Credits + Contribs For this week’s edition
JOY NETANYA MOYAL
Joy (MAT Theology & the Arts) was born and raised in Southern California and loves words and traveling. After graduating from Fuller, she dreams of a job that incorporates both of these loves. netanya.wordpress.com
LAUREN MEARES
My husband, Matthew, attended the School of Intercultural Studies in Pasadena, and it’s possible I snuck into a class from time to time. I’m slightly scared of summaries or perhaps just not good at them. Sometimes I prefer lists: people, music, creation(s), stories, travel, doubt and trust, loss and hope, suffering and healing.
CHRIS VAZ
My wife Ruth and I are PhD students of SIS, graduating together this June. If you think that’s an accomplishment, how about this: in our 18+ years of married life, we moved house 18 times! When we’re not busy packing and moving, we translate the Bible for the Madia tribe of central India.
EVIE KNOTTNERUS
ERICH DEPTOLLA
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Evie (MA Christian Leadership) is a beloved daughter of God who has been married for 16 glorious years to Sam. Creator of Ephesians 2:10 Masterpiece Ministry, a ministry that shepherds young women toward healing and thriving out of their identity and purpose in Christ. sonshineevie1thes2verse8.blogspot.com
Erich (MDiv, Recovery Ministry) is a composer/songwriter originally from the Chicago area, looking to incorporate music into his pastorate. Though mostly a classical composer, he branches into blues-based songs with a Christian slant. bit.ly/orthodoxminimalist
Semi Sweet Editor’s Note
By Janay Garrick
Legal Jargon The SEMI is published weekly as a service to the Fuller community by the Office of Student Affairs at Fuller Theological Seminary. Articles and commentaries do not necessarily reflect the views of the Fuller administration or the SEMI.
Letters to the Editor: The SEMI welcomes brief responses to articles and commentaries on issues relevant to the Fuller community. All submissions must include the author’s name and contact information and are subject to editing. Free Fuller Announcements: Submitted to semi@fuller.edu or dropped off at the SEMI Office on the 3rd floor of Kreyssler Hall above the Catalyst. 35 words or less. Advertisements: Notices for events not directly sponsored by a Fuller department, office, or organization can be submitted to semi@fuller.edu. Email us to receive Spring 2011 availability, pricing, and deadlines.
“I see here that you marked ‘no’ to the question: ‘Are you satisfied with your sex life?’” the psychiatrist looked at me. “Oh, yeah,” I replied. “That’s because I don’t have one.” The psychiatrist looked somewhat relieved by my answer. We briefly discussed my history, my future hopes and then moved on from there. I was in the process of candidacy for a missions agency as I was planning to serve long-term overseas. Part of the process entailed taking the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (or the MMPI - the wellknown psychological evaluation used to identify “issues” ranging from schizophrenia to depression.) As I look back I recognize that the MMPI addressed an important issue which the world of church and mission would do well to handle more frequently and directly: sex and celibacy. So, with
that hope in mind, this is the last issue of the SEMI in our 3-part series on sex. And I promise that here are my final prompts on this topic this year: How has Fuller served you well in this area? How might we improve? Talk to us: semi@ fuller.edu
SEMI CREDITS
Managing Editor Carmen Valdés Editor Janay Garrick Production Editor Matthew Schuler
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A 50-year-old single Christian woman living with her father in Holland may be the last person one would expect to risk her life rescuing Jews from the horrors of the Holocaust, yet that is the story of Corrie Ten Boom. She and her family became active in the Dutch underground in the early 1940s, creating secret codes and signals and building a hidden room behind a wall in their house to hide persecuted Jews from oppressive authorities. Eventually, all were arrested and sent to prison, then to concentration camps in the Netherlands and Germany to pay for their crimes.
their lives to help perfect strangers? How are people shaped or not shaped to demonstrate compassion and virtue? These are the questions that a team of investigators from Fuller’s Travis Research Institute, led by Professor of Psychology Warren Brown, are exploring in their project “The Rationality of Ultimate Value: Emotion, Awareness, and Causality in Virtue Ethics and Decision Neuroscience,” funded by the John Templeton Foundation by way of a grant from the Center for Theology and Natural Science (Berekely).
It is the study of virtuous exemplars both in real life contexts—such as Holocaust rescuers like Corrie Ten Boom. Did virtue and compassion run in the Ten Boom blood? Is there something different about the way Corrie’s brain worked, or the everyday habits she cultivated, that enabled her to answer such a strident moral call? What about the Good Samaritan of the Bible? Or, in times of disaster, the people who risk 04
Scientific approaches to the study of morality have changed in the past decade, as those who limited it to the domain of moral psychology are now acknowledging the need for an interdisciplinary approach. To carry out their research program, philosophers,
What is the Nature of Virtue? Caltech + Fuller Put Their Heads Together The Office of PUblic Affairs
theologians, psychologists, and neuroscientists have come together to form a unique interdisciplinary team. Their exciting new approach to research on moral action and virtue is based
Assuming that virtues are habits, Hauerwas will shed light on what kind of habits the virtues are by calling attention to Thomas Aquinas’s account of habit. Dr. Steven R. Quartz of Caltech
An exciting new approach to research on moral action and virtue is based on the interaction between decision neuroscience and moral psychology. on the interaction between decision neuroscience and moral psychology through the study of virtuous exemplars both in real life contexts—such as Holocaust rescuers like Corrie Ten Boom—and in the laboratory context. On May 19 and 20, in partnership with Caltech, a two-day conference, “Understanding Virtue: New Directions Bridging Neuroscience and Philosophy,” will offer an opportunity for further dialogue about these topics. Stanley Hauerwas, theologian and Christian ethicist, will offer the first lecture entitled “Why Habit Matters: The Bodily Character of the Virtues” on Thursday, May 19, at 7:30 p.m. at Pasadena Presbyterian Church.
will offer a response. On Friday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m., neuroscientist Christian Keysers will speak on the topic “The Vicarious Brain: The Neural Basis of Empathy, Learning by Observation, and Sociopathy” at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium. Keysers will describe how vicarious brain activity is strong in empathic individuals and reduced in sociopaths, suggesting that vicarious brain activity plays a role in the normal devolpment of virtue. Following his talk, Fuller’s Dr. Nancey Murphy will respond. Come join us as we explore the complex reasons why you may or may not rescue your classmate if Payton Hall goes up in flames. 05
I was born into the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, a denomination founded in the roaring twenties by a woman who had three husbands and an E! True Hollywood Story featuring her questionable kidnapping and other scandals. So, you may think that I grew up in a church environment that broke gender stereotypes, that set women free to express themselves in ministry, in mind, and in
together and dreamed about the princes that awaited them at the end of the rainbow road of purity and promise rings. Four years at a Foursquare Bible college was—surprise, surprise— more of the same, with the expected addition of make out sessions in dorm stairwells and far corners of public parks. The sexual tension was thick, and the solution was marriage, of course. But I graduated with two ex-boyfriends and no
graduation, I found myself dancing in a campground bar outside of Paris with a bunch of Australians to that classic 90s jam, “Let’s Talk About Sex,” followed by a quick game of strip air hockey with a New Zealander named Matty. You’re probably thinking: this is where it gets interesting! Bible college grad explores her repressed sexuality in the backpacking scene of Europe, but you would be wrong, again. I won
Replacing “he” with “she” in some verses about discipleship or God’s love opened up the world to me. body, but you would be wrong. No, my church youth group was probably much like yours—the boys herded off for a talk about sex (read: porn and masturbation) while the girls huddled 06
engagement ring, which was practically unheard of for a school where many women attended only to receive their MRS degree (sorry, had to put that in). One week after
that air hockey game, after removing only my earrings and my sandals (Matty may or may not have been down to his underthings). And the exploring I did over the next few years had little
Sexy Feminist
How Fuller Made Me One By Joy Moyal to do with men and a lot to do with traveling the world for missions and study and fun, discovering more about
include both genders in our speech, our writing, and especially in our reading of the Scriptures. Replacing “he” with
I was no longer on the outside looking in, I was invited to get in the game. other people, other cultures, and God—and growing up a bit in the process. But these things have a habit of resurfacing, and once I was done traveling and settled back in California, I entered the world of Fuller with its ecumenical diversity and gender-inclusive policy. I was so accustomed to using “he” and “men” for all humankind, including myself, that it took me a while to realize how empowering it was to
“she” in some verses about discipleship or God’s love opened up the world to me—I was no longer on the outside looking in, I was invited to get in the game. I started to ask questions and offer comments in class. I no longer hid my intelligence as I did in Bible college, and I began to understand the way it made me feel to be called a “girl” versus a “woman” (hint: boo versus yes). As an intelligent woman, I returned to some matters
left untouched since my high school and college years. I was single and trying to figure out what to do with this sexuality that was supposed to have been activated at 22 if I had married a few weeks after graduation like a good Bible college student. Sexuality seems to be a given for men, but is still a closed topic for many Christian women. Gathering the moxie I’d collected in my empowering moments of feminism at Fuller, I opened the door and invited myself into the conversation. What does it mean to be 26 and single? I wondered. What if I never get married? How does a promise ring help me then? I knew by now that my perfect prince probably slipped up somewhere way before he turned 26, and I felt cheated. I brought up these questions among friends and acquaintances and discovered that some weren’t ready for 07
that kind of talk, but also found that I’m not alone. I had a conversation recently with a 35-yearold friend who is single, and she’s wondering lately if she’s wasted the past couple of decades with her sexuality on the shelf. Maybe it’s time to take it down and see what happens? But it’s not even about measuring purity points with a future spouse, it’s realizing that we are not only spiritual, physical, intelligent, emotional beings—we are also sexual beings. And I did
between my sexuality and my spirituality. In my classes and reading, I’ve been fascinated by glimpses of an earthy spirituality where the body is as much a meeting place with the divine as the mind or the soul—where the three, in fact, are blurred and joined much more than compartmentalized or cordoned off from each other. Last summer in Italy I was still as single as ever, but I immersed myself in the sensuality that marks the citizens of the hilltop Umbrian town of Orvieto—feeling the
from where I started, but I have a rucksack over my shoulder and I threw out the maps I received as a child (I Kissed Dating Goodbye and DC Talk’s “I Don’t Want It”). The cartographers of Christian sexuality—at least the Evangelical ones—led me nowhere, but told me to stay in one place and be a good girl until a nice man came and found me. However, I am not interested in going the way of the mainstream, non-Christian world, either, who tell me that God is too big, too slow, too out-of-touch to bring
The cartographers of Christian sexuality—at least the Evangelical ones—led me nowhere, but told me to stay in one place and be a good girl until a nice man came and found me. not have a clue what that meant. Some things have helped—especially my exposure to Catholicism and other traditions that were quite foreign to me before arriving at Fuller. It wasn’t until this year that I realized how wide is the chasm 08
buzz of wine or espresso in my veins, rich truffle oil and sweet gelato on my tongue, St. Francis’s brother Sun caressing my shoulders. Somehow, these were steps in my journey. So here I am—not far
along on these travels. I can’t explain it, and I can’t even say I’ve yet experienced it, but I know that God is the guide and companion that I want, and that in these uncharted wanderings, He is a safe place to camp. ▪
Sacred Beauty Writing from Offerings: A Creative Anthology By Evie Knottnerus
Would you have me believe that I was created to fit within the confines of a billboard ad a magazine a TV screen Would you have me believe that my body my breasts my lips my face belong to this world? I choose to believe that I was not created for lust vanity a fulfillment of desires I choose to believe I was created for His promises His pleasure His purpose
untitled from Offerings By Lauren Meares sometimes i am a wall bricks. mortar. built up to block. prevent. hide. in the name of safety but i would like to be more as a window to you open lit exposed breathing at the risk of robbery but in the hope of sharing what might otherwise be wasted
Yes, I choose to believe I am His girl child‌ Set apart and Beautifully sacred
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Divided by Homosexuality: Pastoral Tools for Mediation and Dialogue was the theme of the panel discussion on April 18 at Travis auditorium. I had hoped for a meaningful and enlightening discussion, but came away shocked to find how glaringly one-sided it was. If the goal of the panel discussion was to find ways for our churches to engage and serve people with same sex attraction (SSA), that was indeed a worthwhile goal. I am from India where untouchability is practiced, and I certainly would not want any person or group to feel like an untouchable in the church of Jesus Christ. But two of the panelists (Canon Susan Russell of All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena, and psychologist Paul Clement) clearly went beyond talking about engaging our SSA brethren to promote their agenda of churches adopting gay theology and gay advocacy, with the understanding that God blesses same sex civil unions just as he does heterosexual marriages. OK fine, they’re entitled to their opinion. But once they clearly articulated their stand, the other three panelists (Pastor Ken Fong of Evergreen Baptist, Dr. David Augsburger and PhD candidate Chris Moore) failed to come clear on theirs, but simply kept on with the same clichés about the need for dialogue 10
without hurting anyone. Is this really a model of a dialogue? Granted that there are differing hermeneutics on these matters, but then why should only one hermeneutic be given a voice, while the other is muzzled and gagged? Where is the balance that one looks for in such discussions? The six questions presented to the panel (see the blog of Julia Speck, Fuller’s DMin Program Manager) themselves indicate that the conversation would be on terms set by the gay theological agenda. Strangely, the audience was not allowed to ask any questions! Clearly it was an evening dedicated to promoting gay theology. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe in affirming all people, but the critical distinction between affirming a person and embracing a theology is what the panel failed to do. We have so politicized the issue that we forget that our concept of God crucially determines how we express our affirmation. My concern is this: while the official Fuller community standards stand dutifully guarding the front door, a different set of standards are slipping in from the back. The unbalanced panel discussion is just one evidence of this. Someone from Exodus International, a well-known ministry of ex-gay Christians to other
Dialogue on Homosexuality On Whose Terms?
A response to the recent PJA Forum
By Chris Vaz
gays, could have been invited to sit on that panel; they certainly believe in being inclusive. And it disturbs me that books by Mel White, a gay theologian who campaigns for samesex unions in the church, and by Linda Stone, a Christian-basher and a gay advocate, are the main texts for the course on Culture and Sexuality taught by our provost. There are many other sensible books on this subject without any agenda that could be used, as demonstrated by the reading list for the Korean version of the same course.
an unsafe place for God to speak? Have transformation, deliverance, and redemption become dirty words now? Have we forgotten that we are called to be agents of transformation? I realize that I am not being politically correct, but I follow a Master who didn’t care to be either! If he had been, there would be neither Good Friday nor Easter. To sum up: differing viewpoints can be expressed, but the politics of granting a forum for some and silencing others is objectionable. We need an atmosphere
There are differing hermeneutics on these matters, but then why should only one hermeneutic be given a voice, while the other is muzzled and gagged? The big question is, where was God in all of this? One panelist (Chris Moore) mentioned how Jesus reached out to the Samaritan woman and another (Ken Fong) spoke of him being a friend of sinners. But no one dared to say that these people were all transformed by their contact with Jesus, never to be the same again. Has our seminary become
in which everyone feels free to speak the truth in love and without fear. Secondly whatever is one’s stand, one must state it clearly and openly without masking it. ▪
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Contemplating Te r r e n c e Mal i ck by Elijah Davidson Allow me to introduce you to the films of Terrence Malick – “Badlands” (1973), “Days of Heaven” (1978), “The Thin Red Line” (1998), and “The New World” (2006). His films are considered by some to be among the best ever made. Malick’s films are defined by a visual aesthetic marked by contemplation and a storytelling method focused more on emotional impression rather than on action and consequence. Some would call his films slow. I call them patient. Though deliberate, Malick’s films are not boring. His narratives are terribly urgent, and the stakes are always high. The kids in “Badlands” are on the run from the law. The lovers in “Days of Heaven” are walking a fine line of 12
deceit. The soldiers in “The Thin Red Line” are moment-by-moment narrowly escaping death. Malick’s films linger because his stories and characters are contemplating life’s biggest questions sometimes very explicitly. Consider this quote from a dead Japanese soldier in “The Thin Red Line”: “Are you righteous? Kind? Does your confidence lie in this? Are you loved by all? Know that I was, too. Do you imagine your suffering will be any less because you loved goodness and truth?”
And this questioning exends to the visual as well. In “The New World”, Pocahontas gawks at the streets of London mirroring John Smith’s awestruck wonder at the Powhatan village earlier in the film inviting the audience to consider the similarities among all peoples’ life experiences regardless of origin.
Malick captures his characters with the consideration of a nature documentarian. He respects his subjects and loves them, but he also stays distant from them, not spatially, but personally. Women and men are like curious animals in Malick’s worlds, curious both because of their proclivity to brutality and to love.
In Malick’s films, every moment is a new world, a surprising discovery, a fresh understanding. To live is to continually die and be reborn. Darkness and light, poverty and plenty, hatred and love constantly war with us and within us and without us. We are their incarnation, their possession. Ours is the holy breath that gives life to virtue and to vice, and ours are the hands that close around their windpipes.
If you decide to explore Malick’s films, I suggest working chronologically, though “The Thin Red Line” is my favorite. ▪ Malick’s latest film, “The Tree of Life,” opens May 27, 2011.
Guide Me, Lord from Offerings By Erich Deptolla Guide me, won’t you guide me Lord; guide me in all a Your ways Guide me, won’t you guide me Lord; guide me in all a Your ways Guide me all the way down your path, sweet Lord an’ Guide me for all my days. I been walking like a blind man, can’t see two feet front o me I been walking like a blind man, can’t see two feet front o me Gots a back bent down so low, feel the weight o my sin a killin’ me Wine and women been my bread for oh so long Wine and women been my bread for oh so long Wine done laid me out So, so many women I’d done wrong Lead me to the river, wash all my sins away Lead me to the river, wash all my sins away Lead me down to the river, Lord, these Sins be gettin’ bigger every day
UP NEXT HOST | WELCOME | ENGAGE | NETWORK Join Fuller in welcoming new students this coming academic year. The 20112012 Orientation Crew is a fun, temporary, seasonal paid position. Mandatory trainings in Pasadena throughout the summer beginning in August. Space limited. Click on the Portico announcement to view the requirements & complete an application. Contact matthewtalley@fuller. edu, 626.584.5435. Apps due May 25. Interviews to be completed prior to Commencement (6/11). MAY 27-28 Travis 730p (doors), 8p (curtain) Lee Blessing’s ELEEMOSYNARY Fuller Company Theater Production ELEEMOSYNARY is a fabulous piece of theater which depicts the relations between an eccentric grandmother, a trying mother, and a bright spark of a daughter. Dream like, yet anchored to an often painful reality, Blessing takes the audience on a journey through the complexity, joy, struggle, and humor of life together. Tix $10 (student)/ $12 (general) ASC office on campus or 10
brownpapertickets.com Q’s? thefullercompany@ gmail.com May 25 the Garth 2-3p AGRICULTURAL ETHICS Peace & Justice Advocates Speaker: Becky Shenton May 27 Payton 101 6 830p ATTENTION SOT GRADUATES! Your Theology Graduate Union would like to invite you to an evening of dinner & entertainment in honor of your graduation. Performances by the Luke Brooks band, Fuller Vocal Ensemble, & special SOT faculty & staff guests. $10/ person, tix available until May 13 @ ASC Office or asc-tgu@fuller.edu June 1 EVERGREEN MINISTRY APPLICATION For 1st/2nd year MDiv students. Great opportunity to work with Ken Fong and Jonathan Wu at Evergreen Baptist Church of LA. Evergreen is one of the most prominent and established Asian American churches. Interviews and a final decisions made by July 1. aatf.fuller@gmail.com
June 4 Travis Auditorium 730p “O TASTE AND SEE” VOCAL ENSEMBLE CONCERT The ensemble joins in celebrating the Brehm Center 10th Anniversary theme “Engaging the Senses” with a performance that will stimulate all the senses - taste, sight, smell, and touch as well as hearing. Will perform works by Byrd, Rutter, Pärt, Whitacre, and others. Featured guest artist Dr. Karen Johnson, soprano. Suggested donation $10/adults; $5/students. brehmcenter.com June 27-29 Theological Education by Experience (TEE) Interactive tour sponsored by ISAAC (Institute for Study of Asian American Christianity) includes theological reflections with ministerial implications. Learn to connect your stories with the stories of Little Tokyo, Olvera Street, Chinatown, and Koreatown. $150/ Registration fee (three days of guided tours, educational group sessions, transportation + lunch). Space very limited. aatf. fuller@gmail.com
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SUMMER 2011 FIELD ED HOSPITAL + HOSPICE INTERNSHIPS Two-unit FE546 Hospital Chaplaincy internships offered at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pas, Glendale Adventist, Providence Holy Cross in Mission Hills, and St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. A two-unit FE548 Hospice Chaplaincy internship offered through VITAS Healthcare Corporation of California or Roze Room Hospice. Courses emphasize spiritual care training in hospital/hospice setting. Learn how to be present to patients/families during crisis, plus prelim steps in performing a spiritual care assessment. Before registering, interns must be interviewed & accepted by the hospital/hospice chaplain. Start the process early! MINISTRY ENRICHMENT SEMINARS
ARCHIVES Academic Theology & Religious Books. We Buy, Sell & Trade. 1396 E Washington Blvd Pasadena, CA 10a - 6p Mon-Sat 626 797 4756
FIELD ED
fielded@fuller.edu Alejandra Mattoni 626 584 5387 June 24 Geneva Rm 12-2p ORIENTATION TO THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION Required for those enrolled in 1st qtr Part-time Church Intern (FE501/A), Fulltime Church Internship (FE533/A), + FE500
July 12 Geneva Rm 5-7p MINISTRY + MARRIAGE DISASTER OR DELIGHT? Presenter: Sharon Hargrave, Director
of Strong Marriages, Successful Ministries 52% of pastors say that being in ministry is hazardous to the health and well being of their family. Knowing and understanding the role of marriage and family in ministry can actually benefit the couple and the ministry. Understanding conflict patterns, boundary issues, couple identity and spiritual gifts can enhance the relationship between the pastor and congregation. Participants welcome and encouraged to bring spouses. Seminar will be recorded.
Money, Sex, ...and kids Thursday, May 12th 6-8pm $5 registration Childcare Included Chang Commons Registration Fee $5
A healthy family seminar lead by Dr. Terry and Sharon Hargraves.
Phone: 626 584-5680 E-mail: hillygoodwin@ufller.edu Childcare and refreshments provided