individual presentations day 1

A group of us studied together this evening; and as none of us know what will be on the test with any certainty, I said I'd post all my notes from the individual presentations and I hope it helps; however, some of them aren't very thorough and they are colored by my interpretation:

Amanda - "let there be light," how water and light have influenced science and society, Sir Isaac Newton studied optics first because it was God's 1st creation - he thought if he studied light, he'd be closer to God. There are 300 references to light in the Bible and light is tied to the word or truth of God and God himself.

Rosa - She went into her "cave" and we heard bells, a triangle and a kazoo playing the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Book of Revelation - we don't give gifts; we are the gifts that are given, but Rosa gave us slips of paper with Bible verses on them.

Kerry - looked at the notion of time in the Bible. Kronos is clock time and Kairos is the crucial moment in time. "The eternal and the infinite are the here and now." Always questioning keeps the Bible timeless.

John - presented a creative piece and, rather than relying on my interpretation, it's probably best if you go to his blog and read it yourself.

Kelly - Why is the Slave entitled that? The title progressed to Jacob at the river realizing he has been acting out the story of Jacob and Rachel - he is a "slave" to the story.

Rosanna - Blood Wanda - examines the voice of insanity - fertility, sexuality and blood - menstruation became taboo under Abraham. Rosanna examined the lives of 2 women in her life who are "crazy." Rosanna gave Freud's "penis envy"a new definition (look at my 12/5 blog for details).

Kari - examing God as anthropomorphic. Yahweh "tries" to kill Moses - why "try" - was God human at this point? God is transcendant in Job and seems to be driving human beings to look beyond themselves.

Laura - Frye 24 had some things that made her think: The Bible is like a poem - you have to read the Bible as a whole work and you can't refer outside of it. Reality continues beyond the Bible - each time we need life, we take water. Society has to force an interpretation of the Bible. When the Bible was translated to English the priests put their own spin on it - are we still doing that today?

Kim - Why do bad things happen to good people? She used props and examples from Job - the house, the fire - and examples from her own life and experiences, including 9/11, Katrina, her friends who were killed by a drunk driver. We can question why and say we understand or don't understand, but, in the end, maybe he's just too high for us. The props spelled out "theodicy."

Gabby - Why did God accept Abel's offering, but not Cane's? Biblical scholars say that society was pastoral and valued sheep (Abel's gift) over crops (Cane's gift). The "mark of Cane" is defined as many different things by different scholars - darkening skin, a light around him or a man walking a dog.

Dane - Frye says the Bible illuminates the individual and gives him the freedom to fill in the gaps. The True Believer by Eric Hoffer researched how individuals have controlled others through the Bible, incl. depreciating the present by presenting a brighter future. Dane recommends the "Grand Inquisitor" chapter of Bros. K - the church takes away freedom and gives miracle and mystery.

Ryan - Ryan saw ties between Eccl. and communism - "one will lift up another." The wealthy wrote it (Eccl) to keep the poor in place - born naked, die naked - it's all vanity. The rich keeps the poor working so they don't have to

Lindsay - What Wanda felt for Jacob in The Slave and what a man and woman feel for each other is not love but lust. Love comes from God. Lindsay tied the song "Hallelujah" to Wanda and Jacob.

Brian - Frye 24 says you can't argue with the literal meaning of the Bible, but Brian wants to read it as a novel. The Bible wasn't written as just some people sitting down; it was passed on as oral tradition. Too many things try to be tied to the Bible - example of archeologists finding a bench in Jerusalem and saying, "Jesus may have sat here."