8/29: First Class: The Question, Texts, 3 Worlds, Jesus movies, homework

It was a great first class today.
1)We introduced the question of the class "Who is Jesus
(in Matthew)?" .]\

Remember  Julio?

I met him on a mission trip to Paraguay.
The Julio of the toothless grin who broke my heart, and taught me how to pray.


He (photo, on left) had latched on to me, as I spoke Spanish to him...and was a big
kid myself .





"What are you building here?," he asked.




"A church."




"What's a church?"




"A place where people can worship Jesus."


Of course, I know now...well, knew then (but didn't take time for theological distinctions) that is deecidedly the wrong answer: church as a place, edifice complex, etc...)





I gulped. I was guessing, dreading/hoping what his next question would be.


It's one thing to hear that billions around the world have never even heard of Jesus, but I had just met my first.

Yep, he said it:

"Who's Jesus?"

           It's the  question we all have.

And remember these videos, "Misconceptions of Jesus?"  Sometimes we need to ask, "Who/waht  is Jesus NOT?"

Jesus Video 1: Jesus doesn't have time for Peter

Jesus Video 2: Jesus gives rules for First Christian Church, and confronts a follower for missing prayer meeting for the Super Bowl:



The rest of these can be found on the tap at the top of the page "Misunderstandings of Jesus"(:

2)We talked about TEXTS (see the Introductory post from yesterday here)

3)We talked about THREE WORLDS (see the Introductory post from yesterday here)
--

HOMEWORK HELP:

>>Remember: By this Wed., read through or listen to (audio downloads and several trranslation choices found by clicking the tab at the top of page that says..The Gospel of Matthew,

If you turn in a one-page sheet of notes, where you simply make note of any observations, feelings,

repeated words/ideas,  list of questions that arise....and a simple outline (traditional outline or chart), you can skip the first quiz and get full credit for it.  Informal, may be hand written, if legible

>>Next Wed, your first official assignment is due:"Who is Jesus to Me?" Be sure to read the syllabus carefully, and note that you must make an appointment in the ASC to have this paper reviewed, so get started early.

Welcome/Intro to Three Worlds/Texts

Welcome to the online home of JCC BIB 100 for my Mon/Wed classes, Fall 2011

1)Welcome

Greetings!


My name is Dave, and I'll be your teacher for this amazing class that everyone at FPU takes in some form or another... I have been praying for you, and look forward to meeting you.

Here I am in Israel, a place I always am ...in spirit.
But there's really no place I'd rather be than with you
all, as we study together "Jesus and the Christian Community.

You will probably want to have a digital or printed version of the syllabus with you in class tomorrow, as we will walk through it.  Find it by clicking the "syllabus/assignments" tab at the top of this page,

I know some may be a bit freaked out about this class, but I really think it will surprise you how much you enjoy it  It might even change your life....like it did when I took it as  a freshman  here in 1982 (See photo of me wring a paper for this class on something called a "typewriter"):

This website is set up in blog format, and I will update it
after every class session with some notes and summaries of what we've done, as well as any available videos we have shown in class.  You'll want to check here frequently.

Feel free to let me know anything I can do for you, and any way I can pray for you.
My contact info is above.

Blessings,

Dave
--
2)Intro to "Three Worlds"
The course addresses "Who is Jesus in Matthew" through the lens of what Hauer and Young call the "Three Worlds" of the Bible.  A quick introduction below, and click here for more helpful detail (both from Tessa Brolin website):

Literary World--The literary world of the Bible is simply the text itself, apart from anything outside the text.  We mean the world (or, better, worlds) created by the text; the words on the page, by the stories, songs, letters and the myriad other types of literature that make up the Bible.  All good literature (and the Bible is, among other things, good literature) creates in readers' minds magnificent, mysterious, and often moving worlds that take on a reality of their own, whether or not they represent anything real outside the pages (Hauer and Young ch 2).

Historical World--The historical world of the Bible is the world "behind the text" or "outside the text".  It is the context in which the Bible came to be written, translated, and interpreted over time, until the present.  In studying the historical world of the Bible, we look for evidence outside the text that helps us answer questions such as, who wrote this text, when was it written, to whom was it written, and why was it written.  We also probe the text itself for evidence that links it to historical times, places, situations, and persons (Hauer and Young 2)..



Contemporary World--The contemporary world is the "world in front of the text" or the "world of the reader."  In one sense, there are as many contemporary worlds of the Bible as there are readers, for each of us brings our own particular concerns and questions to the text.  They inevitably shape our reading experience.  We are all interested in answering the questions of whether the Bible in general, or particular texts, have any relevance to our personal lives (Hauer and Young  ch3).
-Brolin
----------------------

3)TEXTS:

what's a text?  "any message, through any medium, designed to communicate" 
Here is the opening video I'll  show in class today...without giving any advanced context.






We then listed how it made you feel, and suggestions for genre of the film (Or "text").
Words like "irony," "satire," came up...we then suggested all the descriptions you used were definitions of "parable," ....and the need to discren context, since it takes a minute to get the text and context of the video.

Summarizing the "Three Worlds" from today's reading...We covered a lot of ground today, talking about TEXTS.




Here's some of it.

TEXT ME DURING CLASS>>>559.974.2508









By the way, if you miss class today, you better ask someone about  the "Butt cheeks" story (;
Suffice to say that commas (and context) matters..


Like this one:

GODISNOWHERE:  is it GOD IS NOWHERE  or GOD IS NOW HERE?

How you read the text changes as much as everything.

Spaces matter.

Like this:

Professor Ernest Brennecke of Columbia is credited with inventing a sentence that can be made to have eight different meanings by placing ONE WORD in all possible positions in the sentence: 

"I hit him in the eye yesterday."

The word is "ONLY".

The Message:

1.ONLY I hit him in the eye yesterday. (No one else did.)

2.I ONLY hit him in the eye yesterday. (Did not slap him.)

3.I hit ONLY him in the eye yesterday. (I did not hit others.)

4.I hit him ONLY in the eye yesterday. (I did not hit outside the eye.)

5.I hit him in ONLY the eye yesterday. (Not other organs.)

6.I hit him in the ONLY eye yesterday. (He doesn't have another eye..)

7.I hit him in the eye ONLY yesterday. (Not today.)

8.I hit him in the eye yesterday ONLY. (Did not wait for today.)

                              -link 


Like this 'text message' from Jesus:
I SAY TO YOU TODAY, "YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.'
or is it,
I SAY TO YOU, " TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE."

The original manuscripts of the Bible not only run all letters, all caps, together, but include no punctuation.

Punctuation matters.

Everything is  context.
Context is everything.