bsn 18/19: week 1

Did you notice this on your way in?

How many of you noticed this:

Great to meet you; here's the pic of me studying for this class:

TOPICS COVERED WEEK 1

Introductions
Musical group or singer,
Final exam prep: Philemon
Text and Songs as Text
Three Worlds
Set Theory

"You're probably wondering: What race is that guy, anyway?
"That makes you half Asian?"

Jesus was Asian!

What continent is Israel on?

"What continent is Israel on?"

How did you answer the question?

Answer it in your mind, and then scroll down.

There is only one right answer, obviously.

But every time I ask the question--in Israel or in class--people stumble, and tentatatively give the wrong answers: Europe? Africa? Middle East?

The only right answer is:

Asia.

Does that sound surprising or shocking?

Sooo..that means: Jesus was Asian.

People laugh when you say that. But it's true...and important that Jesus lived in Asia; born and died there. That was his home. In our contemporary world, we think Asian means only Chinese, Japanese etc.

Jesus was Asian! Note I didn't say He IS Asian, as I believe He is bigger than that now, but while on earth as a human he was ethnically Jewish...and Asian. So He thought and lived an Eastern, Mediterranean, Hebrew, Occidental, ASIAN worldview. This will become important later in class.

POST the phrase "Jesus was Asian" on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter..or text or say it to at least three people. Then post below some of the responses you got. Some people will accuse you of being crazy.

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"Final Exam" prep/Philemon: First read.
What do you remember from our discussion?

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your notes:

another class:

PHILEMON:

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus,

and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker

also to Apphia our sister and

Archippus our fellow soldier

—and to the church

that meets in your home:

³Grace and peace

to you^(plural)

from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers,

⁵because I hear about your

love and faith

towards Lord Jesus and all the saints

⁶I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective

in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.

⁷Your love has given me great joy

and encouragement,

because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

⁸Therefore

although in Christ I could be bold, and order you to do what you ought to do,

⁹yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love.

It is as none other than Paul— an old man (elder)

and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—

¹⁰that I appeal to you for my son--

Onesimus,^["Useful"]"

who became my son while I was in chains.

¹¹Formerly he was useless to you,

but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

¹²I am sending him

—who is my very heart

—back to you.

¹³I would have liked to keep him with me

so that

he could take

your place

in helping me

while I am in chains for the gospel.

¹⁴But I did not want to do anything without your consent,

so that any favor you do would not seem forced

but would be voluntary.

¹⁵Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while

was that you might have him back forever—

¹⁶no longer as a slave,

but more than a slave,

as a dear brother.

He is that to me,

but even more so to you,

both in the flesh

and in the Lord.

¹⁷So..

if you consider me a partner,

welcome him

as you would welcome me.

¹⁸If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything,

charge it to me.

¹⁹I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand:

I will pay it back!

(not to mention that you owe me your very self)

²⁰I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit or usefulness from you in the Lord;

refresh my heart in Christ.

²¹Confident of your obedience,

I write to you,

knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

²²And one thing more:

Prepare a guest room for me,

because I hope to be restored to you ^(plural)

in answer to your (^plural) prayers.

²³Epaphras,

my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus,

sends you greetings.

²⁴And so do Mark,

Aristarchus,

Demas

and Luke,

my fellow workers.

²⁵The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your ^(plural) spirit.

Keep observations of Philemon, already preparing for your signature paper. Remember to look for any clues/cues to tome/emotion/volume.

=comments from class discussion on Philemon:

1) Don't trip on the word "saints." In the Bible it just means "Christians." Even Dave is a saint, not just holy people like Michelle. Remember Paul wrote two letters to some bad Christians who were getting drunk at communion and having sex with relatives (1 and 2 Californians, I mean Corinthians), and he called even them "SAINTS."

2) Don't trip on "the church that meets in your house." The Bible knows nothing of official church buildings; they didn't exist yet. They met in homes, and churches were small. This doesn't mean Philemon had a large house, or was necessarily wealthy.

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3)Remember how important it is to use our class translation (NRSV), especially for verse 16. Some translations (NLT) change the meaning.

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Biblical Perspectives Signature Assignment (final paper)

Due: 3 days following this module

TASK

The signature assignment (final paper) for Biblical Perspectives is designated as a significant 5-7 page paper that is designed addresses the meaning of a biblical text. Using the skills gained in the course, develop a paper that combines an understanding of the historical, literary and contemporary worlds of the text. (Don’t resign the class until you are done. Resignation often comes too soon).

PURPOSE

The paper is meant to demonstrate the student’s own analysis and ability to work with a biblical text and as such need not utilize other resources as in a traditional research paper.

This is a NOT a research paper; it is a SEARCH paper, where you search out what you think is the meaning/message of Philemon.

However, it could be hugely helpful (and improve your grade) to draw in one (or perhaps more) lessons from class to build your thesis.

FORM

Thesis: The paper should include a clear thesis statement in the form of “the book of Philemon is about…” Note: by “about,” we mean not just “about” in the sense of storyline and characters—though you definitely include that somewhere in your paper, as well. We mean what the book is ultimately “about”—life lesson, message, moral, sermon point or Contemporary World “app.” Make it general; do not include characters from the story in your statement. Be as specific and concise as possible.

Body: The body of the paper should demonstrate a recognizable structure that argues from the text of Philemon and articulates why the thesis is viable. The body of the paper may take the form of a verse by verse analysis, follow the categories of historical/literary/contemporary worlds, or use any thematic analysis that is most useful.

Conclusion: The conclusion should restate the thesis and the support in summary fashion. The conclusion is also a place for reflection on the implications for your life and work.

SIGB: Throughout this course we have been using signs. Based on your study of the book of Philemon, develop your own symbol/sign that you feel adequately conveys the message of the book and explain it in a paragraph. Papers will not be accepted without the sign and explanation. (The sign is something you draw or create, not anything you find online or elsewhere)

Be sure to also include: Evidence from the text re: whether the slavery (of Onesimus) and brotherhood of Philemon and Onesimus are literal, metaphorical, or both. Evidence from the text re: whether Onesimus ran away.

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What do you remember about this video?

I took a version of this class at FPC (it wasn't a U yet), I had cool typewriter

I look forward this class..I think you'll' enjoy it, too..
...I did when I took it in 1983>>

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STRATEGY:
BIB 314 asks, "Who is Jesus?"

and "What is Church?"

This class asks

"1)How do I read a text of Scripture via a Three Worlds approach?"
2)"What does Scripture have to say about community?
3)What does Scripture have to say about my major?

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The Three Worlds approach to reading the Bible

: here is an introduction.

This 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

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- C

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REMEMBER SIMPLIFIED INSTRUCTIONS TO NEXT WEEK PREP ASSIGNMENT #1

Following the New Testament letter form outlined in class and on page 59 of Fee/Stuart (Hmm, what should be the first word of your letter?), write a letter to your classmates. The content of the letter should focus on one of the following:

a) Relate family, class, work, or other important traditions that draw from and help to pass on central stories or that are important to shaping the identity of a group.

b) Write about spoken and unspoken laws that govern group actions at home, work, school, or another important setting.

Be prepared to share this letter with a small group of 2-3 in class.

OR (better): ignore a and b above, and just write about a tradition of any kind that you keep

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Texts:

TEXTS
TEXT: the word does not mean just written words, or text message..
a TEXT is technically ":any message in any medium, designed to communicate anything"
so obviously the Bible counts as a TEXT message.
.

But so does everything.

All you ever do is send and receive and interpret texts:
Every conversation, film, book is a text.

Students: send me a random text message (see my phone number on syllabus), It can be anything; you don't even have to identify yourself. I will read some of these in class for fun...and to show that texts need context

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 , revealing one professor's policy on texting :in class:

Here's one teacher who welcomes texting in class:

DID YOU TEXT ME YET? I'M SERIOUS>>DO IT NOW

One church's policy on cell phones (video below)

FPU professor (and Textpert) Greg Camp introduced me to thebrilliant idea of having students text me in class.

I ask them to send me a random text message (anything) or to forward

me a text message from their inbox. These become our curriculum for the next few minutes as we interpret them.

This opens great discussion..

And very often I get a text that says, "The university president just emailed, notifying that all classes get out early today."

(:

Suffice to say the whole idea of texting in class has proven to be a fruitful means of discussing the only thing we ever engage in, and the only job we have:

interpreting text messages.

Huh?

Increasingly, the definition of text is becoming:

"any message, in any medium, intended to communicate anything"

Movies are texts; conversations at St. Arbuck's are texts. etc

So the primary discipline/skill/art we should cultivate is that of sending and interpreting text messages.

All of life is a text message.

Of course, when dealing with The Text (Scripture), how much more...

Text, subtext, and context is everything.

Text me..

Thanks for texting me in class.

What do you remember about the BUTT CHEEKS (BUT CHEEKS) story?

Texts need contexts.

Video of what I said in class and more:

Thanks for texting me (cell phone) random text messages during class to illustrate that

texts need contexts.

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.

Nurses have gifts and skills that help them interpret a "text"...including the Bible, well:

Here's some of your comments

another cohort said:

Overview

The primary purpose of the exercise is to build confidence in the ability you already have to interpret a "text," and to reveal some of the challenges when we don't know the full "backstory."

Instructions

Strangely enough, one of the best practices or "labs" for successfully interpreting a text (including the Bible) is by remembering and rehearsing something you already do well: Interpreting a song. The main reason will become clear in two weeks. But a key reason is also that when we listen to/read a new song for the first time, it is a great practice in reading and interpreting a "text" using the Three Worlds.

I assume the song below will be a new song to many of you, if not all of you. Good; it was the same way with Philemon.

There are no second first reads. You will see/hear things that I miss. And it's okay of you feel you don't get much. Use the usual skills: recurrences? mood? theme? storyline? characters? clues as to message/backstory that occasioned it?

Lyrics and music below. Don't Google or research the song. Just listen, read, and make notes below. Include what you would guess the song is about (be as specific as possible: who is being addressed, what's happening)

Bartender" :Song as "text"

First, watch the first version of the song, and comment below on what you caught: lyrics, repeated words, any clues to theme, mood, story, characters. Do not Google the lyrics until you are done with the post. They may be hard to hear, but the experience of doing that is similar to reading a Bible text (some clues may be missing). However,

I will give you one "historical world" clue this time. Historical World is key to interpreting, so it may help you to know that the artist below at one point was a bartender.

Secondly, watch this second version, in a different venue, format and configuration. Make comments below, especially about how the two versions compare and contrast: has anything been changed or moved? Is one happier? Which one do you like better and why? Which would be better for church? Finally, comment on this: who do you think the title character is supposed to be?

Version 1:

Version 2

Set Theory

To illustrate set theory, we did an in-class exercise. Students had to decide which side of the room to stand on. based on which of each pair they preferred.

Pick a side of the room to stand on for each pair:

apple or orange
Target or Wal-Mart
Red or blue
Funeral or wedding
right or wrong
purple or violet
Mac or PC
Jew or Gentile
Protestant or Catholic
doctor or nurse
Professor Dave or Dave
journey or destination
homework or nap
kikki or bouba
big picture or little picture
English or math
rock or country
jazz or rap
immigrant or native
believe or act
Fox or CNN
John Lennon or Paul McCartney
Ginger of Mary Ann
Dick York or Dick Sargeant
Ginger or Mary Ann
Peter Fuhrler or Michael Tait
children or adults
Israel or Palestine
bounded set or centered set
Gaithers or U2
tú or usted
upside down or downside up

Be familiar with the three "sets" for the rest of the course, as we will be utilizing them frequently. For each of the three sets of "set theory" ,post below one example of each of the three sets and an example that you yourself create for each of the three sets., Then tell which of the three sets is your favorite and why.

Centered set illustration:

A man I know well had just gotten in a classic "first fight" with his wife. He did something uncharacteristic of him: He jumped in his car, and began speeding (literally) away from the situation.
Because he was a believer, he at least had the sense to pray; even as in his fast car he was contradicting his belief. But he prayed, for some reason this prayer; "Lord, I really need to hear from you!"
At that precise moment, a moment he was to remember the rest of his life, the man was strangely prompted to turn on the car radio. Immediately, a voice came over the radio:"Hey Leadfoot! Turn around, go back to your wife, and tell her you’re sorry!"Let me tell you, gentle reader;

When that happened to me….
…I turned around, went back to my wife, and told her I was sorry!
And it doesn’t change my theology of "God was speaking audibly and directly to me" at all to reveal the way God spoke. At the exact moment I was speeding away from home, and shot up that prayer while turning the dial on, a Christian disc jockey who was broadcasting live felt prompted to say:
"Hey Leadfoot! Turn around, go back to your wife, and tell her you’re sorry!" link

bsn 18/19

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

week 1