Hayward Week Reflection

Today's student guest post is by James Wood.  He is in the first year of the MA program with a focus on New Testament. James lives in Wolfville, NS.

When asked to blog about Hayward Week, I was suddenly reminded how new I am to Acadia Divinity College (ADC). My family and I moved here from Saskatchewan less than three months ago, and we had no ties to Wolfville, let alone Acadia. What insight could I possibly have in such a short time? I quickly discovered ADC lived up to its
reputation and that I could not have chosen a better MA program. The staff and faculty are world class, and they prove that knowledge doesn’t necessarily puff up; it can also inspire. This comes through both in their teaching and how they model Christ in their lives. And as to the student body, my peers are talented and exude a desire to grow in their gifts and in their walk with our Lord. In other words, if ever I feel I need to be inspired, I visit the ADC building. Even so, as I reflect on this past week, I have a deep sense that it is uniquely special.

Dr. Mark J. Boda’s lectures on the Old Testament were deep yet practical, studied yet pastoral. He expounded how recurring creeds in the Old Testament reveal trajectories in the text that witness to God’s redemptive and creative activity—all in anticipation of the advent, ministry, and salvific acts of Jesus Christ and his continued work through his church. Although Christ is not “behind every bush,” he is the goal and hope of the Old Testament, the one to whom it points and in whom it reaches its fulfillment. What this does not mean is that Old Testament study is a matter of donning one’s New Testament goggles and reading everything backwards. Rather, it asserts that God’s revealed character and the historical acts through which he creates, blesses, disciplines, and redeems are not the early church’s invention. It makes profound sense to study both the God who promises and the God who fulfills. And in a culture that seems to value novelty over tradition, new identity over heritage, this is an important corrective.

I think what I will remember most of all is what happened to the ADC community this week. In my experience, intensive weeks are times when most students go home for a “cool down” session. I don’t disparage it, but it was strange to find that there were more bodies in the building than I remember seeing before. It was great to see how many conversations were started because we actually had to wait to fill our water bottles. And whoever left a mint’s worth of M&Ms in the student lounge has found a friend in me. But it was not lost on me that every activity this week was a manifestation of sharing our lives with each other as we convene and study in the name of Jesus Christ, the very same who was celebrated by those who cherished their Old Testament scriptures as we should. And while Dr. Evans may never find evidence that they shared M&Ms at their meetings, I’d like to hold out the possibility that such evidence is forthcoming.