Exegesis on colossians

I was taking Colossians as one of my classes last term. It was taught by Dr. Derek Newton from a university in Glasgow, of which he is the Professor of New Testament Studies (if I am not wrong). One thing that made me choose to take this class was that he has just recently completed his commentary on the book of Colossians, which is set to be published. In other words, I would actually be sitting under a scholar of New Testament studies, specifically, Colossians. There was a thrill anticipating what I would learn.

Classes were not as fun as I thought it would be. His accent was tough to comprehend and his tone of voice was not making things any better. But it was noticeable that he was trying to make things as interesting as possible. But learning under him was great scholastically speaking. He had detailed notes and articles accompanied by detailed explanation, his class was not one that was the lecturer vomiting everything out and expect us to digest what he is rambling about (more often than not, students can’t catch a thing such lecturers say) but Dr. Newton aids students to find the answers themselves by asking probing and provocative questions with regards to the book of Colossians. More than that, his emphasis is always about application for the local church. This is clearly seen in his assignment requirements (50% on exegesis and 50% on reflection paper on an issue in the church and how this Colossian letter can help the church).

Personally, I was happy with my exegetical paper but was stuck with the reflection. I did not know what else to write! I only managed to write 6 pages instead of the required 8. In the end, I decided to send it as it is and await the results. I did not know what I would get.

Results were out today. I opened my letterbox and took the result slip out. It read “Colossians – A-“! A minus!!WOOHOO!!!! Man, am I overjoyed!! Choir now.. Till the next entry, chaoz!