Parties and Culture, Fuzzy Sets, 3 Testations. Service Project

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Before watching the video below, answer three quick questions:

• Fill in the blank:"In England, they drive on the ______________ side of the road"
• How do you define "culture?"
• Name your favorite musical group or singer, and then click to see if they are similar to  this group

:


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Since we have spent so much time discussing the various "parties" of Jesus day, it is helpful to our discussion of culture to hear how one writer views and succinctly characterizes each group's approach to culture (even though the following is overstatement:

• "Pharisees  separated from culture
•  Sadducees blended into the culture

• Zealots ruled over culture/misused it

• Essenes ignored culture....

The Pharisees were sectarian, developing an unending number of laws to separate themselves from the common people. 

The Sadducees were syncretists, compromising their beliefs in order to blend into the culture.

 The Zealots misused culture as they attempted to usher in God’s kingdom through the use of force.

 The Essenes ignored culture altogether, retreating from society where they could seek mystical encounters with God in monkish privacy...

And so we see that sectarians love God but fail to love their neighbors,

 And so we see that sectarians
love God but fail to love their neighbors, 
              while syncretists love their neighbors,
               but fail to love God."


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Here are some Jewish presentations on three of the parties.. we did not show these in class, but it all helps (especially for the final..remember the party you were assigned to last week)








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We introduced the third (and final) "set" of "set theory:

-When does a mountain begin?
-Is it about predestination or free will?
-When  did Peter become a believer?


These can be debated...as the border can be fuzzy...Thus :
"Fuzzy sets"

Here below is some help on Fuzzy Sets. These readings will help, but if you missed class today, you may want to talk to a classmate about some of the biblical and other examples.... to get a handle on this):

• new nets: bounded sets, fuzzy sets, or centered-sets?

• Rock or Reef:..scroll to page 6-9
• The Attractional Church
• Changing Worldview (scroll to pages 9-12)

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Just as we might see the theme of "subversion of empire" (remember Matthew 2:1 and  the video, "In The Shadow of Herod") being repeated, recast and remixed throughout Matthew's gospel..


We might also suggest that the same three temptations Jesus faced in Chapter 4 were repeated, recast and remixed throughout the rest of the gospel, at different points in Jesus' life...



We noted today that the baptism of Jesus  (chapter 3) and the temptations (chapter 4) should be read together as one literary unit or paragraph (we called this a "coupling" as two items are connected, not three, as in "intercalation").


-  Remember how important repeated words are..in this case,  "SON":

-The segue is direct..."Then after his baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit  into the desert for temptation by the devil."  (Matt. 4:1)


-In light of that, ask In what other ways do the baptism and temptation connect?
How does baptism prepare for temptation?


See the sermon by Nadia Bolz-Weber, "How To Say Defiantly, ‘I am Baptized!’"for a contemporary world application.


Start reading chapters 1-4 of your Kraybill  UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM text, and note that has a unique way of categorizing the three temptations:


(1=  Bread into stones: Economic
 2=Jump from temple and test God:Religious
  3=Own all kingdoms: Political; 

• Also: see Henri Nouwen's helpful take on the temptations here.
• Also: Why do I call the temptations "testations"? See class notes or stay tuned...we'll deal in depth with this next time
• Also: What did you think about the Lord's prayer, in which Jesus clearly instructs disciples to pray "lead us not into temptation"  VS. Matt 4:1, where the Spirit (God) leads Jesus into temptation?  Hmm, stay tuned..-------------------------------------------------

Here is a video some of my previous freshman made for JCC..See if they (or the settings) look familiar.
It may inspire some of you to make a video at some point in this class...particularly related to the Parable Assignment:


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SERVICE PROJECT:

It's time to choose a Service Project...your choice of project is due OCT 3.
See the tab at top of this blog titled "Service Project" for lots of ideas.

Remember, the quiz questions (and links to the answers) are all on the "Homewofk Help" section of our post from last class.

By next time, have carefully read:

• Matthew, chapters 3-4
• Kraybill, Upside Down Kingdom, Chapters 1-2 (and read Chapters 3-4 by next Mon).