SUBMISSION!

Good news: my thesis, Our Being is in Becoming: The Nature of Human Transformation in the Thought of Karl Barth, Joseph Ratzinger and John Zizioulas is being printed today and dropped off at St Mary's by a friend in St Andrews!

Thank you for your kindness and support during this process. My thesis ended up being about what it means to be an adopted child of God - one who participates in Jesus Christ's filial relationship with the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. Barth, Ratzinger, and Zizioulas agree that prayer is not only the way we are transformed into the children of God (beginning with the prayer-act of baptism, continuing in our daily prayers, and being renewed in the prayer-act of the Lord's Supper), but also the goal of human transformation. This transformation is only possible because in Jesus Christ humanity became God's faithful covenant partner - in other words, Jesus Christ was and is the pray-er that God created humanity to be. If prayer is the ultimate goal of our transformation in Christ, this means that our being after the final coming of Jesus Christ will not be static, but will be the dynamic relationship of the human words of petition and thanksgiving that correspond to the Word of God that both precedes and answers our human words.

The viva voce date is to be determined, but it looks like Prof. Mark McIntosh (Durham) and Dr. Mark Elliott (St Andrews) will examine my thesis.

My thesis is dedicated to Holly, whose loving work of prayer encouraged me even when I did not love my work on prayer. In the words of Ben Harper, "Nothing is as beautiful as when she believes...."

My "Acknowledgements" page reads as follows (apologies to those not mentioned or not mentioned specifically, these acknowledgements are only the tip of the iceberg!):
My work would not have been possible without the support of my family. Holly, my true helpmate, has been gracious beyond measure as we moved and sacrificed because of this PhD My dear children Isaiah and Noelle energetically urged me on with their smiles, questions, and cries of “Knock it out!” as I worked on this project. My parents, Jack and Roxanne Tallon, have provided living Christian catechesis, as well as cultivating my love of learning and facilitating my education at crucial junctures. Phil and Sara Sykora have been model in-laws—even during the months my family unexpectedly took up residence with them and I typed away morosely in their basement. Cass and Alex Huffman, as well as Shannon and David Burcham, have cheered me on as brothers and sisters in Christ.

In many large and small ways, my work bears the imprint of the Christian communities that formed me before and during my PhD research. Thanks are due to the Eastside Church of Christ for their care during my childhood, the Malibu Church of Christ for their commitment to a serving a transient student population, the “wee” St Andrews Free Church for their openness to my family as strangers in a strange land, the Littleton Church of Christ in Colorado for their steadfast prayers, and the Church Village Church of Christ in Barbados for reminding me of the joyousness of life in Christ during the last steps of the PhD process.

Along the way, I have been blessed with intelligent, perceptive, and personally engaging colleagues who contributed to my education in areas far beyond the limited scope of this thesis. My advisor, Alan Torrance, has suffered immensely during the last five years, yet his enthusiasm for this project and willingness to see it through never flagged. Special thanks are due to Cliff Barbarick, a friend who is closer than a brother and who has shared my journey from its earliest days, Kelly Liebengood, Aaron Kuecker, Kevin Diller, Daniel Driver, Jeremy Gabrielson, Amber and Paul Warhurst, RJ Matava, Josh Moon, Matt Ford, Jason Goroncy, Jeff Tipner, Meg Ramey, Tim Stone, Stephen Presley, Matt Farlow, Andrew Torrance, Drew Lewis, Ivan and Julie Khovacs, Reno Lauro, Bruce Baker, Theng-Huat Leow, Seth Tarrer, Ian Church, Mariam Kamell, Darren Schmidt and Andy McCoy—though I am also indebted to many more faculty, staff, students and family members from the St Mary’s community.

Thanks are also due to my students at Pepperdine University, the University of St Andrews, and Codrington College, whose determined search for understanding pressed me towards a more expansive, deep, and clear theological understanding. I also am extremely grateful to the Principal of Codrington College, the Rev. Dr. Ian Rock, who was willing to take me on without a PhD in hand and has continued to demonstrate confidence despite several delays. The Benedictine community at Pluscarden Abbey in Moray, Scotland, provided hospitality and quiet at crucial junctures in this project. Finally, my debt to my elementary school teachers has regularly crossed my mind during my PhD studies; for teaching me the fundamentals of reading and writing, I thank Mrs. Hannaway, Mrs. Gary, Mrs. Swearingen, Mrs. Schreiber, Mrs. Ward, Mr. Randolf, and Mrs. Slavens.