{"id":903,"date":"2009-10-16T09:01:44","date_gmt":"2009-10-16T09:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2009\/10\/views-of-harvard.html"},"modified":"2009-10-16T09:01:44","modified_gmt":"2009-10-16T09:01:44","slug":"views-of-harvard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/10\/views-of-harvard.html","title":{"rendered":"Views of Harvard"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>During my trip to New England last week, I was able to visit Harvard University. I had not been back to my alma mater since my final graduation there in 1992. Of course I enjoyed plenty of nostalgia, which I generously shared with my wife. I thought I&#8217;d share a bit with you, through some pictures.<br \/>\nPhoto below: Harvard Square, with my freshman dorm in the background. I was on the first floor of Straus Hall, with my bedroom window facing Harvard Square. Quite an experience for a formerly suburban Californian!<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/harvard-square-straus-7.jpg\" \/><br \/>\nPhoto below: The Charles River, with Harvard houses (dorms) in the background. During my freshman year, my job was washing dishes in Dunster House, the building with the white tower and red dome.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/charles-harvard-7.jpg\" height=\"365\" width=\"504\" \/><br \/>\nPhoto below: The steeple of the Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. I heard some fascinating sermons there, some of which were right on. Others pressed the edge of acceptability, while some plummeted over that edge. One Palm Sunday, a visiting preacher&#8217;s point was the &#8220;Jesus was a turkey&#8221; because he let people think he was the king. That wasn&#8217;t the set up to something more. It was the point.\u00a0 Oh well . . . .<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/harvard-church-steeple-7.jpg\" align=\"right\" hspace=\"15\" vspace=\"5\" \/><br \/>\nHarvard, as you may or may not know, was founded for the purpose of training people for Christian ministry. Among the college&#8217;s founding precepts you find this statement:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the maine end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17:3) and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and Learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisedome, Let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seeke it of him (Prov. 2:3).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Thought the university seems to have lost sight of this goal, I&#8217;m pleased to report that many students and faculty at Harvard continue to uphold it. Thanks be to God!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During my trip to New England last week, I was able to visit Harvard University. I had not been back to my alma mater since my final graduation there in 1992. Of course I enjoyed plenty of nostalgia, which I generously shared with my wife. I thought I&#8217;d share a bit with you, through some&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vacation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Views of Harvard - Mark D. Roberts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/10\/views-of-harvard.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Views of Harvard - Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During my trip to New England last week, I was able to visit Harvard University. I had not been back to my alma mater since my final graduation there in 1992. Of course I enjoyed plenty of nostalgia, which I generously shared with my wife. I thought I&#8217;d share a bit with you, through some&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/10\/views-of-harvard.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. 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Of course I enjoyed plenty of nostalgia, which I generously shared with my wife. I thought I&#8217;d share a bit with you, through some&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/10\/views-of-harvard.html","og_site_name":"Mark D. Roberts","article_published_time":"2009-10-16T09:01:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/harvard-square-straus-7.jpg"}],"author":"Mark D. Roberts","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/10\/views-of-harvard.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/10\/views-of-harvard.html","name":"Views of Harvard - Mark D. 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Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}