Fundraising for PhD

Story

Hi, Daniel here, I am fundraising for the tuition fee of the second year of my PhD in New Testament at the University of Edinburgh. So, to raise the funds I have decided to do a challenge and run a half marathon in Glasgow on the 2nd of October. I have not been running for years (not since 2014), but it is a challenge I am ready to face. So, please support me in this challenge and I will try to finish the run in less than 2 hours. Let me share with you some background information about me and my PhD. My road toward the doctoral studies was an uphill journey as I battled both the Tourette’s syndrome and dyslexia during my childhood which made learning very hard for me. These adversities did not, however, stop me as I, through hard work and the grace of God, overcame these significant challenges. My proof thereof came when I graduated with an MPhil in New Testament from the University of Cambridge in 2020. This achievement and a publication in a peer-reviewed journal led me to become a PhD student in New Testament and Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh in September 2021. My research focuses on the material of the resurrection body in Paul's letters, and how it affects salvation. More precisely, I am considering whether flesh is a redeemable material to Paul. This research is significant because the question about the status of the flesh and the possibility of its redeemability in Paul has not really been considered in any depth in modern scholarship. This less considered angle concerning the resurrection in Paul, therefore, has the potential not solely to advance the debate regarding resurrection in Paul, but it will also be useful for the church and how it understands its hope for salvation and resurrection more clearly. In short, the benefit for scholarship is that it will provide a better understanding of what the material of the resurrection body is in Paul and how it affects salvation for Paul. This will give a clearer understanding of how Paul saw the resurrection and salvation in relation to the body material, which has the potential to solve current problem in the debate between the flesh and spirit material views. In short, the benefits for the church are multiple. For example, my work on the nature of resurrection bodies could meaningfully contribute to church instruction on the post-death future of God’s people. This does notm however, only have implications on what the age to come will be like, but it also has implications on what it means to be embodied now. This impacts both the practical level but also the ethical level of our current existence should be like. If the material is to be changed as the spirit-material side claims, the physical existence now is far less significant than what is to come. Yet, if flesh can be redeemed, then the current material existence in the flesh is fundamental to the very existence of humanity, and it has ethical implications on how we act and live in physical existence now that are far more impactful than if the material changes. Yet, for this research to reach its potential both academically and churchly I need support to be able to pay for this year’s tuition fee. For this reason, I have challenged myself to run the Glasgow half marathon on 2nd of October 2022. So, please support me in this challenge.