The exact (!!) quiz for FRI is at the bottom of this post.
Bone Hampton:
Taylor Mason, ventriloquist:
- We sat by our assigned party/group Wed,,and shared these question
- 1)Share about your culture (define 'culture' as you decide)
- 2)Share 8/29: Syllabus Correction IMPORTANT UPDATE: The faculty didn't catch the mistake in the syllabus until now. The Hauer and Young reading pages are wrong in the syllabus. The book you have is the 8th edition, and the page numbers were from the 7th. Please make these corrections; Wed. Sept 5 ch. 11 – 7th: 239-59 – 8th: 215-38 Mon. Sept. 10 chs. 4-6 – 7th: 91-161 – 8th: 72-146 chs. 9-10 – 7th: 197-237 – 8th: 179-214 You'll also want to be familiar with ch. 1 – 7th: 1-35 – 8th: 1-25
- 3)Share some of the terms you used for Jesus in your "Who is Jesus to me" paper
- 4)Where were you when 9/11 happened?
- 5)Have you ever exper statienced racism/prejudice?
- 6)Retell one ofthe stories about me from our "historical world" field trip.
Great sharing! We did this for several reasons, including:
- To get to know each other, and our "social location"
- To introduce the topic of "culture"
- To talk about the "historical world". It was amazing how well you remembered my stories secondhand. Note there are four gospel writers who each tell the same story differently, "remember" different events, and have a TTP (targeted theological purpose). See your H and Y textbook, chapter 12..
Before watching the "Gaithers on Crack" video below, answer quick questions:
- Fill in the blank:"In England, they drive on the ______________ side of the road"
- How do you define "culture?"
"a way of
- thinking
- feeling
- acting
- valuing
by one or more persons."
Musical preference?
How does this compare to race?
What if you feel...even believe God has granted...your race or culture or religion the "chosen people" status? Note already Egypt has been mentioned.
Doies it ever feel that Egyptian culture is condemned unfairly?
Are Mennonites a religion, race, or culture?
Jews?
--
Since we will so much time discussing the various "parties" of Jesus day, it is helpful to our discussion of culture to hear how one writer views and succinctly characterizes each group's approach to culture (even though the following is overstatement:
- "Pharisees separated from culture
- Sadducees blended into the culture
- Zealots ruled over culture/misused it
- Essenes ignored culture....
The Pharisees were sectarian, developing an unending number of laws to separate themselves from the common people.
The Sadducees were syncretists, compromising their beliefs in order to blend into the culture.
The Zealots misused culture as they attempted to usher in God’s kingdom through the use of force.
The Essenes ignored culture altogether, retreating from society where they could seek mystical encounters with God in monkish privacy...
And so we see that sectarians love God but fail to love their neighbors,And so we see that sectarians
love God but fail to love their neighbors,
while syncretists love their neighbors,
but fail to love God."
--
Many changes ocurred as the Jews fret (new temple , synagogues, etc. But key for understanding Matthew are four "parties," groups, sects that emerged. These are discussed in detail in Hauer/Young, Chapter 10, Pharisees .lay scholars/ middle class Oral and Written Torah angels, demons, resurrection........
Sadduccees priestly/aristocratic Written Torah only no angels, demons, resurrection
Essenes: quiet, communal, prob connected to Dead Sea Scrolls
Zealots advocated armed rebellion against Rome
Read more on each from Ray VannDer Laan:
We began discussing these four groups in depth today; this will be important information
because:
-For tests, you'll be asked to "say as much as you can about the four key parties"
-For the paper "Who is Jesus to Them?," you can use the discussion about the first two parties as the basis of your paper or video (see the updated syllabus for complete instructions).
-For the final , you'll be asked to respond to/critique certain sections of "The Upside Down Kingdom"as if you were a member of the party you were assigned to.
In this video, a rabbi summarizes the four:
See also H and Y Chapter 10, and Upside Down book, pp for more info on the four parties.
---
Oh yes...on a lighter note, but completely on theme,
today's devotional video is below: "Jesus Loves Red States"" Red States":
Ever noticed that most Christians automatically assume one party (Pharisees) is synonymous with hypocrites. Is this fair? Is this a drop down box? Fuzzy set? Is it possible Jesus was a Pharisee? In the sermon, Jesus said, "unless your righteous _________ (even) the Pharisees," you don't have a chance.
at their worst, the parties thought the other parties were "on crack"..
at their best, they were example diversity of views in the culture...particularly related to role of the law...
---
The Body of Christ (church) is interconnected, interdependent,
not an aggregate, but a collectivity (Kraybill, pp.18-19, UDK, Be familiar with these two terms for the midterm)
>>Matthew 12: 46-50: While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
------------------
"The Kingdom of God is a collectivity--a network of persons....more than a series of
individualized email connections linking the King to each subject...[It] infuses the web of relationships, binding King and citizens togeter" -Kraybill (p, 19 emphases mine)
--
We finished up a bit of our conversation about culture by revisiting/watching this video of Daniel Nainan):
-What issues/question does the video raise for you re: culture, race, biculturalism, ethnocentricm?
-How is Nainan able to get away with his comments about different races/stereotypes?
-How does this connect to Matthew's gospel? Bounded and centered sets?
-What did you think about the comment in class about Jesus being presented in Scripture as the ultimate bicultural person (divine/human)?
-In light of the way we defined 'culture" last week, would you now change your answer to the "Are you bicultural?"
-For those who are African-American or Asian-American, how does it feel that Jesus was Asian" and spent time on both continents?
--
Our campus historical trips call attention to the shared history/heritage/memories Jesus and the disciples shared with Israel.
Have you ever visited a spot where a store, your hone, or another place used to be...but it was torn down, remodeled, burned? It just doesn't feel/look right.
Someone deleted your holy ground...but not your memories?
This concept will be important when we talk later about the Jewish temple being destroyed. How do you think religious Jews feel today to see this temple mount with no temple (destroyed AD 70) and a mosque built right on top of the site (600s)?
So this below is the FPC amphitheatre.. it was (not "IS") thecoolest spot on campus back in the day: plays, movies, concerts, weddings. Even graduation ceremonies were held here. Can you spot where on campus this WAS? Can you guess what's been built over it? No one asked my permission to bulldoze my memories.
Oh, yes, that is me in the photo, waving to you from 1982:
We'll take a field trip today to visit the remains of this holy site.
In fact, you can see it as soon as you open the door of our classroom.
R, I, P.
That reminds us of he key place for Israel; the seminal event, the central memory in the Jewish mind in Jesus' day, whih was
The dance party on the beach.
The very place the Kingdom began.
As a 'beach-head," if you will.
I'm glad no one has built a taco stand there..
Here it is..
The Jews believed that --in a limited but vital way--- the Kingdom had begun on earth.. at a specific Old Testament time and place... and worked "forwards" from there. Even though this "seminal event": (Van DerLaan's phrase) happened 1000+ years before Jesus, and no one alive in Jesus' day was there when it happened, it was as if they were. Common memory.
Thus FRIDAY'S video field trip..
see also pp, 82-87 of H and Y textbook..
to The Exodus and the "Dance Party on the Beach." This video, which we will draw from all semester is not online in any form (though you can buy it as episode 5 on this DVD). The points to remember are how this was the seminal/foundational/formative microcosmic event of (perhaps all) Scripture, in that:
1)It presents a pattern and prototype of any deliverance from bondage/slavery; and every "way out" (Ex-Odus)
from an old way/world to a new way/world. We had some good discussion about "in-between times" in our lives that we recognized (maybe only in retrospect) as pivotal and formative. Crossing the sea is often meant to call to mind crossing a barrier (remember the Jordan River video from Week One) into a while new world, creation or order; from allegiance to forbidden gods to The One God. Jesus is seen in Matthew as the New Moses in that just as Moses led God's people out of bondage to an oppressive ruler/"king" (Pharoah, who is a hyperlink to Herod, see chapter 4 of H & Y textbook) and an empire that infected them (Egypt), so Jesus leads God's people out of spiritual bondage to an oppressive ruler/"king" (Herod) and an empire that infected them (Rome). This is a classic intertexting/hyperlinking/parallelism.
2)It is really the first time God's people are formed/forged into a community; they have "been through stuff together" and are inevitably bonded and changed through a corporate experience. They have experienced "communitas" and "liminality" (both terms will be on exams) together.. Thus:
3)Also, remember (for the test) the Jewish tradition that the Kingdom of God functionally, and for all practical purposes, began (or landed in a foundational way on earth) when God's people there on the beach danced and sang, "The Lord is reigning" ( Exodus 15:18 )...remembering that "reigning" could be translated "King" or "Reigner". Thus, God's Kingship "began" when God's people publicly recognized it after seeing God in action in dramatic way as King. Vander Laan: "The Kingdom begins when God acts"
...Exodus 15:18:
a "DROP DOWN BOX. We will picture it by this symbol:
In the same way as when you encounter a drop-down menu on a website, and you know you can choose different options, when we talk about "drop-down boxes" in the "text message" of the Bible, will mean a place where you can choose between two options/terms.
You might notice in the video that VanDer Laan also gave another example:
veanvehhu
in teh Hebrew text of the song the Israelites sang on the beach
could be translated either "praise"
or "oasis."
This of course makes it a "fuzzy set."
---
Here's one more symbol, which we;ll call "Kingdom"
Remember, when we talk about tHE Kingdom in the Bible
the Kingdom that
is itself a drop-dpwn-box.
Both refer to the same reality.
You may remember why the two terms, and why only Matthew uses the first.
(see H and Y index)
In fact, the first person to post in the comments below this post the reason why wins a prize,
But what is this reality.
First of all, when you thing KINGDOM,
think
Even thougth it's hard not to use "WHERE" language when talking about a kingdom.
Many Jews of Jesus' day (and actually, the Greeks) thought of the Kingdom of God as largely a future identity/reality/location.
So when Jesus, in Matthew 4:17 announces that he, as King, is ALREADY bringing in the Kingdom,
this not only subverted expectations, but sounded crazy....and like he was claiming to bring the future into the present.
The Jews talked often about "this age" (earth/now) and "the age to come." (heaven/future).
"Age to come" was used in a way that it was virtually synonymous with "The Kingdom."
Scripture suggests that:
The "age to come" (the Kingdom)
has in large part already come (from the future/heaven)
into "this age"
(in the present/on the earth
by means of the earthy ministry of Jesus: King of the Kingdom.
Thus, Hebrews 6:4-8 offers that disciples ("tamidim") of Jesus have
"already (in this age) tasted the powers of the age to come."
In Jesus, in large part, the age to come has come.
The Future has visited the present,
Here are some articles that may help:
Thus Kingdom comes from the past (the beach)
and the future (age to come)...both..so fuzzy set.
Finally, more on the "breach-head" concept from Dom Williams
--
--
We finished up a bit of our conversation about culture by revisiting/watching this video of Daniel Nainan):
-What issues/question does the video raise for you re: culture, race, biculturalism, ethnocentricm?
-How is Nainan able to get away with his comments about different races/stereotypes?
-How does this connect to Matthew's gospel? Bounded and centered sets?
-What did you think about the comment in class about Jesus being presented in Scripture as the ultimate bicultural person (divine/human)?
-In light of the way we defined 'culture" last week, would you now change your answer to the "Are you bicultural?"
-For those who are African-American or Asian-American, how does it feel that Jesus was Asian" and spent time on both continents?
--
Our campus historical trips call attention to the shared history/heritage/memories Jesus and the disciples shared with Israel.
Have you ever visited a spot where a store, your hone, or another place used to be...but it was torn down, remodeled, burned? It just doesn't feel/look right.
Someone deleted your holy ground...but not your memories?
This concept will be important when we talk later about the Jewish temple being destroyed. How do you think religious Jews feel today to see this temple mount with no temple (destroyed AD 70) and a mosque built right on top of the site (600s)?
So this below is the FPC amphitheatre.. it was (not "IS") thecoolest spot on campus back in the day: plays, movies, concerts, weddings. Even graduation ceremonies were held here. Can you spot where on campus this WAS? Can you guess what's been built over it? No one asked my permission to bulldoze my memories.
Oh, yes, that is me in the photo, waving to you from 1982:
In fact, you can see it as soon as you open the door of our classroom.
R, I, P.
That reminds us of he key place for Israel; the seminal event, the central memory in the Jewish mind in Jesus' day, whih was
The dance party on the beach.
The very place the Kingdom began.
As a 'beach-head," if you will.
I'm glad no one has built a taco stand there..
Here it is..
The Jews believed that --in a limited but vital way--- the Kingdom had begun on earth.. at a specific Old Testament time and place... and worked "forwards" from there. Even though this "seminal event": (Van DerLaan's phrase) happened 1000+ years before Jesus, and no one alive in Jesus' day was there when it happened, it was as if they were. Common memory.
Thus FRIDAY'S video field trip..
see also pp, 82-87 of H and Y textbook..
to The Exodus and the "Dance Party on the Beach." This video, which we will draw from all semester is not online in any form (though you can buy it as episode 5 on this DVD). The points to remember are how this was the seminal/foundational/formative microcosmic event of (perhaps all) Scripture, in that:
1)It presents a pattern and prototype of any deliverance from bondage/slavery; and every "way out" (Ex-Odus)
from an old way/world to a new way/world. We had some good discussion about "in-between times" in our lives that we recognized (maybe only in retrospect) as pivotal and formative. Crossing the sea is often meant to call to mind crossing a barrier (remember the Jordan River video from Week One) into a while new world, creation or order; from allegiance to forbidden gods to The One God. Jesus is seen in Matthew as the New Moses in that just as Moses led God's people out of bondage to an oppressive ruler/"king" (Pharoah, who is a hyperlink to Herod, see chapter 4 of H & Y textbook) and an empire that infected them (Egypt), so Jesus leads God's people out of spiritual bondage to an oppressive ruler/"king" (Herod) and an empire that infected them (Rome). This is a classic intertexting/hyperlinking/parallelism.
2)It is really the first time God's people are formed/forged into a community; they have "been through stuff together" and are inevitably bonded and changed through a corporate experience. They have experienced "communitas" and "liminality" (both terms will be on exams) together.. Thus:
3)Also, remember (for the test) the Jewish tradition that the Kingdom of God functionally, and for all practical purposes, began (or landed in a foundational way on earth) when God's people there on the beach danced and sang, "The Lord is reigning" ( Exodus 15:18 )...remembering that "reigning" could be translated "King" or "Reigner". Thus, God's Kingship "began" when God's people publicly recognized it after seeing God in action in dramatic way as King. Vander Laan: "The Kingdom begins when God acts"
...Exodus 15:18:
- "The Lord is reigning from this point onward."
- "The Lord is King from this point onward."
 |
| DROP-DOWN BOX |
In the same way as when you encounter a drop-down menu on a website, and you know you can choose different options, when we talk about "drop-down boxes" in the "text message" of the Bible, will mean a place where you can choose between two options/terms.
veanvehhu
in teh Hebrew text of the song the Israelites sang on the beach
could be translated either "praise"
or "oasis."
This of course makes it a "fuzzy set."
---
Here's one more symbol, which we;ll call "Kingdom"
Remember, when we talk about tHE Kingdom in the Bible
the Kingdom that
- Kingdom of God
- Kingdom of heaven
is itself a drop-dpwn-box.
Both refer to the same reality.
You may remember why the two terms, and why only Matthew uses the first.
(see H and Y index)
In fact, the first person to post in the comments below this post the reason why wins a prize,
But what is this reality.
First of all, when you thing KINGDOM,
think
- REIGN AND RULE (of Jesus) >NOT REALM
- PERSON AND PRESENCE (of Jesus >NOT PlACE
Even thougth it's hard not to use "WHERE" language when talking about a kingdom.
Many Jews of Jesus' day (and actually, the Greeks) thought of the Kingdom of God as largely a future identity/reality/location.
So when Jesus, in Matthew 4:17 announces that he, as King, is ALREADY bringing in the Kingdom,
The Jews talked often about "this age" (earth/now) and "the age to come." (heaven/future).
"Age to come" was used in a way that it was virtually synonymous with "The Kingdom."
Scripture suggests that:
The "age to come" (the Kingdom)
has in large part already come (from the future/heaven)
into "this age"
(in the present/on the earth
by means of the earthy ministry of Jesus: King of the Kingdom.
Thus, Hebrews 6:4-8 offers that disciples ("tamidim") of Jesus have
"already (in this age) tasted the powers of the age to come."
In Jesus, in large part, the age to come has come.
The Future has visited the present,
Here are some articles that may help:
Thus Kingdom comes from the past (the beach)
and the future (age to come)...both..so fuzzy set.
Finally, more on the "breach-head" concept from Dom Williams
Jesus proclaimed a kingdom come and coming, both future and present at the same time. Here we are on dead center. Jesus believes in the reestablishment of God's rightful reign in Israel and among the Gentile nations. His mission inaugurates that reign. While God's kingdom is present in his ministry, it is not fully present. There is a future fulfillment when Satan, sin and death will be completely destroyed. At the same time, Jesus comes to manifest God's direct rule here and now, healing the sick, casting out demons, bringing justice to the poor and defeating our enemies. This means that the future messianic kingdom has dawned; it has broken in upon us. Furthermore, it is God's intention to spread this kingdom around the world (to the Gentiles) and down through history until its consummation .In sum, the kingdom is really here but it is not fully here. Believers, then, live in the tension between the kingdom come and coming, the "already and the not yet."
For the New Testament, history is determined by two ages: this present evil age and the coming age of salvation.(See Matthew 12:32) Oscar Cullmann in his classic book, Christ and Time, shows us that this structure is not optional for understanding and retaining the biblical message. Illustrating the meaning of Jesus' coming, Cullmann uses his classic example of the World War II distinction between "D-Day" and "V-Day." When the allies established the Normandy beachhead on "D-Day," the war in Europe was really won. Yet, "V-Day" remained in the future and the battle went on. Likewise, when Jesus came as God's Messiah (Deliverer), it was "D-Day," the beachhead of God's kingdom was secured. It literally broke in upon us as the future became present. Nevertheless, we await its final consummation. When Jesus returns it will be "V-Day." The Christian life is then lived in this tension between the kingdom come and coming.
This illuminates our present experience. It explains both the reality of our triumph in Christ and the continuing spiritual warfare which we fight on many fronts. It explains the reality that we have died with Christ, and the flesh still wars against the spirit. It explains why some people are dramatically healed by the power of God and also continue to get sick and die. It explains why we have strength through weakness and life through death. If we break this tension we either end up in the resignation of "cessationism" (God doesn't work miracles today), or the triumphalism of perfectionism (God always works miracles if we have the faith to believe him). The good news is that the future kingdom is now at work in the present. We are not waiting for the end; we are living in the end. By the power of the Spirit we are enabled to live between the times.
For us, the Christian life will always be lived in tension. All whom we evangelize will not be converted. All whom we pray for will not be healed. But some will as the kingdom breaks in. Jesus teaches us to pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." This is not a magic prayer bringing the perfection of heaven down to earth, which would be dualistic Platonism. This is an eschatological prayer asking for the future kingdom to break in upon us in the present. It is also our prayer for the consummation of all things. Paradoxically, as we live in the end we wait and pray for the end to come. Paul writes, "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ will all be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God, the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet." (I Corinthians 15:22-25) link
--
Here's Leonard Sweet on "verse-itis," and why we had apples and oranges in class :
Are you all (by virtue of your post-1974 birthdate), "apple" thinkers?
Sweet suggests you can be IMMIGRANT or NATIVE to the new culture. See:
My article pp.. 38-39 here (or as a PDF pp. 36-37 here)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Signs/Terms for First Quiz
The quiz Friday is a mix and match.
These symbols/ terms and these definitions/examples will appear:
9/5: ..ammong others
These symbols/ terms and these definitions/examples will appear:
a Centered Set Though it has a boundary, it is defined by direction of persons relative to the center (towards/ away) ex. how Jesus treated prostitutes and outcasts
b Recurrence a word, phrase, or idea is intentionally repeated throughout a text. Example: the five teaching blocks of Matthew.
c Gospel ...3 definitions: "good news" ; biography/history with a TTP (targeted theological purpose ; subversion of empire
d I nclusio(n) a literary device in which a word, phrase, or idea is included at the beginning and end of a text (and sometimes in the middle). Example: the "with you"s of Matthew 1:23 , 18:20 and 28:20
e Chiasm Greek word for let er 'X.' A literary device that follows an 'X' or ABBA pattern or reversal; mirror image. Example: "the first shall be last, the last shall be first"
f Sign any message, in any medium, designed to communicate anything...about something else
g Three Worlds Literary (created by the text), Historical (behind the text). Contemporary (in front of the text)
h ntertextuality/Hyperlinking/Cross-Referencing cripture quoting or referencing another scripture. Example: Jesus quotes Psalm 22 on the cross; "My God, why have you forsaken me?"
i Text; any message, in any medium, designed to communicate anything
j Fuzzy Set a set where the boundaries are fuzzy: “when does a hill become a mountain?” or “when did Peter become a disciple?, "predestination or free will?" --Not "either/or, but "both/and and more"
k Bounded Set defined by the boundary, and who is in/out
l Subversion of Empire: The story of Jesus offers a counter-story to the dominant story/worldview of his day..Herod the King's fortress and Jesus' cave
REVIEW THESE IN MORE DETAIL on these webposts:
8.27
9/7:9/5: ..ammong others
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