Supposed to be reading....

But I am having a hard time concentrating on the article I'm supposed to read concerning the Hull House and Jane Addams. I'm just not feeling it right now. Of course, that's not a good excuse, especially considering I have to give a response over this article and two others, read Babbitt, 2 chapters of my religious history book and do a review for an exam in History of Religion, plus complete a Grammar take-home test, and review for an exam in Lit & Film. SIGH.... When I say I have to read all the time to keep up, I do not lie. And these articles are loooooong. One is 50 pages by itself.

Ok, I'm done complaining. I am keeping up for the most part and for that I am happy. There are just days where I have to keep re-reading paragraphs I've already read because I go on auto-pilot and do not pay attention to what I am reading. It's easier when I'm reading from a book instead of articles online because then I can highlight in the text. But I am not about to print 50 pages of article that I will not need again. What a waste. Ok....NOW I'm done complaining. I promise.

I really like my religious history class. It's primarily American religious history, so we simply reviewed Martin Luther, Henry VIII, and John Calvin. I've said this before but don't mind saying again, it is difficult being a Primitive Baptist and studying religious history. Since most students have mostly never heard of predestination, the professor must explain what it means and how it pertains to salvation. And the professor most likely learned about predestination from another misguided scholar. While Primitive Baptists do not completely agree with John Calvin, the idea of predestination is very similar - that the elect were known before the world was even created. In class, the students respond with laughter because they immediately jump to, "If you cannot get to Heaven by doing good works, then you can do whatever you want!" And according to the professor, this was the problem Calvin ran into. His response was to tell his followers that because one doesn't know if they are the elect, they must act as if they are so that others will think they are the elect and treat them accordingly. I haven't studied Calvin in depth so I cannot say whether this is right or wrong. I can say I get sad every time this subject comes up because I've never heard a positive response from students when they learn about predestination. Oh, and the professor also said that Calvin believed that the elect was a small number, "about 40,000 of the billions of people since man was created so most people are destined for Hell." I will just say - sigh....

I like the professor a lot and I do not hold any ill will towards him. He is very knowledgeable and respectful. And there aren't a great deal of scholarly texts concerning predestination other than John Calvin so he really doesn't have much to go on. He said something in the last lecture that really has me interested. He listed the different sectors of the Puritans and listed Methodists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, and Baptists. As a side note he said that these Baptists are not like Southern Baptists or what Baptist brings to mind today. He said that would come in a later lecture so we shall see how that unfolds.

I do really like the class and am very interested in the subject. Perhaps some day I will be able to study the history of the church myself in greater depth. Most of what I know I learned from my father the preacher. And there's nothing wrong with that because he's pretty smart! A study like that seems like material for a dissertation. Would that be acceptable since I am a woman in the church? I wonder. The reason I ask is that most histories of our church are written by ministers who of course are men.

I guess I should just focus right now on those articles I'm supposed to read. :o)