Lessons Learned in the Seminar

After allowing the experience of the seminar a few days to soak in, the one thing that has remained in my mind is my new level of appreciation for the writers of the gospels, especially of the Gospel of Mark. When one has the Old Testament in one's hand and nothing but oral tradition upon which to rely, one understands just how important the written gospels are. We had difficulty remembering details about Christ's teaching, about his miracles, and even about historical details. I can now definitely sympathize with the writers of scripture with respect to chronology. Through writing the class gospel, I understood that the sequence of the events in the life of Christ is immaterial when compared to the message of his deeds and his teachings. Therefore, I feel little need to concern myself with perfectly reconciling the gospels' chronologies, focusing rather on the content of the message.

Another important lesson learned was teamwork. From what I observed, the class worked well together, all giving what they could give to the project. Most importantly, we saw how individual effort through the writing of pericopae led to a larger, cohesive unit of text. Vocabulary did differ from writer to writer, and each pericope had its individual flavor, but together they formed a gospel. When put together, the whole was indeed greater than the sum of its parts. Even though each person played a slightly different role in the grand scheme of writing this gospel, we all came together for one purpose. Some people were leaders, and others were less visible. Even so, all were important. Much like the church, we all have different roles, but all of our roles are necessary. To those who may not have received as much recognition as others have and to those who may have been less visible in the seminar, here's to you.