confus(ed/ing) flurry of apologies and caveats. [1] So I thought I’d have a go at actually answering the question, for those of my friends who are polite enough to still be interested. Yes, so, I’m doing a(nother) PhD. [2] A sort of “activist” one, motivated by popular and (to me) troubling influences within my immediate and wider Christian circles. Three years full time, at Aberdeen University via Bristol Baptist College. I love being a part of the college and usually spend around 3 days a week there, using the library and exploiting the friendliness and wisdom of staff and fellow students. I have an excellent supervisor here in Bristol and an also-excellent co-supervisor with whom I interact remotely. The Baptist college is partnered with a nearby