For some time now, Tennent has been working on a publication that will debut next month at the Calvary Family of Churches National Conference. This latest edition of the Tennent Theological Bulletin has been painstakingly built around the theme, “The God Who Sees,” and features articles from a number of Tennent faculty, plus academics and thinkers from various places around the globe:
Israel Soong writes about the ancient and modern sons of Abraham.
Russ Meek reflects on our tendency to attempt to divide the God of the Old Testament from Jesus in the New.
Peter Baker writes about Stephen beholding God in Acts 7.
Janel Breitenstein chimes in with an encouraging perspective on parenting.
Robbie Halleen writes about our globally minded Savior.
Michael Morgan discusses the abolitionists’ Providentialist perspective.
We interview photographer Ken Duncan on seeing God’s beauty.
I (Catherine Morgan) try to tease out the paradox of freedom and fear in Ecclesiastes 11.
Rusty Osborne writes about secrets and scandals in Ezekiel 8.
Graham Tomlin trains his eye on the seen and unseen as revealed in literature.
Dave Morlan wraps us up with observations about Jesus’ model of mission.
All of these essays will appear in months to come here on the Light & Heat blog, but you may also pick up a copy of the magazine at the Radical Collaboration Conference (June 28-30) in Denver, CO.
Considering many different facets of the same diamond in turn is not unusual at Tennent. Indeed, it overflows from the philosophy of education that we consistently employ. Listen to Michael Morgan explain the concept of the publication:
So, what’s the secret sauce?
In any organization, there are certain things that make it tick like clockwork. In any team, there is always a glue guy, the one who brings everything together. Generally, the glue guy isn’t the most flashy, or most talented, but there’s something about him that makes the team extraordinarily effective.
At Tennent, the celebrated aspects of our seminary program generally revolve around the fact that we do theology as doxology. We utilize a cohort-based, low-residency, family-welcoming modality of theological education, hosted at a retreat center in the mountains at the lowest prices available. Moreover, we send all of our outgoing students overseas as part of their field practicum. People know that we prize incarnational learning, so we fly in faculty from around the world with the express purpose of developing shepherd leaders by shepherd teachers, offering excellent theological education in a life-giving, relational community, while allowing students to remain faithful in their ministry context.
But often, the secret sauce of what makes a Tennent education so transformative, so enduring (the glue, as it were), gets overlooked: integration.
At Tennent, we don’t offer individual classes; we offer an intentionally integrated course of study that follows the sweeping narrative of Scripture, diving into all 66 books against a backdrop of church history and setting the major tenets of theology in the context of epic biography. This creates a rich feast for our students, regardless of which degree they are pursuing. Everyone embarks on an exploration of four core disciplines: Historical Theology, Old Testament, New Testament, and Applied Theology. Our professors intentionally help students connect the dots between the coursework, whether it be on the Synoptic Gospels, the development of Trinitarian formulations, or a Philosophy of Ministry class.
In this edition of Light & Heat, the theological bulletin of Tennent, we’ve attempted to give you a taster of what you might experience in the classroom. The theme, “the God who sees,” is explored in the following pages through various angles, distinct lenses that build upon one another and enrich our overall understanding. Our all-seeing God is considered from Old and New Testament perspectives, from history, and from practical points of view. In the end, our prayer is that this collection of essays from scholars, writers, and thinkers, not to mention a fair number of our brilliant faculty team, develops and deepens how you see the One who sees you as you live out your days under His caring and watchful eye.
Stay tuned for monthly installations of our God Who Sees series, or better yet, drop by the CFC conference, sit in as several of our faculty and friends speak, and visit with us at the Tennent booth. We would love to give you a copy of our periodical.