STRATEGY:
BIB 300 A asks, "Who is Jesus?"
BIB 300 B asks, "What is Church?"
This class, in between the two others, asks:
- "1)How do I read a text of Scripture via a Three Worlds approach?"
- 2)"What does Scripture have to say about community?
TEXTS.
a TEXT is technically ":any message in any medium, designed to communicate anything"
so obviously the Bible counts as a TEXT message.
Texts need contexts.
I'll have you text me (cell phone) random text messages during class to illustrate that texts need contexts.
Because several of the classes I teach have to do with how to read and interpret texts (particularly biblical texts) , contexts, and intertextuality...I actually encourage students to send me text messages in class.
They often look at me as if I am kidding, even afraid I will confiscate their phone if they do.
...Or worse! Check out this shocking video (HT Michael), revealing one professor's policy on texting :in class:
Here's one teacher who welcomes texting in class:
Because several of the classes I teach have to do with how to read and interpret texts (particularly biblical texts) , contexts, and intertextuality...I actually encourage students to send me text messages in class.
They often look at me as if I am kidding, even afraid I will confiscate their phone if they do.
...Or worse! Check out this shocking video (HT Michael), revealing one professor's policy on texting :in class:
Here's one teacher who welcomes texting in class:
How about this text message..cn u intreprt it?:
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.)
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
ALLLETTERSALLCAPSTOGETHERBUTINCLUDENOPUNCTUATION
ALLLETTERSALLCAPSTOGETHERBUTINCLUDENOPUNCTUATION
Punctuation matters.
Everything is context.
Context is everything.
i..won't even mention the "but, cheeks" story (:
---
WORLDS
Here below is how one student summarized the worlds (she has more detail here)
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 isthe 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
------------------------
SETS
set theory::
set theory::
set theory::
___
SIGNS
Here below are the first of the symbols we'll use in class to help us read texts.
(NOTE: the 15 symbols will replace the terms originallly given in syllabus for QUIZ Week 5..Click "syllabus" tab at top, and see new page 11.)
Better yet, we'll call them "signs."
You'll recognize already:
#1 Three Worlds
#6 Bounded Set
#7 Centered Set
What's a "sign?
":any message in any medium, designed to communicate anything about something else."
We'll so a few more tonight; the rest next week:
#2.Inclusio
Ever notice Matthew starts with "His name will be called Emmanuel, which means 'God with us.'
And ends...very last sentence...with "I will be with you."?
No accident.
And neither is the midpoint and message of the gospel: "I will be with you" (18:20).
In Jesus, God is with us.
Jesus is the With-Us God.
And ends...very last sentence...with "I will be with you."?
No accident.
And neither is the midpoint and message of the gospel: "I will be with you" (18:20).
In Jesus, God is with us.
Jesus is the With-Us God.
That's an INCLUSIO.
You knew God was with us in Christ.. But now you see it as you look at Matthew structurally..
#3.Chiasm
Chiasm(definition) ).. once you are attuned to seeing them in Scripture (and most ancient literature) it seems they are everywhere.
Sometimes they are.
Who can argue that "the first
shall belast/
the last shall be first" is a chiasm?
A-B-B-A, X pattern.
(and this one, because it's in Matthew [20:16], will be important
for our class.
But often the chiasm is wide enough to spotlight and intended embedded theme in between the endpoints.
And to really help us get what the Spirit is saying...structurally.
Sometimes they are.
Who can argue that "the first
shall belast/the last shall be first" is a chiasm?
A-B-B-A, X pattern.
(and this one, because it's in Matthew [20:16], will be important
for our class.
But often the chiasm is wide enough to spotlight and intended embedded theme in between the endpoints.
And to really help us get what the Spirit is saying...structurally.
People remember how to perform a piece of music by using musical notations on scale. A similar solution to the problem of remembering how to perform a piece of dance has been solved with the use of Labonotation. In antiquity, it seems most written documents were intended to be read aloud, hence to be performed. The purpose of writing was to facilitate remembering how the document went when one read it aloud. But how did one make paragraphs or mark off units in a document read aloud? It seems that the main way to mark off a unit was to use repetition of words and/or phrases at the beginning and end of a unit, either alone (as in Matt 5:3, 10,"...for theirs is teh kingdom of heaven) or in parallel bracketing fashion (as John 1:18). The Greeks called such parallel brackets a chiasm, after one half of the letter "chi" (our 'X"), thus ">."-Social Science Commentary on the Gospel of John, p. 295, emphasis mine.. a free read online here.See also:
Chiasm led me to Christ"
(a great story from a recent FPU grad)- Detecting chiasm
- chiasm: an intro
- Chiasm in the Bible
--
I
#4
INTERTEXTUALITY/HYPERLINKING:
This means one text quotes another text. When both texts are biblical, this is often called cross-referencing. When we get into today's theme, we;ll see intertexting between The Ten Commandments (OT) and The Sermon on the Mount (NT)
One of Chris Harrison's projects is called "Visualizing the Bible":
But why should I tell you when I can show you?:
"The bar graph that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible. Books alternate in color between white and light gray. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in the chapter. Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible is depicted by a single arc - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect." .More info about this chart, and charts of the Bible as a social network here.
NOTE: Sometimes the text "intertexted" to is from another text or genre.
For example, in the film we'll watch ronight, "Everything is Spiritual" , there are references to
If you are not familar with these shows, you'll likely miss the reference, text cue.
-------------------INTERTEXTUALITY/HYPERLINKING:
This means one text quotes another text. When both texts are biblical, this is often called cross-referencing. When we get into today's theme, we;ll see intertexting between The Ten Commandments (OT) and The Sermon on the Mount (NT)
One of Chris Harrison's projects is called "Visualizing the Bible":
"Christoph Römhild sent me his interesting biblical cross-references data set. This lead to the first of three visualizations. Intrigued by the complexity of the Bible, I derived a new data set by parsing the King James Bible and extracting people and places. One of the resulting visualizations is a biblical social network. The other visualization shows how people and places are distributed throughout the text." Chris Harrison-
But why should I tell you when I can show you?:
"The bar graph that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible. Books alternate in color between white and light gray. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in the chapter. Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible is depicted by a single arc - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect." .More info about this chart, and charts of the Bible as a social network here.
NOTE: Sometimes the text "intertexted" to is from another text or genre.
For example, in the film we'll watch ronight, "Everything is Spiritual" , there are references to
- Lord of the Rings
- Monty Python
- Chariots of Fire
- Spinal Tap (video below)
- SpongeBob
If you are not familar with these shows, you'll likely miss the reference, text cue.
------------
Every week,m we focus on a theme related to COMMUNITY Each theme will have a symbol/sign.Tonight it was CREATION AND COMMUNITY
--we compared/contrasted the two creation accounts in Genesis 1, and compared/contrasted then
Excerpts from the Babylonian Creation Account (page 14, student guide..
..............what do you remember from class discussion? How is creation a subversion?
make observations about; compare and contrast, the two stories of creation: Gen 1:1 – 2:3 and Gen. 2:4-25). Greg Camp and Laura Roberts (FPU faculty) note:
The two accounts are separate but complementary, like the four gospels. They can be read at different levels, from literal to figurative, with no bearing on the truth of it. Poetry is not 
less true than a newspaper, just a different kind or mode of truth. And, one must always ask the question what the implied author intended and what the implied audience would have understood. Ancient notions of history are very different from ours.Genesis 1:repetitious, tabular, formaldays of creation reported in the same way, formulaicauthority and brevitystyle of ordering material into a series of similar solemn commands are unchallengedcontent presents major divisions of creation known to writercatalog or tabulation of events and commandsvocabulary = create (bara), humanity as likeness/image, male/fernaleGod = Elohim, characterized as powerful cosmic organizer, speaks things into being, stands outside of cosmos and controls itHumanity = created as vice regent, created in image gives representative statuspolemic, subversion against mythical concepts of life and creation
Genesis 2:relationship of characters emphasizedlanguage is picturesque and flowing, poetic terms, colorfulGod's actions more interrelated than separated by divisions of time or set expressions (idioms)no two acts are alike and none are preceded by divine commandvocabulary = form (yasar), humanity as living being, man/womanGod = "Lord God" (Yahweh) , characterized by immanence, personal nearness, involvement on human scene, intimate master, depicted humanly (hands, walking, digging)Humanity = ready contact with and immediate responsibility to God. Humanity's creation linked to ground (word play on adam = man and adamah = ground) and curse is alienation from the land, is distinctive because Yahweh personally addresses himpolemic, subversion against fertility cults in Canaan
---Compare Genesis accounts to Babylonian Creation story (read an excerpt on page 14 of student guide here). Significant similarities – Genesis is not written in a vacuum. Significant differences – lack of violence, struggle, multiple gods, etc.
Enuma Elish:a. creation by word - Marduk has this power. They tell him to open his mouth. At the word of his mouth XXX vanishes or reappears.b. command over elements - Marduk enlists wind and storm to defeat Tiamat, but battles with elements too.c. Tiamat is split in two and body is used to retain waters and set firmament and ground. d. sets stars in their place, gives moon and sun jurisdiction, setting days e. creation of man - "blood I will make and bones I will cause to be" new idea like Genesis but he creates out of a dead god's body and for the purpose of "the relief of the gods".In Genesis, we see a carefully structured account, bringing order out of chaos. The sea and darkness are elements of chaos in the ancient world. No work can be done in the dark; salt water kills agriculture; unknown depths and sea creatures are in the sea. God has ability to control and limit these. Chaos is not eliminated or bounded. God creates out of nothing (vs. other creation myths of the day), and the verb used for "create" (bara) is something no human ever does in the Old Testament. Only God does this action. There are also no elements of struggle or battle to create, which is typical of other contemporary creation myths. God simply speaks or shapes things into being. There are also no birthing images, which are common in other myths, and quickly lead to a confusion between Creator and creature (vs. God as wholly other), and to fertility cults. Also, most other creation myths were a people’s story (how the Mesopotamians came to be, for instance). Genesis is not presented as Israel’s story, but as the story of the world. ( to really appreciate the beauty and brilliance of these chapters, one has to read Hebrew. These verses are packed with wordplays and puns. It may not immediately occur to one that puns are a good form of theological education, but…)
-Camp and Roberts
---We watched "Everything is Spiritual" by Rob Bell:
watch Entire video, click here
If you think my whiteboard is crazy, look at his!(but I bet it brings the whole video back (: ):
Excerpts below
"In the beginning...":
---The "Flatland" section:
Flatland is all there is?:
"Leptons: groups of 2 and 3 oneness":
Naming of Animals:
"I'm not into spiritual things": the world of the Bible:
- FINALLY FUZZY SET:We'll 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:
Rob Bell's "Marker Trick" (see below) always helps me illustrate the concept of fuzzy sets:
IMPORTANT: REPLACE PAGES 4-7 and 11 OF YOUR STUDENT GUIDE WITHTHE NEW PAGES I EMAILED YOU, AND ARE LINKED AT THE TOP OF WEBSITE.,
NEXT WEEK'S LETTER ASSIGNMENT: Delete the Passover reference, and simplify it to say
"Following the form outlined in Hauer & Young, pages 313-315, Write a letter addressed to your classmates in which you describe and explain a custom, tradition or ritual that your family, faith tradition, work, school or culture practices."
------------
Tonight it was CREATION AND COMMUNITY
--we compared/contrasted the two creation accounts in Genesis 1, and compared/contrasted then
Excerpts from the Babylonian Creation Account (page 14, student guide..
..............what do you remember from class discussion? How is creation a subversion?
make observations about; compare and contrast, the two stories of creation: Gen 1:1 – 2:3 and Gen. 2:4-25). Greg Camp and Laura Roberts (FPU faculty) note:
The two accounts are separate but complementary, like the four gospels. They can be read at different levels, from literal to figurative, with no bearing on the truth of it. Poetry is not less true than a newspaper, just a different kind or mode of truth. And, one must always ask the question what the implied author intended and what the implied audience would have understood. Ancient notions of history are very different from ours.Genesis 1:repetitious, tabular, formaldays of creation reported in the same way, formulaicauthority and brevitystyle of ordering material into a series of similar solemn commands are unchallengedcontent presents major divisions of creation known to writercatalog or tabulation of events and commandsvocabulary = create (bara), humanity as likeness/image, male/fernaleGod = Elohim, characterized as powerful cosmic organizer, speaks things into being, stands outside of cosmos and controls itHumanity = created as vice regent, created in image gives representative statuspolemic, subversion against mythical concepts of life and creation
Genesis 2:relationship of characters emphasizedlanguage is picturesque and flowing, poetic terms, colorfulGod's actions more interrelated than separated by divisions of time or set expressions (idioms)no two acts are alike and none are preceded by divine commandvocabulary = form (yasar), humanity as living being, man/womanGod = "Lord God" (Yahweh) , characterized by immanence, personal nearness, involvement on human scene, intimate master, depicted humanly (hands, walking, digging)Humanity = ready contact with and immediate responsibility to God. Humanity's creation linked to ground (word play on adam = man and adamah = ground) and curse is alienation from the land, is distinctive because Yahweh personally addresses himpolemic, subversion against fertility cults in Canaan
---Compare Genesis accounts to Babylonian Creation story (read an excerpt on page 14 of student guide here). Significant similarities – Genesis is not written in a vacuum. Significant differences – lack of violence, struggle, multiple gods, etc.
Enuma Elish:a. creation by word - Marduk has this power. They tell him to open his mouth. At the word of his mouth XXX vanishes or reappears.b. command over elements - Marduk enlists wind and storm to defeat Tiamat, but battles with elements too.c. Tiamat is split in two and body is used to retain waters and set firmament and ground. d. sets stars in their place, gives moon and sun jurisdiction, setting days e. creation of man - "blood I will make and bones I will cause to be" new idea like Genesis but he creates out of a dead god's body and for the purpose of "the relief of the gods".In Genesis, we see a carefully structured account, bringing order out of chaos. The sea and darkness are elements of chaos in the ancient world. No work can be done in the dark; salt water kills agriculture; unknown depths and sea creatures are in the sea. God has ability to control and limit these. Chaos is not eliminated or bounded. God creates out of nothing (vs. other creation myths of the day), and the verb used for "create" (bara) is something no human ever does in the Old Testament. Only God does this action. There are also no elements of struggle or battle to create, which is typical of other contemporary creation myths. God simply speaks or shapes things into being. There are also no birthing images, which are common in other myths, and quickly lead to a confusion between Creator and creature (vs. God as wholly other), and to fertility cults. Also, most other creation myths were a people’s story (how the Mesopotamians came to be, for instance). Genesis is not presented as Israel’s story, but as the story of the world. ( to really appreciate the beauty and brilliance of these chapters, one has to read Hebrew. These verses are packed with wordplays and puns. It may not immediately occur to one that puns are a good form of theological education, but…)
-Camp and Roberts
---We watched "Everything is Spiritual" by Rob Bell:
watch Entire video, click here
If you think my whiteboard is crazy, look at his!(but I bet it brings the whole video back (: ):
Excerpts below
"In the beginning...":
---The "Flatland" section:
Flatland is all there is?:
"Leptons: groups of 2 and 3 oneness":
Naming of Animals:
"I'm not into spiritual things": the world of the Bible:
- FINALLY FUZZY SET:We'll 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:
Rob Bell's "Marker Trick" (see below) always helps me illustrate the concept of fuzzy sets:
--we compared/contrasted the two creation accounts in Genesis 1, and compared/contrasted then
Excerpts from the Babylonian Creation Account (page 14, student guide..
..............what do you remember from class discussion? How is creation a subversion?
make observations about; compare and contrast, the two stories of creation: Gen 1:1 – 2:3 and Gen. 2:4-25).
Greg Camp and Laura Roberts (FPU faculty) note:
The two accounts are separate but complementary, like the four gospels. They can be read at different levels, from literal to figurative, with no bearing on the truth of it. Poetry is notGenesis 1:repetitious, tabular, formaldays of creation reported in the same way, formulaicauthority and brevitystyle of ordering material into a series of similar solemn commands are unchallengedcontent presents major divisions of creation known to writercatalog or tabulation of events and commandsvocabulary = create (bara), humanity as likeness/image, male/fernaleGod = Elohim, characterized as powerful cosmic organizer, speaks things into being, stands outside of cosmos and controls itHumanity = created as vice regent, created in image gives representative statuspolemic, subversion against mythical concepts of life and creation
Genesis 2:relationship of characters emphasizedlanguage is picturesque and flowing, poetic terms, colorfulGod's actions more interrelated than separated by divisions of time or set expressions (idioms)no two acts are alike and none are preceded by divine commandvocabulary = form (yasar), humanity as living being, man/womanGod = "Lord God" (Yahweh) , characterized by immanence, personal nearness, involvement on human scene, intimate master, depicted humanly (hands, walking, digging)Humanity = ready contact with and immediate responsibility to God. Humanity's creation linked to ground (word play on adam = man and adamah = ground) and curse is alienation from the land, is distinctive because Yahweh personally addresses himpolemic, subversion against fertility cults in Canaan
---
Compare Genesis accounts to Babylonian Creation story (read an excerpt on page 14 of student guide here). Significant similarities – Genesis is not written in a vacuum. Significant differences – lack of violence, struggle, multiple gods, etc.
Enuma Elish:a. creation by word - Marduk has this power. They tell him to open his mouth. At the word of his mouth XXX vanishes or reappears.b. command over elements - Marduk enlists wind and storm to defeat Tiamat, but battles with elements too.c. Tiamat is split in two and body is used to retain waters and set firmament and ground.d. sets stars in their place, gives moon and sun jurisdiction, setting dayse. creation of man - "blood I will make and bones I will cause to be" new idea like Genesis but he creates out of a dead god's body and for the purpose of "the relief of the gods".In Genesis, we see a carefully structured account, bringing order out of chaos. The sea and darkness are elements of chaos in the ancient world. No work can be done in the dark; salt water kills agriculture; unknown depths and sea creatures are in the sea. God has ability to control and limit these. Chaos is not eliminated or bounded. God creates out of nothing (vs. other creation myths of the day), and the verb used for "create" (bara) is something no human ever does in the Old Testament. Only God does this action. There are also no elements of struggle or battle to create, which is typical of other contemporary creation myths. God simply speaks or shapes things into being. There are also no birthing images, which are common in other myths, and quickly lead to a confusion between Creator and creature (vs. God as wholly other), and to fertility cults. Also, most other creation myths were a people’s story (how the Mesopotamians came to be, for instance). Genesis is not presented as Israel’s story, but as the story of the world. ( to really appreciate the beauty and brilliance of these chapters, one has to read Hebrew. These verses are packed with wordplays and puns. It may not immediately occur to one that puns are a good form of theological education, but…)
-Camp and Roberts
---We watched "Everything is Spiritual" by Rob Bell:
watch Entire video, click here
If you think my whiteboard is crazy, look at his!
(but I bet it brings the whole video back (: ):
Excerpts below
"In the beginning...":
---
"In the beginning...":
---
The "Flatland" section:
Flatland is all there is?:
Naming of Animals:
Flatland is all there is?:
"Leptons: groups of 2 and 3 oneness":
Naming of Animals:
"I'm not into spiritual things": the world of the Bible:
- FINALLY FUZZY SET:We'll 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:
Rob Bell's "Marker Trick" (see below) always helps me illustrate the concept of fuzzy sets:
IMPORTANT: REPLACE PAGES 4-7 and 11 OF YOUR STUDENT GUIDE WITH
THE NEW PAGES I EMAILED YOU, AND ARE LINKED AT THE TOP OF WEBSITE.,
NEXT WEEK'S LETTER ASSIGNMENT: Delete the Passover reference, and simplify it to say
"Following the form outlined in Hauer & Young, pages 313-315, Write a letter addressed to your classmates in which you describe and explain a custom, tradition or ritual that your family, faith tradition, work, school or culture practices."
NEXT WEEK'S LETTER ASSIGNMENT: Delete the Passover reference, and simplify it to say
"Following the form outlined in Hauer & Young, pages 313-315, Write a letter addressed to your classmates in which you describe and explain a custom, tradition or ritual that your family, faith tradition, work, school or culture practices."
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