I delivered my first online lecture for the Evangelical Theological Seminary (Visoko evanđeosko teološko učilište, or VETU) in Osijek, Croatia yesterday. The class was “Contemporary Approaches to New Testament Theology”, and we discussed the differences between biblical theology and systematic theology, and how theology can inform worldview.

It was SO GOOD to be lecturing again; it’s been five years since I lectured here in Croatia, and over ten years since I taught New Testament Theology (my favorite class to teach).

My students are bright and motivated. Some are working toward ordination, some are already ordained to ministry, and some are lay workers in the churches here.

I’m most excited about using For the Life of the World, written by Miroslav Volf and Matthew Croasmun, as a guide for how we do theology. Volf himself is a 1977 graduate of VETU, and is now Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School. V&C’s book is an examination of how academic theology has lost its way, and a manifesto for its revitalization by focusing on how it can again benefit the church.

Next week’s lecture and discussion are over the history of biblical theology and the problems that motivate the movements in that history.