Creation, Fall and Redemption; or How to get a good grade on every paper you write, even if you have no idea what it’s supposed to be on

Last blog I tackled an overused word at Calvin, but if there is an overused phrase it is “Creation, Fall, Redemption”. It’s a tidy way of simplifiying a not-so tidy book and theology; God created, humans messed up, and Jesus came/ one day all will be fully redeemed.

A lot of Christian schools have their own little things that they have a hard on for, Wheaton has a hard-on for anything C.S. Lewis and Calvin has a hard on for Abraham Kuyper, John Calvin, Augustine and, especially, “Creation Fall Redemption” (CFR). Professors love it when you can tie in whatever you are talking about in your paper to CFR, and it is remarkably easy to do.

For example, you are writing about the Hittites. They went through a “creation” stage (where they wrote their own mythology, created an empire, etc), a “fall” where they disappeared from the historical record and a “redemption” where archaeologists rediscovered their cities and libraries. This is by far the easiest writing prompt to use, much easier than some Dutch theologian/politician or pear trees. Even if you are floundering through your paper because you don’t know what to write, work in CFR for an even better grade than you could have possibly dreamed of.

And be sure to talk about CFR if you want to make a Calvin upperclassman’s ear bleed (it’s that overused).