Toledo, Spain - The Last Medieval City

I just returned from a great trip to Spain with my colleagues and professors, and I've the pictures to prove it!  We spent most of our time in Toledo which is maybe the most medieval city left in the world.  A lot of European cities still look and feel like the Renaissance, but they say that the city of Toledo really fell asleep during that time and now it's still there in all of its medieval glory.  (By the way, that applies to the city's wifi connections, as well.)

Also, in medieval Spain the three religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam worked very hard to make peace and live together.  It wasn't perfect, but these three groups managed to get along better than in other parts of Europe.  Many of the sights in Toledo still preserve the unique culture that came from this blending of cultures and that may come out in some of the pictures.

Here's my mentor, Dr. Adams, showing us the sights in Madrid's Museum of Archaeology.

The average street musician in Madrid is about a million times better than what I'm accustomed to from such performers.  This guy got a few Euros from me for his excellent playing outside of the Prado Museum.

 People will tell you that the horseshoe arch on these doors is a Muslim design, but they are wrong.  The Visigoths made this sort of doorway popular, and the Muslims who moved to Spain would use them in their own buildings (adding their own artistic contributions to them along the way, of course).

Those aren't my bags, no, all of my luggage fit into a single backpack.  My fellow travelers were always impressed with this, and they would say that they couldn't figure out how I had fit nine days worth of clothing into an average sized backpack.  (Hint: I didn't bring nine changes of clothes.  Not even close.)

 Toledo is a beautiful city, and my pictures do not do it justice.

The Hotel Cardenal is the best hotel in the world as far as I'm concerned.  It's actually built into the medieval walls that surround the city, and it's absolutely breathtaking to step into the courtyard.

Here's more of the hotel courtyard.  The heraldry of Cardenal Cisneros (an important late medieval Spanish guy) was on the wall of my room and I thought it was awesome.  My professor told me that I'm probably the first person to enter the room and geek out over Cisneros' family crest.  I'm achieving new levels of nerd-dom.

Staying in Toledo means walking through beautiful medieval gates like this one to get anywhere.  I loved it.

There's me stading on top of one of those awesome gates.  (We found a random door and it led up there.  Being a tourist in a medieval town often means you make up your own route, because no one's going to tell you that there's a door to the top of the gate.  Fortunately, there's also no one around to tell you not to walk into random doors - which is how I found myself accidentally wandering into a city officials' office.  No one seemed to mind.)

This is a nightclub that was built out of a medieval church.  (We found another club situated in some very old caves.)

Me and the guys explore an old Roman sewer.

The Cafeteria Wamba (named for the medieval Visigothic king of Spain, as you know) has long been the lunch of choice for students on a budget.  It may be the cheapest cafeteria in town, but they've got a ham sandwich that will blow your mind.  (I know, it doesn't sound like much, but Iberian ham is rather special.)

 

La Synagoga de Santa Maria la Blanca (The Synagogue of St. Mary the White) is a medieval synagogue built in the shape of a mosque and dedicated to a Christian saint.  A very odd building that scholars still don't understand.

 Yours truly, delivering a boring lecture about the historiography of La Synagoga de Santa Maria la Blanca.  A tall order considering we don't have any primary documents to help understand the building's past.  By the end of my discussion they had all learned how to sleep while standing up with their eyes open.

 Beautiful cloister within Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes.  One of our group walked in there and took an orange off of the tree and the next day they had a lock on the gate.  Oops.  (No, it wasn't me...)

 The chapel in Lorenzana's palace, which (apparently) few people get to see.

The church of San Roman is amazing.  More pictures of it here.

This is a mosque called "El Cristo de la Luz" or, "The Mosque of the Light of Christ."  An odd name for a mosque.  Legend states that when Christians converted this into a church they found a hidden closet with a painting of Christ inside being lit by candles.

This is Adolfo, who runs one of the most well reviewed restaurants in Europe.  After eating there, we all agreed he was amazing.

 Sharing a great meal with Dr. Pamela Patton, author of Pictorial Narrative in the Romanesque Cloister (which is in its second printing).

Here's the gang that had to put up with me for whole trip.  They're a great group of scholars and friends.

 This is the only picture in which she's not making fun of me.  Oh, the memories.

What part of "seat's taken" doesn't she understand?

"Lost?  No, don't be ridiculous.  I just like staring at the map in the dark, that's all..."

It was a great trip, and I hope you enjoyed my recap (more pictures can be found here).  There may be another blog entry about this trip if I can recover some lost pictures.  I highly recommend visiting Toledo if you get the chance, because it's the closest you'll ever get to going back in time to see the middle ages for yourself.

The 2010 DBU Paideia Conference - Part 2: Student Papers

(Click here for part one.)

The heart of the Paideia Conference is the student papers where topics of from all fields of scholarship are discussed. (If you don't believe me, check out my post from last year when I attended lectures ranging from theoretical mental states in alternate realities to medieval literary theory.) This year's selection was excellent and I had a pretty hard time choosing which papers to attend.

My old friend, Mark Boone, gave an excellent discussion on Plato and theology. Obviously, Plato wasn't a theologian, but many Christian philosophers embrace his ideas and Mark was able to explain why.

Renea McKenzie (who writes an excellent blog over at ReneaMac.com) gave a lecture on two of Shakespeare's works ('King Lear' and 'A Winter's Tale') in order to show how the two complimented one another. Renea doesn't write about this sort of thing on her website all that often, but she has a graduate degree in this field and it really showed. She's pictured here chatting with James K.A. Smith, our keynote speaker.

Brent Stevens discussed Darwin's theories of evolution from a biographical standpoint. We had to agree to disagree about the implications of Darwinism (I'm always afraid they're going to ban me from Q&A time) but I was very impressed with his use of primary sources. Rather than quoting books about Darwin he was using Darwin's letters and other documents to get as close to the source as possible.

My friend Natalie Stilwell discussed authority in the Catholic church. Does that sound boring, to you? Well, no one is riveted to hear about church hierarchy, but Natalie gave this paper because there are so many misunderstandings about the subject. Do Catholics think you will go to Hell if you read Harry Potter since the Pope doesn't like it? What happens if the Vatican screws up and makes a theological mistake - does it nullify the whole religion? Natalie discussed these commonly misunderstood issues with us and cleared up much confusion.

NERD ALERT! Many of us showed up to hear Kevin Neece discuss Star Trek. This TV show (particularly The Next Generation) gave our culture the best representation of a humanist vision that we have. What if mankind worked together to see what we could accomplish? Gene Roddenberry thought that Star Trek was a good idea of what humanity would be like if we could share such a vision. Kevin used this to explain the ideals of humanity and remind us that being people of faith is not merely about being spiritually minded, but it is also about taking care of our earthly responsibilities. Then I asked him to speak in Klingon. He did. I was impressed. This lecture was easily the highlight of my day.

During Kevin's lecture I sat next to this computer; I used to work in the IT department at DBU and I'm pretty sure I built this computer...

Scott Perry discussed the sacrament as seen in medieval stories when it confronted monstrosities in different forms. I've read a lot about the sacraments in the middle ages, but I've never heard anyone discuss them in literature like this. It was very interesting and Scott was able to answer some pretty tough questions that came at the end of his discussion.

Yours truly delivered a paper about Augustine and some of his peculiar views on predestination that were ignored and covered up by the church. I assumed I would just be putting people to sleep, but it was a well received paper. (Last year I gave the lamest paper in the history of academic conferences, and I was determined to do a better job this time.)

That's it for this year's Paideia Conference at Dallas Baptist University. This conference is always one of the highlights of my year and Dr. David Naugle really outdoes himself every year with the organization and leadership of these events. Thanks everyone who attended!

The 2010 DBU Paideia Conference - Part 1 Tom Kimmell & James K. A. Smith

Every Paideia Conference begins with a concert, and every year I wonder if I feel like traveling across the metroplex in rush hour to get there - but I always do. This year's musician was Tom Kimmell and he made it well worth my time. (I hate traffic, so that's not a compliment to be taken lightly.)

From the moment his show began I felt like I was really in the presence of a great American songwriter. (Which is appropriate, since he has written songs for famous musicians like Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash.) His music tells stories in the beautiful songwriting craft that is so hard to find in musicians today. (I don't think it's too cynical to say that the craft mastered by people like Paul Simon and Bob Dylan seems to be lost.) Tom told stories, read poems (I liked the one about the cat), and charmed all of us with his humor and his excellent musicianship. I really felt like I had seen the last of a certain type of musician. It's very difficult to find people like Tom Kimmell anymore, and seeing him in concert was a real privilege.

Our speaker for the entire weekend was James K. A. Smith, who is a proponent of something called 'Radical Orthodoxy.' (I haven't studied radical orthodoxy much, but I hope that it turns out to be something I like, because it's a much cooler name than "fundamentalism" or "supralapsarianism." It's about time someone gave one of these things a good name.)

That light behind him didn't come on until he raised his hand like that. True story.

Smith told us about a lot things. He's the kind of guy who can show you scenes from indie films in between discussions of Heidegger and Derrida in order to make sense out of modern theology. Very cool stuff. He was very approachable and loved answering questions from the audience on a variety of subjects with each lecture. Also, according to this discussion of Augustine (written by Smith and Dr. David Naugle - the guy who organizes these conferences) it appears that Smith and I read some of the same books.

Pictured: Radical Orthodoxy.

Smith's views are very relevant. They address issues that Christians are asking today and Smith himself is a person people enjoy knowing. But most importantly, I didn't throw anything at him when he insulted my Dallas Cowboys. That means a lot. (Although, I didn't promise not to pick on him through the photo captions on my blog. No one is safe...)

Very few people can open their cupboard and find the honorary coffee mug we give our keynote speakers; we'd better not see those things on Ebay.

(Click here to read part 2!)

The Southern Baptist Meets the Evolutionist...and Finds Out He's Really OK!

A few weeks ago I was able to attend a lecture by the well known biologist Sean B. Carroll. You may not have heard of him, but in the field of evolutionary development he is Elvis Presley. I got to hang out with him before and after the lecture and was very impressed with him. If I accomplish nothing else in this blog post, I want to establish that I have a great amount of respect for this Darwinian evolutionist. He describes himself as "a kid just trying to have fun" and he is very warm and upbeat in his dealings with people.

He gave us a fantastic description of Darwin and how he developed theories that seemed to decry special creation (as it was understood at the time).

Darwin was sailing near the Galapagos Islands hoping to check out a nearby volcano (he had been trained as a geologist and was also preparing to enter a seminary) when he made his well known observations. While visiting the Galapagos he noticed that the same species on two different islands had developed differently, which was something that, at the time, was not allowed under the theory of special creation. Being sensitive to the religious, Darwin would lightly promote his findings, in conjunction with similar finding of other biologists, without pressing the matter in a way that would offend the church.

While listening to this lecture, something occurred to me. Despite everything I have been taught, there is nothing about this I find unbiblical. I do not believe that God must hold each planet in place; I think He created gravity to do that. I also don't think he had to form each creature by hand, I think it's possible he allowed creatures to evolve as part of the complex biology He placed in them. You don't have to be convinced that it happened this way, but I don't see how it creates any theological problems.

Now, let's get a few things clear:

• I believe that the Bible is without error...
• ...that God created man in His image...
• ...and, that everything in the Bible happened just as it says.

That said, Darwin doesn't bother me. Maybe we should re-think our militant stance against him. Obviously, I cannot explain my entire point of view on Darwin and evolution in a single blog post, but I can ask us to be kind to this scientist, who was always kind to Christians and never set out to debunk any of their beliefs. Let's return the favor and not tarnish his image.

Blogging the DBU Paideia Conference - Part 3

The heart of the Paideia Conference is when papers are read. Each attendee is able to attend a number of papers about a great variety of topics read by some remarkably intelligent students. These papers discuss almost everything an intellectual could ask for, including issues of faith, purely scientific papers, and examples of literary theory, such as an analysis of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (Which my wife attended, but I didn't, so I asked her to keep a copy of it). A list of all the papers can be found here (pdf).

Jake Rogers gave an excellent talk about the theoretical state of consciousness in alternate realities, an issue being discussed by experts in the field of the philosophy of the mind. Most people probably think Christians sit around singing Kumbaya and asking Pat Robertson about metaphysical issues, but that's not the case.

Obviously this picture came from Amos Barker's Facebook profile, not the conference. He discussed the tricky exegetical habits of Origin. It was one of the most well written papers I have ever read and I really hope I can create papers as good as that some day. He's also a nice guy, as you can see in this photo where he is wrestling newborns.

Carrie Hamilton discussed the redemption story as it shows up in literature (and in movies today), particularly Beowulf and Piers Plowman. It's one of my favorite topics and she handled the material and the discussion quite well. J.R.R. Tolkien was smiling somewhere.

Blake Carlisle discussed the effects of the Renaissance on Italian social unity. He's not a historian, primarily, but I was impressed with how well he handled the historical side of this paper since it involved things I have been studying of late. It was an excellent paper on an issue I've never heard discussed. (Italian history is always swept under the rug.)

Shiffer on Schaeffer. Ph.D. student Scott Shiffer (pictured here with the rock band Petra) gave a discussion on the beliefs of Francis Shaeffer concerning the sanctity of life. It was illuminating and brought up some excellent discussion points that I will be pondering for quite some time. (This, maybe, should be the goal of all of these papers.)

Mark Boone used the conference as an excuse to show off his Lord of the Rings action figures. Just kidding, Mark told us about Augustine's "Egyptian Gold" analogy, how it related to the philosophy of Augustine's day, and how it relates to the thinking of our own time. Mark is probably the most impressively eclectic philosopher I know; he doesn't live in Plato's cave or in Hume's doubts, but he juggles the best teachings from ancient, modern, and post-modern philosphers and the Bible.

While Mark spoke, his son, Jeremiah, paid pretty good attention. It's neat that the babies of these scholars grow up thinking intimate acoustic concerts and intellectual readings are a normal part of life. Notice that Dr. Naugle is in attendance as well. This is something of a mixed blessing because the presenter gets some bragging rights to say they spoke to Dr. Naugle but they also might get some tough (but good) questions.

In the evening, we were treated to the music of a beautiful woman (who you can book here). It's my wife, of course, who was asked to fill in with some music at the last second. She did quite well. That's Dr. Naugle's ovation guitar; he's a guitar player and a drummer.

The conference was a rousing success. Dr. Naugle never ceases to amaze me with his connections, his wisdom, and his ability to put on professional enjoyable conferences that include some of the smartest people I will ever know. (He also writes good books.) You will do yourself a favor to try and join in on the excitement next year.

Blogging the DBU Paideia Conference - Part 2

Our featured speaker at the Paideia conference was Mike Wittmer, a professor of theology at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary and author of two books that reveal his social-theological perspective as well as the fact that he grew up listening to questionable 80's bands. (The books are titled Heaven is a Place on Earth and Don't Stop Believing, I would have called them He's a Real NoWhere Man and What is and What Should Never Be, respectively, but no one's ever published me, so what do I know? )

I was impressed at how well he knew church history and how competently he was able to discuss theology alongside philosophy. His knowledge is very up to date and relevant, which made him an excellent speaker for such a conference.


His main topic at lunch was the emergent church. Even though they sound really neat, the emergent church is full of theological issues that put them at odds with actual Christianity. In a respectful manner, Mike Wittmer pointed out these problems and discussed his experience in confronting actual leaders of the movement. It's good to have a sound theologian out there combating the problems that the emergent church is creating for the rest of us.

In the evening, he discussed the topic of how we can really know anything at all. Can we know there is a God? Are we just hoping to be right in the end when we place our faith in Him? What do we say when non-believers say our faith is silly? God proves Himself to us, but we can't exactly prove Him to others; it's tough to be an intellectual in this type of conversation and our speaker discussed this delicate issue very proficiently. If people like Matt have anything to do with it, the damaging postmodern trends that are showing up in our churches will not have lasting negative effects.

(Notice I didn't say all post-modern trends, not all of them are bad, but the bad ones are often the result of abusive post-modernism, but enough of that for now.) Here's Mike's blog where you can buy his books and interact with him through his posts.

Mike Whittmer gave us two fantastic lectures and took questions from everyone on many subjects. Not many scholars are so competent at being inter-disciplinary.

The talented Jake Rogers led us in singing some wonderful old hymns; earlier that day he had read a paper about mental states in hypothetical realities. I'm not kidding.

Mike Whittmer delightfully holds up the coveted Pew Society mug awarded to scholars who headline this conference making him the envy of every author, pastor, and philosopher. (Citation needed)

Stay tuned for one more blog entry about the papers that were read over the weekend!