Re-boot

Is anyone reading these? I will attempt a re-boot of this blog. Leave comments to let me know that you are interested.... (Blogger insecurity here.)

To be honest, I started this blog many years ago for myself. I didn't expect nor really want an audience. I know that sounds odd! I was curious about blogging as a process and technology, and thought it might be useful to learn a bit of HTML. And I saw a usefulness in getting me writing something, anything, to get over certain periods of writer's block while working on my doctorate. But then I had a baby. And the baby had his own blog, for the sake of our far away family and friends. And then the push to finish the thesis. And then Facebook came along... And my writing condensed into short posts on daily life--again largely to keep family and friends up-to-date with our news and our son's latest cuteness (in word and photo).

But now... I see the usefulness of returning to the blog with a fresh purpose: a bit more chewing on ideas and thoughts that inhabit my academic life. To be honest, I find it hard to be a theologian on Facebook. For one thing, there is the all-too-frequent observation that 'Someone on the Internet is wrong!' -- and the temptation to do something about it! This is far too tempting to someone (like myself) whose bread and butter is teaching The Development of Doctrine in the Early Church to A.D. 451 (for Oxford peeps, the Theology and Religion Final Honour School Paper 4). I.e. Heresy 101. I want to stay friends with people and not constantly police their citations of Joel Osteen inter alia. It's not that I won't say on Facebook what I think, if I feel it's necessary. But I'd rather spend more time thinking at more length about topics, and if you do that in a Facebook comment, it just looks . . . rude. And I've done it far too often. I guess I just don't know how to be pithy! The curse of the academic life.