Since my approach is to shy away from full disclosure when it comes to doctoral applications, the foremost thoughts in my mind do not have a public outlet. I am not going to change my “policy” on the matter, but I’d just like any readers to know the cause for my quietude.

Nevertheless, my quarter has begun and other thoughts are flowing as well, so you may see a few more than there have been lately.

My field of interest: I am interested in studying the documents of the New Testament as a window into the social history of Christianity’s formative period. I am particularly intrigued by questions of how a new movement of Jesus followers balance their rootedness in early Judaism, their attempt to follow the teachings of Jesus, and their connections with the Hellenistic context surrounding them. More specifically, how would their beliefs, and how these early followers “remembered” Jesus (e.g., Gospel narratives, christology), affect their social structures (e.g., family, slavery, community) and vice versa? I am also especially drawn to apocalyptic literature and how themes of perseverance and anticipated eschatological victory work into the social cohesion of early Jesus followers. Spin-off issues of interest include Jewish-Christian relations, the Wirkungsgeschichte (history of interpretation) of relevant texts, and the later transitions in Christian communities due to “Constantinianism.” All in all, I think I would like a healthy blend of both diachronic and synchronic approaches to biblical studies.

What I hope for in a doctoral program: Taking my interests into consideration, I would like to have at least one faculty member who has stellar New Testament credentials. I hope that the program would offer some way of connecting New Testament textual study with social sciences, either in a New Testament or early Christian history faculty member [could be the same as the aforementioned New Testament specialist]. I would also appreciate working with someone who has considerable expertise in Second Temple Judaism. One also hopes that said experts would be caring and compassionate folks. Finally, I would like a school big enough so that I can more readily pursue interests that cross-over with other fields.

And I haven’t even mentioned financial or geographical preferences, but let’s not narrow things down too far . . . what do you think fits the bill?

In all seriousness, it was a challenging internship and it forced me to gather and put to good use the theological and biblical resources I have developed in seminary and as an undergrad. I developed Bible studies related to issues of hunger and poverty. I will be giving a sermon at a church in the area about some of my reflections. I will be recording a few podcasts next month on the issues. Along the way, I was able to learn a great deal about policymaking and how politicking goes for these sorts of things, and how a nonprofit advocacy group responds to such challenges. I see this internship as the beginning of a deeper engagement with political advocacy, particularly with the mission of Bread for the World. I hope that even as I move towards an academic career in New Testament and early Christianity, I will always stay connected to present-day issues of justice. And someday, if I reach my dream of being an educator and mentor to undergraduate students, I hope to be able to connect them to the same kinds of opportunities for social engagement and evaluation. Even the Bible majors!

All of this said, I do actually miss my time in the classroom and I’m looking forward to getting back into gear this Fall. I will be a teaching assistant for Jim Butler, focusing mostly on grading Hebrew translations and word studies for an exegesis class on Jeremiah. As for my own education, I will be taking a couple classes with Marianne Meye Thompson and gleaning from her wisdom on John, with an exegesis course on the Gospel of John as well as a doctoral seminar on Johannine theology. It will be nice to balance out working on the more heavy theological concerns in Johannine literature with the Greek of John’s Gospel.

And to add to the drama (if you consider any of this to be drama), I will of course begin sending out those doctoral applications starting in November. The application due dates mostly span November to January. I will probably find out what schools have decided about me by late March-early April. I’m going to minimize the amount I publish of my thoughts on application strategy, at least while I’m going through the process, but I can tell you the basics. I will be going for schools that I consider top-class, including some institutions with great reputations but are less often considered by “New Testament” applicants (and some are not quite as competitive as others). I feel that all of these schools are a “good fit” for me (i.e., I’m not going for the brand name schools just for the heck of it). If I strike out with those, I will apply to a few Th.M. programs to prepare myself as a scholar one more year and then try another round of applications the next year.

Instead, I am interested in what the memory of Jesus means to the people of the early church and how it might have affected their lives. I have a feeling that it may be an impossible question to answer, but I’d like to try. I will be taking a class called “The Cross in the New Testament” with Marianne Meye Thompson this next quarter, which I think will concentrate mostly on atonement theories. How the early church conceived of atonement will certainly be part of this exploration, but not nearly the whole. If you have any suggestions for angles or good reading material, please let me know.

Both fortunately and unfortunately, the paper can only be so long. Here are some of the descriptions of the writing sample requirement for a few of the schools on my application list:

• Boston University: “A writing sample of no more than 20 pages. Academic writing is preferred.”
• Drew: “A recent academic writing sample which should highlight the applicant’s writing and research ability. The writing sample should not exceed 20 printed, double-spaced pages, not including bibliographic data.”
• Duke: “a term paper or sample of other scholarly work of 15-20 pages”
• Emory: “a research paper or academic essay of about twenty pages”
• Notre Dame: “A writing sample is strongly recommended but not required. Writing samples should be between twenty and twenty-five pages in length. An applicant should choose a writing sample that highlights his or her strengths for the area to which he or she is applying. In addition to clear writing and ability to frame a theological question, one might, for example, submit a sample that shows facility with primary-text research languages.”
• Princeton Theological Seminary: “We require a 20-25 pg. writing sample relevant to the subfield area of interest.”
• U of Chicago: “Applicants to the Ph.D. program must, in addition to this essay, submit a writing sample not to exceed twenty-five (25) pages, typed and double-spaced. The sample should be from work you have submitted for a course or for publication. It may be an excerpt of such work (but please include a short paragraph contextualizing the excerpt), but it must not be a re-write done solely to satisfy the stipulated length of the submission.”
• UNC-Chapel Hill: “An academic writing sample (no more than 25-30 pages) is suggested but not required.”
• Union in VA: “A research paper or recent essay the student considers representative of his or her work in the proposed field of study.”

In response to the requirement by U of Chicago that it should be from a work submitted for a course or for publication, I do hope that I will be able to submit the paper to a regional SBL conference. I wonder if that fits their expectation. It looks like I have to aim for a 20 page paper to satisfy all of the above. Many say “not to exceed” or “no more than” 25 pages and I wonder if I should have a slightly longer version for those schools.