Wednesday, September 11, 2024

week 4 extra

 

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.  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. At least this week, you have the lyrics, as you do in the Bible.

This song tends to help with Philemon,  We will tell why next week!

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 and what is being addressed, what's happening

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 song until next week when we debrief this. 

Then be prepared , watch the second version of the song in. . Make comments there, 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? 

 

 

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)

 

Version A

Morning, your toast
Your tea and sugar
Read about the politician’s lover
Go through the day
Like a knife through butter
Why don’t you
You dress in the colours of forgiveness
Your eyes as red as Christmas
Purple robes are folded on the kitchen chair

You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like someone else’s suicide
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight

Dreams
It’s a dirty business, dreaming
Where there is silence and not screaming
Where there’s no daylight
There’s no healing, no no

You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like a suicide
But you’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight

Hope is where the door is
When the church is where the war is
Where no one can feel no one else’s pain

You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like a suicide
But you’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Sleep like a baby tonight
Like a bird, your dreams take flight
Like St. Francis covered in light
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight




 

VERSION B:

You'll remember from our look at the TWO creation stories and the TWO sets of Ten Commandments, that when we have two texts, it is helpful to compare and contrast.

Here is an alternate version of the same song as part a ).  The lyrics are different; music mostly the same.

Read and listen, and then post below.  do NOT do any research, just what you pick up.

Address;

 

  • Similarities, differences between the two
  • Which version do you like better and why?
  • What you think this version is about: who is speaking to who, what is the story and situation?

 

 

Wake
In the morning when you wake up
You won’t have much
But you’ll have enough
When you are weakest
I’ll be strong enough for you

Dreams
Yeah, the ones where you are fearless
Can’t break what’s broken
You are tearless
Steal back your innocence
That’s what they stole from you

You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Not everything can be so black and white
There are demons in the broad daylight
But you can sleep like a baby tonight

Stop
Where you stand right now
Just stop
Don’t think or look down at the drop
The people staring from the street
Don’t know what you’ve got

You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
No, not everything can be so black and white
There are demons in the broad daylight
But you can sleep like a baby tonight

Hope is where the door is
When home is where the war is
Where nobody can feel no one else’s pain

You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Not everything can be so black and so white
There are demons in the broad daylight
You’ve got to sleep like a baby tonight
Sleep like a baby tonight
Where you stand
Where you fall is where I kneel
To take your heart back to where you can feel
Like a child, a child

 

  

Overview

This is a quick self-test to let you know how you might do on your signature paper with mechanical errors.  Remember, papers cannot be accepted if they have mechanical errors in every paragraph.  Also, remember   no use of "you"/"your" or contractions in signature.

 (if you didn't do it last week)

 

Instructions

 

Watch thisLinks to an external site.  short video, and LOL at Dave.

As you'll remember, for Bib classes, there are two big rules on signature papers: 

 

--you can't use "you" (or "you words like"your" or "yourself")

--you can't use contractions.

Also, if there are red marks in every paragraph for mechanical (grammar, spelling, etc), your paper will need to be rewritten before it is accepted.

 

 

 

a) Take this quick test to see how well you will do on mechanical errors on signature paper. 
Read this sample signature paper  excerpt below, and either copy it  into comments below , making corrections in red, or noting them and correcting them..
Don't look at the self-grading video until done.
----

Not since Moses’s day had there been a leader like Paul.  In a sense, Paul 

was the most important leader mentioned in the bible.  Not only was he an 

Apostle, but the most prominent  and clear headed one ever mentioned by 

God in his Word.   Maybe the most prominent character in Christianity’s 

history.  Due to his special calling, his ability to face prosecution and abuse,

 his status as an Elder and his great Faith, he ranks highly, even though he is 
not one of the original 12 Disciples, and wasn’t even mentioned in the 

Biblical texts that discuss Jesus’s earthly days.
In a way, you could compare him to today’s Pope, or the President of the 

United States—or more appropriately, the Senior Pastor of a large church or

 the Bishop of a denomination.  Think of him like a modern Saint, a person 

that has great Spiritual courage and skill.  A person that  loves God and His

 ways.  Which makes him all the more remarkeable in the way he treated 

Onesimus’s owner, Philemon.  Philemon was a humble man, that had a 

Church in his house, and that owned Philemon as a slave.    In its own 

unique way, the paradox of Paul the great leader being kind and 

compassionate to people of lower Economic status like Onesimus (a lowly 

Slave) shows that he was also a great sheperd not one who would Lord it 

over people.  He had no allusions of being the King.


Let's examine in detail the world of Paul, Philemon and Onesimus--the 3 

key players in a story with abundent  lessons for our day.  In a funny verse,

 the Bible says "a dog returns to it's own vomit."     Thinking about an 


animal being attracted to there own vomit is a strong image and thought 

provoking. This remind's me of  the religous leaders Jesus confronted in the 

Temple.  One Sunday, my Pastor preached on this.  Matthew 11:15, " Jesus 

said, "My house shall be a House of prayer, but you have made it a den of 

robbers."  When people think they're more imporatnt then others based on 

Religion or Race,  the affect is  divine anger.  I have thought alot about why

 Followers of God would ever think they are holier then other people.   Or 

how they could justify hating a person that was innocent or poorer then 

them.  It's a mystery to me, and a headscratching one at that.   I sometimes 

literally loose my mind over things like these.

Think about someone that dessecrated the Alter of a Church, or think's it's 

alright to have a prejudist attitude.  What an extordinary embarassment for 

priviledged people to act that way; witholding grace from a person that is in 

need.  Our professor talked about this one day when we did a practise for this 
signature assignment.
--
b)DON'T GO ANY FURTHER UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED THE CORRECTIONS.. 
Now watch thisLinks to an external site. to see how you did:

 

 

Post a sentence about how you did.


 


 

Wednesday, September 4, 2024

week 3 extyra

 Headsup One of the best ways to PRACTICE interpreting a text is by doing in class something you do all the time:

Interpreting the text of a song/music video..especially when you can "Venn it" with two versions.
Notes from previous cohorts on the 2 versions of the song:
 



    Songs as text:  SLEEP LIKE A BABY



..
Sleep Like a Baby version 1

Morning, your toast
Your tea and sugar
Read about the politician’s lover
Go through the day
Like a knife through butter
Why don’t you
You dress in the colours of forgiveness
Your eyes as red as Christmas
Purple robes are folded on the kitchen chair

You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns   like someone else’s suicide
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight

Dreams
It’s a dirty business, dreaming
Where there is silence and not screaming
Where there’s no daylight
There’s no healing, no no

You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like a suicide
But you’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight

Hope is where the door is
When the church is where the war is
Where no one can feel no one else’s pain

You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like a suicide
But you’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Sleep like a baby tonight
Like a bird, your dreams take flight
Like St. Francis covered in light
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight

 "Sleep Like A Baby   ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE VERSION


In the morning when you wake up


You won’t have much
But you’ll have enough
When you are weakest
I’ll be strong enough for you

Dreams
Yeah, the ones where you are fearless
Can’t break what’s broken
You are tearless
Steal back your innocence
That’s what they stole from you

You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Not everything can be so black and white
There are demons in the broad daylight
But you can sleep like a baby tonight

Stop
Where you stand right now
Just stop
Don’t think or look down at the drop
The people staring from the street
Don’t know what you’ve got

You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
No, not everything can be so black and white
There are demons in the broad daylight
But you can sleep like a baby tonight

Hope is where the door is
When home is where the war is
Where nobody can feel no one else’s pain

You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Not everything can be so black and so white
There are demons in the broad daylight
You’ve got to sleep like a baby tonight
Sleep like a baby tonight
Where you stand
Where you fall is where I kneel
To take your heart back to where you can feel
Like a child, a child
--------------------
 

 [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

 

 

a) Respond to the "controversial" part.  Mention what part it was, and how you reacted when you first heard it

b) Is this a "Christian" song?  How do you make that decision.  Should/could it be played or sung in church?  Why/Why not?

c)The singer clearly placed this song in the "lament" tradition.  What is being lamented?

 

d) Other  observations, questions,  personal connections,  or  connections to other lessons from class.


 

Monday, August 19, 2024

week 1 fall 24 BP

 

Classroom Content and response (4O pts); 2 replies (10 pts)

Fun preview of this week:  And this video contains an extra credit challenge:

 

Required Texts 

*Coogan, Michael D., ed. The New Oxford Annotated Bible (NOAB).  4th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.  

*Brettler, Marc. How to Read the Jewish Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.  

 

 

Chapman, Erie.  Radical Loving Care: Building the Healing Hospital in America.  Nashville: Baptist Healing Hospital Trust, 2007 

Chapman, Erie.  Inside Radical Loving Care: The Power of The Mother Test.: Kingston Springs: Westview. Baptist Healing Hospital Trust, 2013 

 

*denotes textbooks used in BIB 314 


 

 

Answer in your mind: What color is a YIELD sign? (the road sign) 

 After you have answered, watch this vLinks to an external site.ideo, then come back here and make a brief  post in response

 

n addition to the  required texting assignment you will read about below, post a short response below that shows you integrated this teaching. Mention something specific from each video. 

---

 

These FPU Bible classes are famous (and infamous), and have  been for years. For decades, everyone has had to take a version of this class. There is some fear involved.

At first, it can be hard to get a handle on what these classes are about. If you are not well-versed (pun intended!) in the Bible and its background, you may worry you are not equipped.

It sure scared me to register for it!

Here's a pic of me in my main campus dorm room  c. 1983, writing my signature paper for this class on something called a typewriter.

I think it helps to know that all of us are already experts in the key discipline needed in this class: texting!

I know what you're likely thinking: "Huh?  Texting??"

FPU professor (and 'textpert') Greg CampLinks to an external site. introduced the brilliant idea of having students text the instructor during class as a way of demonstrating that we all are experienced in sending and receiving messages...and reading texts, and discerning context and subtext etc.  We all intuitively use the skills of what we will call "The Three Worlds" in making sense of messages we receive/read. 

This will prepare us for the reading of our textbooks, especially the "text" of the Bible.

What is  a 'TEXT'?
TEXT:  the word does not  anymore mean just written words, or text message.

a TEXT is

 "any message,

                    in any medium,

                                 designed to communicate anything"

... so obviously the Bible counts as a "TEXT message."

We will be reading the Bible..and even if it is a new book to you, and even if you are not a  believer, you are already a good interpreter of texts.  

You do it every day.

Watch this video, which should help.  Be sure to follow the instructions you will hear at the beginning.:

 

 

When you interpret a text, it can be crucial to discern emotion, volume, atmosphere, tone, context and "CONTEXTURE" (atmosphere, tone).

 

Watch this video as an example of 'contexture':

 

 

 

 

 

After reading the above, and watching the videos, do the following:

1)Post a short response below that shows you integrated this teaching. Mention something specific from each video.

2) Send your instructor a random text message (if you haven't already) as he instructed on the video. His number is in the video . It can be anything!   TEXT it, do not post it here;  

  • Make it fun if you like.
  • Maybe the very next text message you receive would be interesting?! 
  • The instructor will post or read some of these later.
  • Do not skip this assignment. (:

These texts will become our curriculum as we interpret them. Remember the "Three Worlds" concept your instructor talked about in the video (review just the 2 min to 3 minute mark).  The worlds help us interpret a text in context and "contexture," and are the key approach we take in FPU Bible classes to interpret texts, especially the Bible.

 

ach week, we will introduce a :literary symbol or "SIGN" that is significant (SIGNificant) in interpreting any text, especially the Bible. This week is CHIASM.

Instructions

Watch this short video on chiasm, and post your answers to the questions posted below it.



a)List at least two examples of chiasm used in the video .

b)List at least two examples of chiasm you find online, create, or know of (that were not used in video).

c)Talk about chiasm. Is this a new idea/term for you? Interesting? Why or why not? How might catching chiasm help you in reading the Bible, or any text?

 

 

ead the book of Philemon from the Bible. It is very short. 

It's in your class Bible, or posted below.

 Read it a few times, maybe listen to it here below on the YouTube audio..

Then post some impressions, feelings, observations, questions about what it seems to be about, Mention repeated words, ideas, anything.  No pressure.  Don't research it,

This will be the text for your final signature paper, but no need to worry or jump ahead.  Just get what you can out of this first read.

The Letter to 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:
Grace and peace 
to you (plural) 
                                                  from God our Father
                                               and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers,
          5 because I hear about your  
 
                                   love               and                          faith
     towards                 Lord Jesus     and               all the saints    
 
I 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.
Your love has given me great       joy
                                         and        encouragement,
 because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. 

 

Therefore
 although in Christ I could be bold, and order you to do what you ought to do,
                                                                            yet 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—     
10 that I appeal to you for my son--
                                          Onesimus,["Useful"]" 
                  
 who became my son while I was in chains.
 
11 Formerly he was                           useless                                  to you,
 but now he has become                   useful                            both to you and to me.
 
12 I am sending                         him
                    —who is my very heart
                                                    —back to you.     
13 I 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.     
14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, 
so that any favor you do would not seem                forced 
                                            but would be             voluntary.     
15 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while
 was that you might have him back forever—
        16 no 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.
 
17 So..
 
 if                                            you consider me a partner, 
                               welcome  him
          as you would welcome me.
 18 If he has done you any wrong or owes          you                      anything,
                                           charge it to                me.
19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand:
                      I will pay it back!
                         (not to mention that you owe me your very self)
 20 I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit or usefulness from you in the Lord;
                                   refresh my heart in Christ.
 
 21 Confident of your obedience, 
              I write to you,
                          knowing that you will do even more than I ask.
22 And one thing more: 
             Prepare a guest room for me, 
                            because I hope to be restored to you     
                                                   in answer to your   prayers.
 
23 Epaphras,
 my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, 
sends you greetings. 
 24 And so do Mark,
                       Aristarchus,
                        Demas 
                  and Luke, 
                                      my fellow workers.
25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your  () spirit.