Papers & Research

The posts on this page highlight some of the papers that I wrote in college and seminary. While none of them are perfect, they reflect many of the things I learned in school and show some of my thoughts and research. A careful eye will also notice how my thoughts developed and matured over time. These papers are not quick and easy reads like the articles elsewhere on my site. But nonetheless, I hope they are interesting and useful to those who read them.

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Einstein's God?

The purpose of this paper will be to more clearly define Einstein’s beliefs regarding God and demonstrate that Einstein’s “God” is in no way the God of the Bible.

Galileo's Faith

This paper will show that Galileo, despite holding views contrary to the church, remained genuine in his Christian faith in the midst of complying with the official doctrine of the Catholic Church.

Galileo was in fact a Christian and remained one to the end of his life despite the conflicts he experienced with the church.

My God, My God

Matthew 27:45-50, while being a famous passage in the synoptic chronology of Jesus’ crucifixion, is also easily misunderstood apart from its original first century context. There are two primary ways in which the passage is misunderstood. Through careful analysis of the cultural context of the passage a clear unified message rises to the surface, which helps to explain both the meaning behind Jesus’ words and the reaction of the crowd.

The Gratitude of Patrick

St. Patrick could be considered one of the most effective missionaries to have ever carried the Gospel. This paper intends to give an accurate overview of the life of St. Patrick and underscore some of his key thoughts and doctrine by examining original source documents in light of modern scholarship.

Eusebius & Martyrs

The father of church history, was Eusebius of Caesarea (c. A.D. 260-339). It’s hard as westerners to imagine living in a time and place where one could loose their life so brutally for simply claiming to be a Christian. Some of his accounts sound so astonishing that they seem to almost leave the world we know and enter into the realm of the legendary.

The Trinity

While many would say that it is difficult or impossible for us to comprehend this doctrine, I side with Barth who wrote that, “by God’s revelation we, too, receive and have a part both in His self-knowledge and also in his self-knowability.” We can therefore understand the Trinity to the extent that God has made himself known.

The Moral Argument

Lewis, in his writings (primarily in Mere Christianity through the example of chastity) indicates that while practices and traditions of moral behavior may vary between cultures and generations, they will always fall in line with universal moral truths, which are unchanging.

The Discipline of Fred Rogers

For many Christians, the idea of following Christ can be abstract and difficult. By attaching a face to Christianity we are able to grasp our faith in a more livable way. One such exemplar of the Christian faith for believers in the 20th century was Fred Rogers. He was known to most simply as Mr. Rogers, the humble host of a children’s program on public television. The purpose of this paper is to explore the faith and practice of Fred Rogers to determine how he lived out his faith and how we can follow his example today.

The Tower of Babel

Through exegetical research this paper will highlight significant points about the text’s structure, language, literary context, historical and cultural background, genre and hermeneutics. By doing so, the goal of this paper is to restore a fuller understanding and interpretation of Genesis 11:1-9.

Counterpoint

Music as we know it can be extremely complex and can have many elements all interacting at the same time. How is that we are able to take it all in and discern what is happening? Better yet, how is it that we can tell that the different ideas are related and part of the same piece? Both of these questions are answered when you understand the basic concepts of counterpoint.