Nick’s presentation on the Gospels was interesting. I liked when he said that Gospel means “good news,” because this is something I was taught in school as a youth. He said that the Gospels harmonize, and yet have differences. I think this point also applies to the Bible as a whole. Through different authorships, the Bible at  many points contradicts itself. Nick also stated that the gospels are present to confirm and not to convert.

After looking at Katie’s chapter in Gabel, I was impressed by how organized her presentation came across to the class. She said Acts was supposed to read like a history book. This seems unique in reference to the Bible as a whole, because much of it seems to be read solely as stories with morals. She referenced a saying, “teach not preach.” I thought this referred back to Nick’s “confirm not convert” point nicely.

Olivia’s presentation on the outside books was also interesting. There are a lot of books that are not included in the standard editions of the Bible that we all read. This presentation related well to Sue’s points about the cannon and deciding what is left in and what gets left out.