continuing the conversation past 4:00
As this semester comes to an end, I think back to the start of the semester when I came into the class knowing very little about the bible. I know look back and realize how much I have learned and come to understand about the bible and it is truly amazing, does anyone else have thoughts on this?
As I continue to work on my final project, I notice something. It seems extremely weird (but kind of fun) to add content to biblical scripture. It is such a sacred text that is extremely unfamiliar to add parts into it. Yet with so much ambiguity, to create a short story, I have to! Has anyone else had this feeling?
As most anyone with so much as an elementary understanding of the Bible could attest, the books of the Bible are full of periods of pain and pleasure. While I knew this was a strong theme across both the Old and New Testaments, I had never truly seen it laid out in such a black-and-white manner. This choice by the designer of that chart did an impeccable job at portraying the sheer scale at which the ups and downs took place. Throughout the chronology there are both big and small oscillations between good and bad. While I was familiar with the big oscillations, I wasn’t aware of all of the small hills and valleys especially all of the ones during the life of Jesus. The only drawback that I can think of is that this format doesn’t really do a good job at displaying all of the times throughout the bible that were more neutral. While the Bible contains many Christian teachings, it also serves as somewhat of a history book, especially in the early half of the Old Testament. Overall though, this format greatly aided my further understanding of all of the ups and downs detailed throughout the Good Book.
On looking over the wheel of Bible chapters that the sentiment analysis had categorized as positive or negative, there were a few that stuck out as really surprising:
I don’t know every one of these chapters well, but just going off the titles and what I do know, these classifications seem a little off. What do others think?
I found the reading “The Entire Bible Explained In One Facebook Post” to be really humorous and enjoyable, but it was also thought provoking. The whole post was emphasizing how religious figures in the Bible gives followers the message “not to do the things” and they still end up doing them, an oxymoron. The post doesn’t go into any punishments, and though there are plenty in the Bible, I think as a whole it’s pretty forgiving and offers a lot of reminders to just stop “doing the things”. It made me think, if the Bible is supposed to be a guide for how people are supposed to behave, following God’s rules (“not doing the things”), but it offers constant examples of his followers “doing the things” and not following his rules, is the Bible really about following Gods rules? This post made me think it was more about God’s forgiveness as it feels oxymoronic when it comes to instructions for followers paired with followers actions. What thoughts do you all have? Did this simplistic summary change your view?
I thought it was interesting how the author is Tracy Clayton, but the author name in the article was Brokey McPoverty. Maybe this was something she was “named” one day, or she calls herself this out of irony. I looked her up, and even her instagram handle is this name as well.
After reading the “What’s in a Name” article, I had to reconsider my own unintended habits. I realized in the first few paragraphs I kept unconsciously skimming over her name because it was unfamiliar and maybe a bit of a hassle. I had to make a focused effort to actually pronounce her name in my head while I read. The tendency to pay less respect to non-anglo Saxon names really is culturally ingrained to the point it’s hard to notice until it’s pointed out.
found this article if anyone needs any more information, i thought this point in the article ‘whats in the name’ was shocking.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/onion-calls-quvenzhane-wallis-c-424113/
After reading the “What’s in a name?” article, I took a moment to think. Obviously the author has a very deep and important message regarding how power comes with naming and renaming. To really understand the author’s perspective more, I thought about a scenario.
You are a new member at a company that you just got hired at. At the first staff meeting, you introduce yourself. “Hi, I’m John”. Then they shake your hands and say, “No, we will call you Bob.” This is humiliating and embarrassing, but also makes you feel less than, weak, subordinate. I would be extremely upset and threatened if someone refused to call me by my name. And I think that is extremely important even if there is no bad intent. Just be cautious before calling someone a nickname or mispronouncing a name. It comes with consequences.
In the “Productivity is Dangerous” article the author talked a lot about the Calvinist notion of time and how we as a society have adapted it. Their notion is that time is something that is running out, rather than something cyclical like other Christian denominations, which has given us the need to now be on time in life. This made me wonder what our society would look like if we did not have to be “on time” for mile stones and other events? What would change about our society if this notion had never been embedded into it? I think there are positives like less pressure and higher self esteem, but also negatives like less appreciation, but was wondering what everyone else thought. Do you think society is better of with or without this notion?
what do people think the Sun of Righteousness means?
After reading Malachi, my main question was if there is a difference between The Lord of Heaven’s Armies and God.
In some places throughout the reading, it seems they’re different:
But in other places, they seem to be the same:
What do people think? I think they’re the same, and it’s just a different way to reference God, but I’m still left with questions like, why does God have armies? This sort of paints him as a military chief figure. What purpose does that serve?
When reading Malachi for tomorrow’s class, I was reminded about how much water is referenced in the Bible and how important it is. In Malachi 3:10, God says “I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in!” To me, this reference to rain as a “blessing” made me think of how important the geographical context of this story is. The desert region has so little natural water that people associated water with something holy, or even a “blessing” from God. This theme comes up a lot, in Noah’s Ark and Exodus, and I wondered what other people thought about the importance of water or if they could think of other examples where water was central in the Bible.
I was going to mail these photos to Rachel and Will, but I thought I’d put them here instead, for everyone’s benefit.
The sad news of the day is that Harry Belafonte has departed our midst. Now he not just Going Down Jordan but crossing that Cold Jordan.
Do read the obituary — he was a great man. And if you ever get the chance to watch “In the Heat of the Night” or “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” leap at it. They are two of the finest films made in the 1960s, and they both had a positive impact on the civil rights movement of the time. (I also love “To Sir with Love” and “For the Love of Ivy,” which played on tv when I was kid in the 70s, but I can’t say that either of them is great.) To be clear, they feature his music; he doesn’t star in them. But Sidney Poitier does, who was Belafonte’s friend and ally in fighting for racial equity in 1960s cultural production.
” King Soloman gave the Queen of Sheba her every desire ” do people think this is sexual?
In all the stories we read today, all of the major female characters had names except for the Queen of Sheba and the adulteress. While lumping these two women together seems very odd, it could be because neither of them served in prophetic roles in the stories we read. That being said, neither of the two Marys served in a prophetic role but were very reverent to Jesus. Then again, the Queen of Sheba did something similar to what the Marys did when she went to King Solomon. While I can understand not naming the woman from the stoning story given that she is really only mentioned a couple times, the Queen of Sheba is arguably the main character in her story with only Solomon coming close. There are many other names and details given in this story and it is hard to understand why she was not given one.
The biggest thing that stood out to me from today’s reading was the mention and importance of women. Specifically in Judges 4, Deborah, a prophetess, and Jael, a warrior, were a major part of a huge victory for Israel. Usually defeats and victories are left to the men in the Bible but there would have been no such victory if these two women hadn’t performed the necessary (and somewhat violent) acts that they did. I thought this was a big switch up from the usual narrative of women in the Bible as more of a sidekick or additive to the man. Personally I found it very refreshing and engaging.
I was surprised to read about the female in the first reading murdering the man she is giving refuge to. This was an extreme and direct act of violence, but God did not respond to it specifically. Do you guys see a common theme about violence in the Bible or do different stories represent it differently?
after talking about chat gpt in class I came across this story… this is crazy and show the extent to this technology and the dangers behind it
https://abc7ny.com/ai-voice-generator-artificial-intelligence-kidnapping-scam-detector/13122645/
After reading the Book of Ruth, I was shocked at how many sexual references there were as well as incest. What was everyone’s reaction to this?