Eugene Peterson, writing in Books & Culture:
Although I had been a pastor for a couple of years, I had
little interest in theology. It was worse than that. My experience of
theology was contaminated by adolescent polemics and hairsplitting
apologetics. When I arrived at my university, my first impression was
that the students most interested in religion were mostly interested in
arguing. Theological discussions always seemed to set off a combative
instinct among my peers. They left me with a sour taste. The grand and
soaring realities of God and the Holy Spirit, Scripture and Jesus,
salvation and creation and a holy life always seemed to get ground down
into contentious, mean-spirited arguments: predestination and freewill,
grace and works, Calvinism and Arminianism, liberal and conservative,
supra- and infralapsarianism. The name Calvin was in particularly bad
odor. I took refuge in philosophy and literature, where I was able to
find companions for cultivating wonder and exploring meaning. When I
entered seminary I managed to keep theology benched on the sidelines by
plunging into the biblical languages. Continue at Justin Taylor
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