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Thursday, August 31, 2017

week 4

Mystery image..explained at bottom of page.  What did you learn about the amazing, scary science of Reverse Image Search?

More timelines:
What do you remember about this new version of the U2 song?   LAMENTS can be joyful.

Here's the version they did at Super Bowl after 9/11.  It enable public and national LAMENT.

 We watched just a couple minutes of the ending of this interview:


    WE DID THIS FROM FORUM 4.1
    B)Watch this song carefully. Pay careful attention. 
    Watch through 4:55 mark, and stop and male an initial post: How did you review it?  Do you like it or is it
    like being on crack"?
    Only after masking those inititial  comments, finish the song.
    Then  post a response as to how you responded to the song . What was interesting? Surprising Controversial?  What seemed to be the message? Was there anything in the second half that changed your opinion or caught your attention?  Should it be sung in church?  Would it ever be sung in your church?
    One "historical world" clue: the writer does give some background on the "world behind the text" (why he wrote it).
KEY WORD FOR THIS SONG: LAMENT.
---

--
-OH, here's the live webcam on the Western Wall ("Wailing Wall") of the temple.  Why are people praying and LAMENTing there right now?





 ------

Watch for the word LAMENT in your Fee and Stuart reading this week .
------------------------------

We did all three PHILEMON worksheets IN CLASS

--
Remember our manger scene test.

How many of you could win  big money on this bet on what the text message of the Bible really says:

  • It nowhere says there were three.
  • It no where says they were wise
  • It nowhere says they were men.







We didn't watch these:
Erie Chapman, author of one of your textbooks  ("Radical Loving Care") was interviewed here below about the book, and his Baptist Healing Trust foundation:




Philemon chiasm?  verse 5;









 see this link for an explanation if the chiasm
See also:

  •  
  • ENDICOTT:  VERSE 5 Your  love and faith, which you have toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints.—This description of a faith directed not only to the Lord Jesus, but to all the saints, has perplexed commentators, and called out various explanations. (1) One is that “faith” here (as in Romans 3:3; Galatians 5:22) is simply fidelity; but this can hardly be accepted as an explanation of so well-known and almost technical a phrase as “faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2) Another, noting the distinction in the original between the two prepositions here—the former (pros) signifying direction towards, and the latter (eis) actual contact with, its object—explains the phrase as signifying “the faith which has as its object the Lord Jesus Christ, but which shows itself practically towards all saints.” But this, even if the word “hast” will bear this gloss, seems too artificial for such a Letter as this. (3) The comparison with the contemporaneous Letter to the Colossians—where we read, “your faith in the Lord Jesus, and your love toward all the saints” (Colossians 1:4)—seems to clear up the matter. We have here an equivalent phrase, in which, however (by what the grammarians called chiasmus), the extremes and means correspond to each other. The idea which runs through the Letter is Philemon’s “love to the saints.” In writing of that love St. Paul cannot refrain from (4) referring it to its true origin—the faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence the broken phrase. The sense seems therefore to be that which in some MSS. has been brought out by a natural correction, “thy faith towards the Lord Jesus, and thy love to all the saints.








s


This week you get a chance to re-do this survey.
Take a look at the number of essential E items you and others listed.


Homework
Gospel and Culture
This exercise is intended to help you test your own theological consistency on a number of issues that Protestants in various denominations have felt important. As a Christian in a cross-cultural setting, you will need to learn the differences between
those elements essential to the church in every culture, and those elements which are not.

Part One
Separate all the items that follow into two categories, based on these definitions:

Essential: These items (commands, practices, customs) are essential to the church in
every age and place. [Mark these. “E” on the list.]
Negotiable. These items (commands, practices, customs) may or may not be valid
for the church in any given place or time. [Mark these “N” on the list.]

1. Greet each other with a holy kiss.
2. Do not go to court to settle issues between Christians.
3. Do not eat meat used in pagan ceremonies.
4. Women in the assembly should be veiled when praying or speaking.
5. Wash feet at the Lord’s Supper (Eucharist).
6. Lay on hands for ordination.
7. Sing without musical accompaniment.
8. Abstain from eating blood.
9. Abstain from fornication.
10. Share the Lord’s Supper (Eucharist).
11. Use only real wine and unleavened bread for your Eucharist meals.
12. Use only grape juice for Eucharist meals.
13. Anoint with oil for healing.
14. Women are not to teach men.
15. Women are not to wear braided hair, gold, or pearls.
16. Men are not to have long hair.
17. Do not drink wine at all.
18. Slavery is permissible if you treat slaves well.
19. Remain single.
20. Seek the gift of tongues.
21. Seek the gift of healing.
22. Lift your hands when you pray.
23. People who don’t work don’t eat.
24. Have a private “devotional time” every day.
25. Say Amen at the end of prayers.
26. Appoint elders and deacons in every congregation.
27. Elect the leaders.
28. Confess sins one to another.
29. Confess sins privately to God.
30. Give at least ten percent of your income/goods/crops to God.
31. Construct a building for worship.
32. Confess Christ publicly by means of baptism.
33. Be baptized by immersion.
34. Be baptized as an adult.
35. Be baptized as a child/infant.
36. Do not be a polygamist.
37. Do not divorce your spouse for any reason.
38. Do not divorce your spouse except for adultery.

Part Two
Reflect on the process by which you distinguished the “essential” from the
“negotiable” items. What principle or principles governed your decision? Write out the
method you used, in a simple, concise statement. Be completely honest with yourself
and accurately describe how you arrived at your decisions. Your principle(s) should
account for every decision.
Part Three
Review your decisions again, and answer the following questions:
Are your “essential” items so important to you that you could not associate with a
group that did not practice all of them?
Are there some “essential” items that are a little more “essential” than others?
Are there any items that have nothing explicitly to do with Scripture at all?


  • Anyone forget this mug in class?
  • I stuck it in our cabinet

    Be thinking of how the temple tantrum was about RACISM more than overcharging/selling.
    Most people think the "traditional interpretation" is that it was about selling.  But note Kraybill is in tune with the fact that Three Worlds readers of the Bible see clearly that it's about prejuidice.  So obvious that he calls THAT the traditional intepretation.  So "obvious" it's a footnote:



     
    These were to remind us of how shocking, sSUBversive, surprisingJesus' temple tantrum was.

    Here's BSN 12 getting pranked.  Click here 


    ---


    --

    ==

     
    --------------------
    the money changers  were in the Gentile courts of the temple..Jesus' action opened up the plazaso that Gentiles could pray."  -Kraybill, Upside Down Kingdom, p. 151.
    -----



    --



    --
    SOREQ
    Read this 

    Temple Warning Inscription:

     

    What did Jesus think when he saw this stone?
    An inscription was discovered on a Greek tablet, attached to the Soreg, forbidding Gentiles to pass beyond that point. [Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums]

    When king Herod had rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem between 19 and 9 B.C. he enclosed the outer court with colonnades. The large separated area was referred to as the Court of the Gentiles because the "gentiles" (non-Jews from any race or religion) were permitted to enter this great open courtyard of the Temple area. They could walk within in it but they were forbidden to go any further than the outer court. They were excluded from entering into any of the inner courts, and warning signs in Greek and Latin were placed giving strict warning that the penalty for such trespass was death. The Romans permitted the Jewish authorities to carry out the death penalty for this offence, even if the offender were a Roman citizen. The engraved block of limestone was discovered in Jerusalem in 1871. It's dimensions are about 22 inches high by 33 inches long. Each letter was nearly 1 1/2 inches high and originally painted with red ink against the white limestone. Part of another sign was unearthed in 1936. It's current location is in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul, Turkey. Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey when the stone was found.
    Josephus the Jewish historian of the first century A.D. wrote about the warning signs in Greek and Latin that were placed on the barrier wall that separated the court of the gentiles from the other courts in the Temple. Not until 1871 did archaeologists actually discover one written in Greek. Its seven line inscription reads as follows:
    NO FOREIGNER
    IS TO GO BEYOND THE BALUSTRADE
    AND THE PLAZA OF THE TEMPLE ZONE
    WHOEVER IS CAUGHT DOING SO
    WILL HAVE HIMSELF TO BLAME
    FOR HIS DEATH
    WHICH WILL FOLLOW

    The Temple Warning Inscription is important in the study of Biblical Archaeology and confirms events outlined in Scripture. When Jesus saw this inscription he knew that his own life would be the cost for the gentiles to go past this barrier.  Link

    ------------------------ 
    The Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was surrounded by a fence (balustrade) with a sign (soreq)  that was about 5 ft. [1.5 m.] high.  On this fence were mounted inscriptions in Latin and Greek forbidding Gentiles from entering the temple area proper.
    One complete inscription was found in Jerusalem and is now on display on the second floor of the “Archaeological Museum” in Istanbul.
    The Greek text has been translated:  “Foreigners must not enter inside the balustrade or into the forecourt around the sanctuary.  Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.”  Compare the accusation against Paul found in Acts 21:28 and Paul’s comments in Ephesians 2:14—“the dividing wall.”
    Translation from Elwell, Walter A., and Yarbrough, Robert W., eds.  Readings from the First–Century World: Primary Sources for New Testament Study.  Encountering Biblical Studies, general editor and New Testament editor Walter A. Elwell.  Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1998, p. 83. Click Here

    -00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
    Three thought experiments.
    • -Think if I offered you a drivers license, claiming  i had authority to issue it
    • -Think if someone destroyed all bank records and evidence of any debt you have owe
    • -Think  what would happen if you pointed at something, hoping your dog would look at it.
    Now watch this short  and important video for explanations...Temple as SIGN-post.
     

    EMINDER OF TWO ITEMS TO BRING TO CLASS NEXT TIME:
    1)"BRING YOUR SOAP  BACK IN A DIFFERENT FORM" Hmmm..
    =
    2)As many as can do it without getting in trouble, BRING A PATIENT GOWN TO CLASS NEXT WEEKgownnIt's all in the text and context: They ought to be done now!

    Friday, August 25, 2017

    Week 3 Sermon on the Mount/Building /Core Message/Timelines, Signs, Greatness

    By popular demand, I told the story behind the third "text message" in the pic.  You can read about it in  in a  post called 

    Even though I once went shopping with Paul Newman...

    (click title to read)

    or watch this crazy video  from 3:45-5:43 in which I tell the story to the "Gaithers on Crack" stars,,,and tell how I bowled 301..

    What did you learn about text and context?
    What might you guess about the back story of the other two texts? 
    Remember: I told you they are both "TRUE STORIES"

    =================

    How many noticed your class sign tonight?:


    Remember what Robert Brewer taught us about patterns?

    ___
    ==

    Here's the classic book for nurses I gave away tonight.
    Two people won it; it's recommended for all.  Order here .

    Here's some tallies from your Moodle. We just looked at the Kingdom counts from your TV shows, and briefly looked the "greater sin results" (lying won so far) Will talk more on these next time:


    =It is not uncommon to have ZERO references to "Kingdom"in the  TV results!

    --We took a quick look at "Which is the greater sin" results.  so far ten to one for LYING!
    I LOVE that one person said

    Lying because it can lead to losing your temper,

    and someone else said

    Losing your temper because it can lead to lying.

    Not only did that create a chiasm, but a fuzzy set, and a chicken/egg example..


    Also on the common assumption that all sins are equal and one is
    not greater, we briefly mentioned that no scripture says that clearly;
    in fact Jesus said "There is a greater sin, and that sin is..."

    See John 19:11 for the reveal.

    Here are some follow-up thoughts if interested:


    You may have heard that Jesus said there is one sin so bad it is unpardonable and unforgivable.
    It's true.  Can't wait to talk about that next time!




    Guesses:

    1. skubala
    2. summate
    3. service
    4. salvage
    5. surpass
    6. sabbath
    Great guesses, but the answer was ...click here.
    A big word for both Bible classes.
    Be thinking bout what it means.
    Maybe even click this to ask what it means in PHILEMON..

    --------------------------------


    another sign for quiz:
    INCLUSIO(N)):  


     
    inclusio (
    definition)


     a literary device in which a word, phrase, or idea is included at the beginning and ened of a  text (and sometimes in the middle).  Example: the "with you"s of Matthew 1:23 , 18:20 and 28:20

    Len Sweet is on to something, suggesting a Bible-wide inclusio. How wide and big can these things get? Wouldn't this cue us and clue us in to the heart message of the whole Book?

    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.

    WHAT's the inclusio in

    • Book of Acts?
    • Philemon?  Hmmm


    ----------------------------
    What''s the core message of Jesus?

    Here's what cohorts usually answer:

    Here's what you said:

    Note: I added the word Kingdom at the top, as no one said it.  And only once in almost ten years of classes,
    only one stident ever said it...and he was Jewish.  Here he is.








    Watch the first 1:45 of this video to review what I said.  You can stop the video there, and we;ll discuss the rest next week:







    --

    Timelines: Wow, powerful time hearing your life timelines.  Here they are below, and we'll give the rest of you a chance next week:


    Remember  this one from another cohort? "Demise"? Left me speechless:


    SERMON ON THE MOUNT:
    What do you remember about this?


    SERMON ON THE MOUNT, Mathew chapter  5 

    VIDEO OF SAME TEACHING I GAVE TONIGHT, Plus interview with Rabbi Adam starting at 27 min mark that we didn't watch.  Also see notes below.


    Remember: 

    • Who was the sermon addressed to?
    • Why did he teach on a MOUNTAIN?
    • Why did Jesus sit down to teach?


    When we read the "beatitudes," the first section of the Sermon on the Mount: -- do you catch anyinclusio(Note the first and last beatitudes (only) of chapter 5 end
    with a promise of the kingdom of heaven, implying that the other promises in between "being filled," "inherit the earth," "be comforted" all have to do with Kingdom


    3)iINCLUSIO(N)):


     
    inclusio (
    definition)








































    F--and if Jesus is a NEW MOSES of sorts, then we should look at 
    SERMON ON THE MOUNT:
    Discussion on how Jesus was interpreting/reinterpreting the law of Moses/Torah(Matt 5:17-48).
    Some would suggest that he is using the rabbi's technique of "Building a fence around the law (Torah)>
    For example, if you are tempted to overeat, one strategy would be to build a literal fence around the refrigerator...or the equivalent: don't keep snacks around.

    See:

    Some wonder of this is what Jesus is doing here.  See:

    One can see how this could turn to legalism...and when do you stop building fences? See:

    A Fence Around the Law



    Greg Camp and Laura Roberts write:

    In each of the five examples, Jesus begins by citing an existing commandment. His following statement may be translated as either "And I say to you... " or as "But I say to you ...” The first option shows Jesus' comments to be in keeping with the commandments, therefore his words will be an expansion or commentary on the law. This is good, standard rabbinic technique. He is offering his authoritative interpretation, or amplification, to God's torah, as rabbis would do after reading the torah aloud in the synagogue. The second translation puts Jesus in tension with the law, or at least with the contemporary 
    interpretations that were being offered. Jesus is being established as an authoritative teacher who stands in the same rabbinic tradition of other rabbis, but is being portrayed as qualitatively superior to their legal reasoning.
    After citing a law Jesus then proceeds to amplify, or "build a hedge" around the law. This was a common practice of commenting on how to put a law into practice or on how to take steps to avoid breaking the law. The idea was that if you built a safe wall of auxiliary laws around the central law, then you would have ample warning before you ever came close to breaking the central law. A modern example might be that if you were trying to diet you would need to exercise more and eat less. In order to make sure that that happened you might dispose of all fats and sweets in the house so as not to be tempted. Additionally, you might begin to carry other types of snacks or drink with you so as to have a substitute if temptation came around, and so forth. In the first example of not killing, Jesus builds a hedge that involves not being angry and not using certain types of language about others. One of the difficulties is that it becomes very difficult not to break his hedges. This might drive his hearers to believe that he is a hyper-Pharisee. Some interpreters have wanted to argue that Jesus does this in order to drive us to grace—except grace is never mentioned in this context. This is a wrong-headed approach to get out of the clear message that Jesus is proclaiming: you must have a transformed life. By building his hedges, Jesus is really getting to the heart of what the law was about. In the first example, the intent is not just to get people not to kill each other (though that is a good thing to avoid), rather it is there to promote a different attitude about how to live together. Taken together, the 10 Words (Commandments) and the other laws which follow in Exodus-Numbers paint a picture of a people who will look out for one another rather than just avoiding doing injury to one another. This becomes clear in Jesus’ solution at the end of the first example. The solution is not to throw  yourself on grace or to become paralyzed by fear, but to seek right relations with the other person. There seems to be an implicit acknowledgment that problems will arise. The solution is to seek the best for the other person and for the relationship. This is the heart of the law.  The problem with the law is that it can only keep you from sin, but it cannot make you do good.  The rabbi Hillel said “what is hateful to you, do not do to others.”  In 7:12, Jesus provides his own interpretation “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.”  He changes the saying from refraining from sin, to actively doing good.  The thesis statement in 5:20 is “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” This then is how to exceed, or go beyond the law.  In each of the five examples, the way to exceed the law is to make the relationship right.
    Instead of drawing a new line in the sand that you are not supposed to cross before you are considered guilty, Jesus, confirms that the center is "love your neighbor" and then just draws an arrow (vector) and tells you to go do it. There is never a point at which you are able to finally fulfill the commandment to love. You can never say that you have loved enough. In the gospel of Matthew, the supreme example of this is Jesus' own life and death. His obedience and love knew no boundaries.  --by Greg Camp and Laura Roberts


    We didn't read this in class Ted Grimsrud,  in your "God's Healing Strategy"  book suggests:
     "A better way [as opposed to legalistically legislating morality] to approach [the commandments] would be to ask first, 'What does this commandment teach us about God?'...Hence, the point of the commandments is not establishing absolute, impersonal, even coercive rules which must never be violated.  The point rather is that a loving God desires ongoing relationships of care and respect....Paul's interpretation of the Law in Romans 13 makes clear the deepest meaning of the law not as rule-following, but as being open to God's love and finding ways to express that love towards others: 'The commandments..are summed up in this word, Love your neighbor as yourself.'"  (pp. 33-34)


    ----
    on the 6 antitheses  (case studies) of the Sermon on The Mount, remember my Paraguay stories about:


     "Ever committed adultery, Bob?"
     (oops...) 

    -------------------------------------------
    OK,  below is the backstory of the "LAUGHING BRIDE," which illustrates "building a fence around the Torah":







    How do you name the difference in the shift of the 6 antitheses?  What does it feel like Jesus is doing?  He's making the law______:

    • harder?
    • easier?











    Where do you see bounded and/or centered sets in the Sermon on Mount?Is it addressed to a bounded or centered set?  Hmm, see the beginning:

    Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,  and he began to teach them.
    And the end:
    When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because to them he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
    Would you say it's BOTH?   (FUZZY?)





    ===

    What do you remember from my blushing example of 
    CHASTITY BELT?
    ==

    Remember the story about how our Bibles got verses?
    Stephanus riding his horse?  Read about that:

    THE ADDITION OF CHAPTERS AND VERSES
    In the year 1227, a professor at the Uniof Paris named Stephen Langton added chapters to all the books of the Bible.
     Then in 1551, a printer named Robert Stephanus (sometimes called Robert Estienne) numbered the sentences in all the books of the New Testament.

     According to Stephanus’s son, the verse divisions that his father created do not do service to the sense of the text. Stephanus did not use any consistent method. While riding on horseback from Paris to Lyons, he versified the entire New Testament within Langton’s chapter divisions.

     So verses were born in the pages of holy writ in the year 1551. And since that time God’s people have approached the New Testament with scissors and glue, cutting and pasting isolated, disjointed sentences from different letters, lifting them out of their real-life setting, lashing them together to build floatable doctrines, and then calling it ―the Word of God.

     Seminarians and Bible college students alike are rarely if ever given a panoramic view of the free-flowing story of the early church with the New Testament books arranged in chronological order.  As a result, most Christians are completely out of touch with the social and historical events that lay behind each of the New Testament letters. Instead, they have turned the New Testament into a manual that can be wielded to prove any point. Chopping the Bible up into fragments makes this relatively easy to pull off.


    - This is from Frank Viola, click here to read the rest of this important article, if you like.

    APPLES AND ORANGES
    We watched this, and you'll need it for form 3.2:



    Peter Popoff. Followup to your TV assignment:
        

    ==


    How did you like these two example videos of leaders?
    How did you interpret these two texts?  We watched the first one tonight; the second one last week.
    What did I mean by saying Jim Standrige was a GREAT PERSON?
      



    ONE GREAT PERSON SURVEYS


    Some of your results:



    My Dack Rambo story?  Why did I say Wayne Stewart was GREAT? Click here  to read all about it:dackrambophoto1.jpg (1116×1416) 


























     we apply some "Three Worlds" theory to Matthew 18 and the topic of "Who is great?"

    As we study, apply as many literary world symbols as you can

    A video on that chapter featuring Keltic Ken: 



    Related outtakes:



    Of LITERARY WORLD note:








    • -


    Of Historical World note:








      • What did you learn about a millstone ? ( notes at 
      W

      this (click)


      • Review: Why did we say the missing  sheep/ suicidal student was temporarily greater than the rest of us?
      • Watch this for my answer:

      Page 19 of Syllabus,Matthew 18 Outline
      (by Greg Camp/Laura Roberts):

      Question #1: Who is Greatest?

      2-17 Responses (each are counter proposals):

      2-10 Response #1: Children
      2-4 Counter Proposal: Accept children
      5-9 Threat: If cause scandal
      10 Show of force: Angels protect

      12-14 Response #2: Sheep
      (Who is temporarily greater?)
      12-14 Counter Proposal: Search for the 1 of 100 who is lost

      15-17 Response #3Brother who sins (counter proposal)
      15a Hypothetical situation: If sin
      15-17 Answer: Attempt to get brother to be reconciled
      17b If fail: Put him out and start over

      18-20 Statement: What you bind or loose

      21-22 Question #2How far do we go in forgiveness?

      23-35 Response #1Parable of the forgiving king/unforgiving servant
      ----------------Read verses 15-17 and then ask yourself:
      "What did it mean in their historical world to treat  people like




      "tax collectors and sinners?"
      Two answers

      1)Don't allow them in your bounded set.

      2)How did Jesus treat  tax collectors and sinners? In a centered set way. Tony Jones writes: 


      but because anyone, including Trucker Frank, can speak freely in this  church, my seminary-trained eyes were opened to find a truth in the Bible that had previously eluded me.”...That truth emerged in a discussion of Matthew 18's "treat the unrepentant brother like a tax collector or sinner.":
      "And how did Jesus treat tax collectors and pagans?" Frank asked aloud, pausing, "as of for a punchline he'd been waiting all his life to deliver,"....., "He welcomed them!""



      Thanks for the stories you told about annoying people at work!
      Why don't we put those people on our "great persons" list?
      Remember the guy who molested my son?
      Why is he not on my list?
      Does Matthew 18 suggest that Jesus said:
      children, lost sheep AND SINNING PEOPLE were great?  


      --
      We watched some of this, but see even more here: 



      Thanks for praying for my wife.
      Here's the wedding  pic I posted for our anniversary.

      Here's her cancer page, and here
      's the  Facebook cancer page

      ----------------------------------------------------

      RIP Mr Squeaky Shoes::
      We'll debrief your hashtags next week:

      Building a fence

      Law and building a fence; liust is adultery: start about 10 minute mark, and read below.  if Jesus is a  NEW MOSES o f sorts, then we sho...