Today, Mark presented on the book of Timothy. Timothy is thought to be have written by Paul. He told of the story of “Timothy” and the believers. He believed that we should pray for everyone. Timothy is being a good savior of Christ by continuing his work from a chained dungeon. Mark told us about how the authorship of these stories is questionable. People agree that Paul did not write these letters. I enjoyed when Mark shared his opinion of “Who Cares?” I agree with him on this matter. Mark is a great and natural speaker! Shawn presented next on First and Second Peter. He said that the author could possibly have been Peter or Silvanus. Silvanus was one of Peter’s secretaries. Shawn feels that no one really knows the true author. These writings were meant as a “Last Wish” from Peter to the nonbelievers. He told that one of the points of this book was to show good values and how women should treat their husband. He mentioned two important parts of the book: Harrowing of Hell Piece, in which Jesus died, and Mention of the Devil, in which there is a direct reference to the devil. Shawn clearly did a lot of outside research that strengthened his presentation. Juanita was the next to present on her books First, Second, and Third Letters of John. She explained how at this time there were a lot of false doctrines going around. She explained how people of that time denied the virgin birth of Jesus. Juanita explained about Jesus Christ vs. the Devil as our advocate. Juanita’s powerpoint was very well made. Michelle was the final presenter and her book was First Corinthians. Paul’s apostolic authority is being called into question. This book is pointing out the problems of the Church. Each chapter showed the problem and how it should be solved. Michelle’s use of quotes was very helpful to summarizing each of the chapters and problems. I liked that Michelle laid out her initial reactions to the beginning, middle, and end of her book. Unfortunately, I missed Bernice’s presentation because I was late, but I’m sure it was superb! I really think everyone put a lot of time and effort into their final presentations. Everyone was confident and their message was sent across. GREAT JOB!

-Olivia (:

Katie, Mohamed, myself and presented today. Katie began with the book of Zephaniah, or “Zeppy.” God is really angry because everyone is resilient. Zephaniah had predicted the downfall. Katie wondered how the consequences of a God you don’t believe in play out. She compared her reading to the readings of Revelations. She ended saying we were all going to die. Katie said that if she was in the situation, she would not be involved. I enjoyed her logic and she was well-prepared for her book. Mohamed presented his book, Zachariah, next. Zachariah wrote chapters 1-8. Chapters 6-14 may have been written by other authors. Chapters 1-8 showed the visions. I really liked the way Mohamed presented each vision individually. His visuals were really helpful. The visions were of the horseman, horns and smiths, the measuring man, Joshua before and after, lamp stand and olive trees, the flying scroll, the woman in the basket, and the final vision is of the four chariots. Mohammed did a good job explaining each of these visions. I went next and my book was Malachi. I really enjoyed exploring the mystery and great importance of this book.

-Olivia

Today, Andrew, Anne, and Kia presented their short books. Andrew’s powerpoint was very well-made and his presentation on Hosea was very good. I like how he connected it back to his Gabel presentation through the map of Israel. Anne went next presenting on Amos. She explained about Amos’ visions including the locusts and the shower of fire. I liked her confidence in the material and how she was able to explain the story in such a way that we could understand exactly what happened. Then, Kia presented on the book of Jonah. I liked her powerpoint style and the pictures she used. Kia organized her presentation very well by breaking up all of the chapters of her book. This made it easier to follow the story an understand it. I also enjoyed our discussion of God as a parent/bully. It was very interesting to think about.

-Olivia

Nicollette, Redgina, Katherine A., Tom, and Nick A. presented on this day. I really enjoyed hearing about these books. I liked Nicollette’s confidence in her research. She really knew what she was talking about on the book of Micah.Redgina presented her book, Esther. Redgina conveyed the story very well and did a great job. Katherine A. really knew her material on the Proverbs. She used her presentation aids very well and kept the flow going. Tom also did a great job explaining his book Lamentations. Tom was very engaging and his explanations were very clear. The final presenter was Nick A. I really enjoyed his presentation on Daniel. I liked the variety of pictures he used and his explanations of all of the dreams. The pictures really helped to give a visual of David’s dreams. Again, everyone continues to do an exceptional job!

-Olivia

Michelle, Redgina, Mohammed, and Nick presented today. Michelle presented the Gabel chapter about women and the Bible. I really enjoyed this presentation considering the bad stories we’ve read about women so far. Michelle shared that female characters can teach us about ancient attitudes towards women. It is clear that women were discriminated against very badly at this time. Michelle’s presentation was very clear and concise! Redgina shared the chapter of the name of Israel’s God. She shared about the origin of the name “Yaweh.” This was very interesting and I liked how she gave the background and root of the word. Her second chapter was about the writing in the Bible. She explained the manner in which the Bible was hand written. She told us about the clay tablets and natural resources that were used for writing, including papyrus. Redgina did a great job! Mohammed’s chapter was about Palestine in the intertestamental period. Mohammed’s powerpoint made it easier to understand the content of the chapter. Nick presented his short books on 1 and 2 Chronicles. I loved the short clips he played for us. It simplified the chapters for us and was very entertaining! Nick explained that the Chronicles focus on David and Samuel as well as some other kings. Overall, everyone continues to do great, well planned work!

-Olivia

Today, Waleska, Bernice, Anne, Sueann and Hannah. Waleska presented on the text of the Bible. She explained in detail about the context of the writings. I really enjoyed her speech because she made it easy to understand. Bernice then spoke about the translation of the Bible. Anne’s chapter was on the religious use and interpretation of the Bible. Sueann finished her speech on the book of Judges. She explained the 20 stories of the Judges. She also mentioned how there is a cycle of sin. This was the most interesting thing I heard because it made a lot of the stories we’ve heard make sense. The cycle of sin explained in what way things happen in stories of the Bible. Hannah spoke on the book of Ruth. She told about Naomi and Ellimelech’s family. Naomi is left with only her daughter in law Ruth after her husband and two sons die. Ruth and Boaz marry and live happily ever after. Hannah’s presentation was very entertaining and kept me engaged in her speech. She was able to simplify the book for us and make it easy to understand. Everyone did a great job and kept my attention.

-Olivia

Monday’s class had presentations from Nick, Katie, Elisa, and myself Presentation interested me a lot. He explained how the Gospels may have been synced up, but held many differences. This shows how the different authors effected the writings in the bible. Nick was very natural in his speech and was well informed on his topic. Katie presented on Acts. Her speech asked the  question of what the book is directed at. She mentioned the different possibilities including Paul’s letters. She also said how Christianity couldn’t survive while it was tied to Jewish law. She explained how the decline of Judaism was inevitable with or without Paul’s work. I spoke on the outside books the Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha. While being hard to pronounce, I found these books to be very interesting. I really enjoyed learning about the process of canonization and about some of the specific stories that were left out. Elisa’s book presentation was really good. She was natural in her delivery. She explained about the story of Joshua. She told about how Joshua was to take over the promise land from Moses. She told us that the theological point is to emphasize following rules and practicing traditions. Overall, I felt it was a very good day for speeches.

-Olivia

There were many presentations on this day. We heard from SueAnne on the topic of the growth of the Canon. This is what brought the writings together. She explained that the stories were folk tales, patriotic stories, and poems. She told us about how the Canon can never be reopened and that only  priests and court officials could access the writings. Her presentation was very interesting and well organized. We also heard from Shawn. He gave us a view of the Bible and history. He told us that the Bible has been revered as a secondary source to history. His presentation explained that the Bible was not written for the purpose of retelling history, but that is what it was molded into. Tom was very well prepared and informative. Hannah’s presentation told of how the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament was written in Greek. This is something very interesting to me. I wonder what could have been lost within the translations of both of these languages. Overall, each presenter was well prepared and organized. They were able to make the information clear and easy for the listeners to understand.

-Olivia

Friday’s presentation by Nicollete was really great. She was so prepared and was ready to answer questions throughout class. I really enjoyed her discussion of the documentary hypothesis. She also brought up the point of Moses describing his own death. This is proving that there had to be more than one author. This really ties into our readings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It also connects to Juanita’s presentation in which she explained the possibilities of plagiarism in the Bible.

Today I learned a lot from both Mark and Kia. I enjoyed that Kia mentioned the possibility of the prophets being poets because of the style of the Prophetic books. I also liked how Mark began his presentation with his headline. It was creative and prepared the class for what we were about to read. I liked how Mark decided to expand on the aspects of Job in his chapter of Gabel. It is very relevant considering how much work we did with Job. When Mark mentioned that possibility of Elihu being added way after Job was written also connects to Nicollete and Juanita’s presentations. It is clear that the theory of having more than one author of the Bible is very relevant in our studies. I also related to what Mark thought when he said that Job appeals to us because it is most in line with our modern thinking. This was the basis of my paper on Job so I really related to this quote.

Overall, I think everyone who has gone so far has been engaging and well prepared!

-Olivia

I really enjoyed the presentations of Wednesday. Juanita’s presentation mentioned the possibility of plagiarism. It is quite possible that one of the versions of the crucifixion may have been embellished from another version. I feel that there is definitely some influence between the different versions of the crucifixion. They were written at different times and have different elements to them. Andrew’s presentation was also very interesting. I had never really considered the region in which these stories took place. The heat is unbelievable and reminds me of James Carroll’s explanation of who exactly the people in The Passion of the Christ were when they wore the headdresses. Not just the Jews wore these headdresses because the heat is so intense that many people wear them.

-Olivia