A new way of thinking

I had always heard the words Source Criticism, Form Criticism and Redaction Criticism but never really knew what they were. I knew they had something to do with the Gospels and the way the text was formed, but beyond that I was pretty much ignorant. Monday's lecture opened my eyes to a whole new idea of how the text was constructed. When I was in middle school and even high school I always thought that God sat the biblical writers down and said "hey write this down," and 2000 years later we have the Bible. I had never really thought of the other possible factors (Mark used as an outline, Q, M, L).

Personally, as long as we remember that these ideas are not facts (hince the hypothesis title) I think that we can and should discuss the possibility of Source Criticism. During the entire lecture Monday I couldn't help but wonder as to what role the personalities of the writers (evangelists) and their audiences plays in the whole debate. For instance, are the things that are found only in Matthew (M) present because the letter was written primarily to Jews? Could the fact that Mark is smaller than Matthew and Luke not give evidence to the idea of Mark as an outline, but simply that Matthew and Luke had more to say than did Mark? Perhaps they had more to say because they were writing to a different group of people (see above argument on the intended audience of the gospel). I know that John had his own thing going on, but where does he fit into the whole picture? His gospel was written later than the others, maybe he had access to the prior three while writing. Since Luke also wrote Acts as a sort of continuation of his gospel, why should we not call the Book of Acts L? The actions of the Apostles are not present in the Gospels.

I think that we should all remember something that we learned relatively early in Bib-Interp. The Bible is written FOR us, but not originally TO us.

-Steven

Luke 15...huh?

Ever sense I took Bib-Interp I always thought that I understood what the parables in Luke 15 meant: Jesus was talking to Pharisees and he was preaching to them the importance of a soul. Yea, well, kindof. I especially like that in a sense I have been freed to use allegory to try to understand the parables. I definately agree that too much allegory is a wrong, and I suppose no allegory is better than too much, however some is needed. I also am avery interested in the fact that there is three subjects to the prodigal son (father, older son and prodigal) rather than the one that I had always though of (the older son). I think that we need to undestand this in order to understand what Jesus was saying in these parables. I also believe that his initial conversation with the Pharisees in the beginning of Luke 15 is iomportant to the overall understanding of the parables.

Eschatology is for the birds!

Just some ramblings...

So, I guess the class discussion that I will be referring to took place sometime during the week before Spring Break, but I have really been pondereing it over during the past few weeks and have even talked to others about it. I think that the dialogue of Jesus in Mark 13 says a lot about the role of the Trinity within the Gospels. The simple fact that Jesus did not know the hour of the socond coming is astonishing and something that I will never understand. I also believe that some Christians today get too wrapped up in trying to learn about the signs leading up to and the exact time of the eschaton that we forget to do the things that are important now, such as making disciples and showing the love of Christ to others. Jesus tells the disciples to 'Stay Awake" (13:37). Forgive me for using an allegory (Please don't tell Gore), but perhaps we should also "stay awake" not to the signs of the end of the age, but to the commands and the ministry that we have been given.

-Steven

The Irony of the Triumphal Entry

Prior to our discussion of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus I have to be honest and say that I was a bit confused as to exactly what was going on in the text. I think that Dr. Foster's description of Louisville during the Kentucky Derby was right on in regards to Jerusalem during this time. I never really understood why the people waved palm branches at Jesus until we talked about the Maccabean revolt. I suppoose the great irony of this passage is that the same people that shouted 'Hosanna' also cried 'Crucify Him' only a few short days later. I often wonder if we today do not ask God to be the main part of our lives and then do not acknowledge him as if our prior request to God was false. I think that we can (and should) learn a lot from the Jews who participated in the Triumphial Entry.

-Steven

beelzewho???

So I suppose I will blog on the state of my research paper. I am exegeting Mark 3:20-30 and comparing Christ’s accusation of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul to his authority. I had always read this passage and not fully understood its meaning. Only after my studies have I understood fully that Christ was referring to Satan when he said that the strong man is bound. I also am concerned that the issue of honor/shame may be in use here. It may be a possibility that the Kingdom of God is now taking some of the honor that the Kingdom of Satan once had and that Jesus is the catalyst of that change. I still have much research to do to support/negate my theory and it may be the case that once I get further into my studies that I find that my hypothesis is completely incorrect. I believe this will be an exciting endeavor. I suppose that my thesis that was due in stage 2 has been changed as my research has matured. I guess that’s the point of doing papers in stages though huh?

-Steven

...means Toby finish this

Sunday morning when I looked at the bulletin at church I couldn't help but laugh. It said "Blessed are the merciful for they will recieve mercy." The one that we couldn't remember was right there.

I was thoroughly challenged during the seminar. I thought that I was fairly literate with regards to the Gospels, but I honestly felt bad that I did not know enough Scripture to fill the stories. These are the words of Jesus, I should know them. The things that Dr. Foster said during our last group session resonated with me all weekend, and I have been challenged ever since to not say "It'll do" or "That's good enough."

I was also happy that I did know some Scripture and was able to contribute some to the discussions. I have been so wrapped up in learning about theology and how to apply it (while that is obviously extremely important) that I have failed to have a deeper relationship with God and read Scriptures enough to be able to use them without a copy of the text.

God humbled me Friday night.
-Steven

Feeding the 5000

I am particuarly interested in the feeding of the 5000 in Mark 6:30-44. I like the way that we disected it in class as relation to Christ's overall ministry. Compassion is something that we as Christians today often forget is so important. The simple fact that Christ was willing to talk to the crowds after being almost chased or stalked by throngs of people is amazing. He knew how importnat his message was and that it needed to be said. I also believe that he had compassion on the disciples, not only in this passage, but others by talking to them and explaining things to them separately in a private setting. It is almost as though he knew that his message of redemption was so extremely important that he was willing to do whatever he needed to explain it to those who truly wanted to understand and apply it.

-Steven

Sorry, no catchy title today

I am particualrly interested in the text of Mark 3:20-30 in which Christ is accused of being Beelzebub. It is so easy to sit back today, 2000 years later and ask how in the world the characters did not know who Christ was. If we look at the text from the perspective of Christ's accusers I believe it is not difficult to understand why they doubted the diety of Christ. Let's face it, he was a bit weird. I mean healing people with his own authority and getting demons to tell him their name, come on who wouldn't be a bit freaked out?! I never thought of the impact of the uniqueness of Christ's ministry in corrolation to the other prophets, scribes, priests etc that were the norm of that time. I have to admit that I am encouraged that Jesus did not conform to the legalistic ministry of the early Jews and I'm sure he had fun ticking them off in the process at times.

-Steven

The Divinity of Christ and a Really Weird Story.

Recent discussions and reading for this class have left me a bit perplexed, but at the same time amazed. I have heard and read the story of the lame man being dropped through the ceiling by his friends to Jesus recorded in Mark 2 many times, and I have always wondered as to what Christ was actually meaning when he countered the scribes with sheer wit. He uses his own authority to not only heal the man, but to forgive his sins, all the while proclaiming his divinity. It was in class Monday that I finally understood what the meaning of this text is: proclaiming the authority of Christ as the incarnite God. I can only imagine as to what the spectators of this event must have been thinking. I'm sure it was at least a story to be told.

-Steven Price

The powerlessness of Christ?

I particularly enjoyed the section of the Authority and Power article in DJG that discussed the fact that Jesus seemed to be in a sense powerless against the authorities that performed his execution. The article points out many ideas that should be considered for a proper understanding of this topic, such as the fact that Jesus "identifies himself with the poor and afflicted" by allowing himself to be executed by the seemingly powerful Roman authorities. DJG says that the "divine authority" of Christ is not only the freedom to stop his execution if he wished, but the ability to be used to carry out the will of God, and references Gethsemane. WOW! That is amazing to me. We have always heard from our days in Children's Church or Sunday School that Jesus could have chosen to "call down ten legions of angels" to stop his execution. I suppose that is true, but DJG has really put this in perspective. Christ's freedom not to stop his execution and save himself speaks louder than his ability to stop it.

Huh, just when you think you know everything there is to know about a topic, God goes and shows you that you don't know as much as you thought you did.

-Steven

Yes, I know that Christmas was last month!

Growing up I always heard the Christmas story read out of Luke 2. It was not until our discussion of the history of the time prior to Christ's birth that I fully understood what was being said. It is amaizing to me how God worked out all of the details in order for Christ to be born in regards to the distrubition of land and kingdoms and the rulers of such. I guess now having read in New Testament Survey and having contributed to our discussion Monday I can better appreciate the miracle of Christ's birth. Being able to put Caesar Augustus in historical context of how he came to power and the Jewish response to him and other Roman authorities is extremely beneficial for a proper study of the Christmas story.

-Steven